The Boston Celtics became the first team to win their series in the Conference Semifinals and are in the East Finals. The Dallas Mavericks, on the other hand, defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder.
By Kai Esser
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Boston Celtics 98:113
As expected, the Boston Celtics decided the series against the injury-plagued Cleveland Cavaliers at their home TD Garden. The 113:98 meant the decisive 4:1 in the series.
The Celtics are in the conference finals for the third time in a row, but they didn’t win a title. “People think we have to be here, but it’s hard work,” Jayson Tatum said after the game.
Man of the evening was Al Horford. He had 22 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. He is only the third player over 37, after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James, to have 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a playoff game.
The best scorer was Tatum, who narrowly missed a triple double with 25 points, ten rebounds and nine assists. The Cavaliers fought back as best they could, but without Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert they were no match for the Celtics. A top performance from Evan Mobley (33 points) didn’t change that.
The Celtics will face the winner of the series between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals. The Knicks are currently 3-2.
Dallas Mavericks @ Oklahoma City Thunder 104:92
The Dallas Mavericks celebrated an extremely important away win. The Mavs won 104:92 at the Oklahoma City Thunder, and now Dallas has match point in front of their own audience.
Luka Doncic was once again the man of the game for Dallas; the Slovenian achieved a triple double with 31 points, ten rebounds and eleven assists. Kyrie Irving remained unremarkable with twelve points. 30 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander weren’t enough for OKC this time. Chet Holmgren was the second best thrower with just 13 points.
The decision could come on Sunday night (live from 2:25 a.m. on ProSiebenMAXX, ran.de, Joyn and in the app). If game seven were necessary, the Thunder would have home advantage again.
2024-05-16 08:23:17
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