“Four Teams Surprise with Victories in NBA Playoff First Round”

In its first playoff appearance since 2006los Sacramento Kings they defeated this Saturday the Golden State Warriorscurrent NBA champions, in the first and exciting game of this first round of the Western Conference (126-123).

Sacramento experienced a magical and historic night with a team that not only finished third in the West in the regular season but has managed to engage the entire city with its brazenness and young talent.

The Golden 1 Center presented an extraordinary atmosphere brimming with illusion and the Kings responded to the energy of their fans by taking the first installment of this Californian derby against the Warriors (sixth in the West) (just an hour and a half by car separates Sacramento, which is the state capital, San Francisco).

De’Aaron Fox was the hero for the Kings with 38 points and Malik Monk also shone with 32 points to fill the gap left by an unsuccessful Domantas Sabonis (12 points and 16 rebounds on 5 of 17 shooting).

Stephen Curry, who missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, led the Warriors with 30 points and Klay Thompson had 21.

Golden State also had the important return of Andrew Wiggins, unprecedented since mid-February due to personal problems and who signed a great performance with 17 points despite missing a crucial three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining and with his team down one point.

The return of the forward also left a curiosity: Wiggins started from the bench and this was the first game of his NBA career as a substitute after 662 consecutive appearances as a starter.

Fox makes Sacramento dream

Despite their 2022 title and four championships in the last eight years, the Warriors entered these playoffs with notable shadows, especially on the road after a painful 11-30 record away from the Chase Center in the regular season.

But Steve Kerr’s team knows how to grow in important moments.

Thus, Thompson started the game with 7 points in a row and Draymond Green and Gary Payton II stood out on defense.

Especially important in the defensive section was the return of Wiggins, essential in the rotation of the Warriors who conquered the ring last year.

Probably as excited as they were overwhelmed by the atmosphere in the stands, the Sacramento players started very willfully but hastily, with great enthusiasm but little pause.

However, Sabonis began to do damage in the paint and Fox pulled a couple of tricks out of his hat so that the first quarter ended in a draw (29-29).

The benches of both teams extended a very even fight with two figures standing out in the second units: Jordan Poole for the visitors with 11 points in the second quarter and Malik Monk for the locals with 15 goals.

A small push in the last minutes allowed the Warriors to get ahead at halftime (55-61) relying on a generous attack (16 assists for 23 baskets) and distributed (Curry, Thompson, Poole and Wiggins closed the first half with at least 10 points per head).

Golden State extended their good moment when they returned from the locker room with their first double-digit lead of the game (57-67 with 10:17 left).

Sabonis, having trouble scoring in the second quarter, continued to be unsuccessful in the third but then an electric Fox appeared to reactivate the Kings with 10 straight points (67-71 with 7.25 to go).

The Warriors recovered the +10 again with a triple by Curry, but Trey Lyles, notable with 10 points in the third period, led another great reaction from Mike Brown’s men, who went ahead to the final quarter (91-90). and with momentum in their favor after an admirable run of 15-4.

Neither team could hit the table and the game entered a volcanic and unpredictable stretch with a wonderful Fox responding from the perimeter to the fantastic three-pointers from Thompson and Curry (117-114 with 3.28 to go).

Fox, the NBA’s best player in close quarters this year, took over in Sacramento but Curry left the game just one point behind with 47.9 seconds left (124-123).

However, Wiggins and Curry himself missed two momentous triples in the finale and Sacramento closed out an unforgettable evening in style.

The Knicks take advantage against the Cavaliers

With a Jalen Brunson stellar in the denouement, the New York Knicks took the lead this Saturday in their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a valuable victory at home after a very even duel (97-101).

In this series that promises strong emotions, the Knicks (fifth in the East) dominated the first game, which was played in Cleveland, practically from the first quarter with a maximum difference of +12 in the second period.

However, the Cavaliers (fourth in the East) did not give up and, with a 9-0 run led by a huge Donovan Mitchell, they came to be ahead with only 2.12 to go (93-92). .

In that moment of nerves and chills, Brunson appeared, essential for the New York team with a mid-range shot and a penetration in the last two minutes that showed the way to victory for the Knicks.

The point guard finished with 27 points and made the evening bitter with a sensational Mitchell for the Cavaliers with 38 points and 8 assists.

Julius Randle (19 points and 10 rebounds) and Josh Hart (17 points and 10 rebounds coming off the bench) were also very important for some huge Knicks in the fight under the basket with 17 rebounds in attack.

The Spanish Ricky Rubio played 5 minutes with the Cavaliers in which he added 2 rebounds and a steal.

Game 2 of this Eastern Conference first-round series will also be played in Cleveland on Tuesday.

Celtics beating the Hawks

Los Boston Celtics They began their search for the ring this Saturday with a beating the Atlanta Hawks (112-99) in a 32-point Eastern Conference first-round game shortly after halftime.

After falling in the 2022 Finals against Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors, the Celtics (second in the East) began these playoffs with a solid performance against some Hawks who came from the ‘play-in’ and who are going to have to improve a lot to be able to stand up to the team in green.

The only negative for Boston was that in the second half they relaxed so much that Atlanta trailed by just 12 points in the fourth quarter, forcing the hosts to go the extra mile to avoid a scare.

Jaylen Brown (29 points and 12 rebounds), Jayson Tatum (25 points and 11 rebounds) and Derrick White (24 points and 7 assists) were the best of the Celtics in which the Dominican Al Horford contributed 6 points and 9 rebounds.

The Hawks had Dejounte Murray as the top scorer (24 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists) while Trae Young completed a gray game (16 points and 8 assists with a dismal 5 of 18 shooting).

Atlanta signed a fateful afternoon from the perimeter with a depressing 5 of 29 in triples.

The game was very uphill for Quin Snyder’s team from the beginning, since in the first quarter they crashed with a 0 of 9 three-pointer and five lost balls.

Boston, on the other hand, relied on 13 points from Tatum in the initial period to leave on the scoreboard (29-19).

Without a hint of reaction from the visitor, the Celtics struck again in the second quarter with a resounding 20-3 run, soon surpassed the +20 difference and did not lift their foot off the accelerator to reach the break with an eloquent and uncontestable 74-44 .

The Hawks, who lost all three of their regular-season meetings with the Celtics, improved in the third quarter and came within 12 points in the fourth with Bogdan Bogdanovic stepping up. but Boston’s victory was not really in jeopardy.

The second match of this series will be played this Tuesday also in Boston.

The Sixers take the lead against the Nets

The NBA opened the 2023 playoffs this Saturday with a clear victory of about Philadelphia 76ers incendiaries from the triple in front of the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the Eastern Conference (121-101).

Third in the East behind the mighty Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics, the Sixers easily subdued the Nets (sixth) thanks to an overwhelming 21 of 43 triples.

Those 21 triples marked a new record in a ‘playoff’ game for the Philadelphia team.

After beating them in all four of their regular-season meetings this year, the Sixers found themselves up against a Nets who went on a constant two-on-one on Joel Embiid.

This defensive plan had no effect since, in addition to their success from the perimeter, the locals shared the ball with commendable generosity (32 assists for 42 baskets in total).

James Harden was the best with 23 points (fabulous 7 of 13 on 3-pointers) and 13 assists, Embiid managed to finish with 26 points and Tobias Harris added 21 points as an example of the great collective contribution of the entire team.

For the Nets, Mikal Bridges was the offensive benchmark with 30 points but Jacque Vaughn’s team was weighed down by his 20 turnovers and 14 offensive rebounds conceded to the Sixers.