The New York Rangers suffered their first defeat in the current play-offs of the North American professional ice hockey league NHL and missed an early entry into the semi-finals. The best team in the main round lost the fourth game of the best-of-seven series at the Carolina Hurricanes 3:4 and thus missed the first match point to the Eastern Conference final.
Former Rangers professional Brady Skjei (57th) decided the duel for Carolina shortly before the end. The hosts started furiously and quickly led 2-0, but New York remained stubborn and equalized at the beginning of the third period through Alexis Lafreniere (43′) to make it 3-3.
The Rangers have their next opportunity to decide the series on Tuesday night (CEST). Then it’s game five at home in Madison Square Garden.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars took a 2-1 lead in their duel with the former champions Colorado Avalanche. The Texans won the third game of the series on the road 4-1. Tyler Seguin (36th, 59th) and Logan Stankoven (19th, 60th) each scored twice.
Basketball: Mavericks win third NBA playoff game against Thunder
The Dallas Mavericks took a 2-1 lead in the second round series of the NBA playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Saturday (local time) the Texans won their home game against the best West team in the main round with 105:101 (51:52). This means that Dallas is still two wins short of moving into the next play-off round of the North American Basketball League. The next encounter will take place again in Dallas on Monday (local time).
In a game that was always close, the decision was only made in the final minute. Kyrie Irving scored with 39 seconds left to give Dallas a 104-101 lead. Luka Doncic then picked up an offensive foul against Oklahoma City’s top scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 31 points. With that, possession of the ball switched to the Mavericks. “We did the little things. We had a good rhythm for most of the game and wanted to make their shots as difficult as possible. I think we did a pretty good job of that,” Irving said.
The two stars Irving and Doncic each scored 22 points, while the best scorer for Dallas was PJ Washington with 27 points. As in the previous two games, the German basketball player Maxi Kleber was out due to a shoulder injury.
The Boston Celtics also took a 2-1 lead in their second round series. The best team in the Eastern Conference defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 106:93 (57:48) on the road and regained home advantage after the Celtics had previously lost one of their two home games. The guests opened the second half with a 14-0 run and controlled the game from then on. Jayson Tatum with 33 points and 13 rebounds and Jaylen Brown with 28 points and nine rebounds stood out for the Celtics.
Basketball: Phoenix Suns sign Budenholzer as new head coach
The Phoenix Suns have found a new head coach. After the NBA team recently parted ways with previous head coach Frank Vogel, Mike Budenholzer will be on the sidelines from now on. The Suns announced this on Saturday (local time).
Budenholzer will be the third head coach in Phoenix in three years. Frank Vogel had to leave after just one season after the Suns were eliminated from the first play-off round of the North American Basketball League without a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Budenholzer coached the Milwaukee Bucks under their star Giannis Antetokounmpo from 2018 to 2023. In 2021 he led the Bucks to the championship title, and in the final series Milwaukee defeated the Suns. Before that, the 54-year-old worked for the Atlanta Hawks for five years, where he trained, among others, German national basketball player Dennis Schröder.
“Mike has proven that he is one of the most successful head coaches in the NBA. “He is the right leader to take us to the next level and achieve our championship goals,” said Suns owner Mat Ishbia.
2024-05-12 07:35:41
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