A basket with 32 seconds left by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander allowed Oklahoma City, the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, to win 94-92 against New Orleans to enter the NBA playoffs. The suspense was less in the other three games, where the Celtics, Clippers and Bucks also won, by larger margins.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the Thunder to a hard-fought victory against the Pelicans who were without their star Zion Williamson, injured. Oklahoma, which finished first in the regular season in the West, thanks to a final basket and a free throw by its Canadian leader now leads 1-0. For New Orleans, CJ McCollum missed a three-point attempt in the final seconds.
The Celtics won easily (114-94) against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, thanks to an efficient Jayson Tatum. The Celtics, who dominated the East during the regular phase, immediately inflicted a 14-0 defeat on the Heat, the outgoing finalists who on Friday had booked their last ticket to these playoffs by beating the Chicago Bulls in the play-in. Faced with a Miami team deprived of its star player Jimmy Butler, who injured a knee, Boston was able to count on an efficient Jayson Tatum, who at 26 years old achieved the first triple double of his career in a playoff match with 23 points, ten rebounds and ten assists.
Without Kawhi Leonard, injured, the Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-97, scoring only eight points in the second quarter and trailing by 26 at halftime. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving scored 33 (13 rebounds, 6 assists) and 31 points (7 rebounds, 4 assists) respectively. Insufficient, especially when faced with James Harden’s 28 points, added to Paul George’s 22 and Ivica Zubac’s 20 (15 rebounds).
In Milwaukee, Damian Lilliard and his 35 points scored in the first period allowed the Bucks to take the lead at halftime against the Pacers (69-42), for a final victory of 109-94. All without Giannis Antetokoumpo, injured in his left calf.
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2024-04-22 07:38:26
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