The specter of a “sweep” (broom sweep, 4-0 defeat) flew away Friday night in Georgia. For its reunion with the public of the State Farm Arena, Atlanta regained a foothold in its series against Boston (130-122) after losing the first two sets in Massachusetts. A success acquired largely thanks to the pair Dejounte Murray (25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) – Trae Young (32 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists), on which the Hawks bet by attracting the first named summer last from San Antonio.
Showered by a downpour of award-winning baskets on the Boston side (21!), Atlanta had seen the Celtics come back to the top before approaching the “money-time”. Last three minutes where his duo shone. With a nice floater, Murray gave the Hawks some air (118-113, 45th) before Young scored the basket of the evening. Isolated in the right corner against Al Horford, the leader hit three points unbalanced (121-116, 46th).
His friend from the back lines imitated him one possession later, in the left corner, against his former Spurs teammate Derrick White, now in Boston (124-118, 47th). After a line from Marcus Smart, the Celtics’ award-winning 21st shot, Jayson Tatum had a chance to equalize but the All-Star winger missed his three-point attempt, and another floater from Trae Young tipped the game for good. Atlanta will try to equalize in its series on Sunday (Monday 1 a.m. French time) before seeing the series start again in Boston.
Imperial New York at the Garden
Weaned from the play-offs in recent seasons – two appearances in nine years – New York’s Madison Square Garden returned to the atmosphere of the finals on Friday, with a smile thanks to a big victory for their Knicks over Cleveland (99- 79). Slapped in Game 2 in Ohio (90-107), Tom Thibodeau’s players rebounded perfectly with 21 points from Jalen Brunson and 19 from RJ Barrett.
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This is only the second time in twenty years that New York has taken the lead in a series of play-offs, after their first round victory against Boston in 2013 (4-2).
Specialty of the New York coach, titled with Boston as an assistant in 2008, the defense responded by limiting Cleveland to 79 points, its lowest total of the season. Only Donovan Mitchell (22 points) floated for the Cavaliers, and gave a little hope in the third quarter by reducing the gap below 10 points (62-53, 31st).
But the upturn didn’t last, and Brunson gave the Cavs a fatal last run. The match folded four minutes from the buzzer, Thibodeau brought in his replacements … but not Evan Fournier. Deprived of playing time since the start of the series, the captain of the Blues at Euro 2022 no longer enters into the plans of his coach, who prefers Josh Hart, recruited in February, and the young Quentin Grimes (22 years old). ). The Knicks host Game 4 on Sunday at 7 p.m.
2023-04-21 07:00:00
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