As expected, Raptors and Celtics will meet in the semifinals of the NBA Playoff Eastern Conference, after sweeping Brooklyn and Philadelphia on Sunday, while Dallas equalized 2-2 against the Clippers thanks to the still prodigious Luke Doncic.
Doncic, hero of the Mavs
A triple-double still extraordinary and especially the basket with three points of victory (135-133), at the buzzer of the extension: the 21-year-old Slovenian carried Dallas at arm’s length, in the absence of Kristaps Porzingis , hit in a knee, facing the Clippers who can blame themselves for having squandered 21 points ahead.
To say that, 48 hours earlier, Doncic sprained his ankle during match number 3 … What a contrast between his dismay at the time and the rage that accompanied his incredible shot after 46 minutes of effort! His 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists discouraged Los Angeles and made him the youngest player in NBA history to score a “TD” at least 40 points in the playoffs, joining Charles Barkley and Oscar Robertson. in the 40/15/10 club.
“When I saw the ball come in and the whole team running towards me, it was one of the best moments of my life as a player,” he said afterwards. LeBron James, Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry, all subject matter experts, have expressed their admiration on social media.
In contrast, the Clippers have shown an unusual fragility. “We were very emotionally fragile […]. If I knew why, I would be Sigmund Freud ”, railed their trainer Doc Rivers, for whom the difference“ was made in the state of mind. It’s up to me to get the guys to recover ”.
Paul George first, still very disappointing (9 points, 3/14, 8 rebounds), unlike Kawhi Leonard (32 points, 9 rebounds) and Lou Williams (36 points) who were not enough.
Toronto and Boston at no charge
The defending champion did not go into detail in his fourth game against the Nets by winning (150-122), thanks in particular to substitutes Nick Powell (29 points, 5 rebounds) and Serge Ibaka (27 points, 15 rebounds).
The only downside, Kyle Lowry twisted his left ankle in the first quarter and he did not finish this meeting where only Caris LeVert stood out in the ranks of Brooklyn (35 points, 6 assists).
The Celtics are done with Philadelphia after a 4e success, tight (110-106). Kemba Walker was their locomotive with 32 points (4 assists), before Jayson Tatum completed the job in the last quarter, scoring 9 of his 28 points (15 rebounds).
Like Joel Embiid (30 points, 10 rebounds), the Sixers have not been unworthy. But they had to deplore the loss of Tobias Harris in the third quarter, violently fallen, his head against the ground, after a rebound.
Victim of a cut at the level of the right brow bone, he went to follow the protocol relating to a possible concussion, then he returned to play the last minutes, managing to score two shots (20 points). But the Celtics had taken advantage of his absence to create a sufficient gap.
Utah takes off
And three straight wins (3-1) for the Jazz against Denver (129-127). It took a Donovan Mitchell still in fusion with 51 points in the bag (including 18 during the last quarter, 7 assists) to hold the dragee high to his vis-à-vis Jamal Murray, who, for his part, has planted 50 pawns (11 rebounds).
After his 57 points in Game 1, Mitchell became 3e player in history after Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson to exceed 50 in a single playoff series. Reaction? “I haven’t done anything yet …” he smiled, preferring to remind the Jazz that there is still a fourth victory to go to advance to the semi-final in the West.
Mike Conley (26 points) and Rudy Gobert (17 points, 11 rebounds), who again delivered a big fight against Nikola Jokic (29 points), were also valuable.
A sprain for Kyle Lowry
Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry sustained a sprained left ankle in his victory on Sunday.
That’s what a magnetic resonance imaging test found on Monday. The Canadian team did not give any details about their return to play.
“It would hurt us a lot,” said head coach Nick Nurse, when he spoke about the possibility of playing without Lowry.
“You know how important he is to our training,” continued the pilot during his daily press briefing. “He’s our leader and the toughest player we have.”
During the fourth and final game of the Raptors vs. Brooklyn Nets first-round series, Lowry played just 9:12, collecting two points and three assists, before twisting his left ankle. He did not return to the game afterwards. Nurse’s squad still eliminated the New York team with a 150-122 victory.
The Raptors are scheduled to start their second-round series against the Boston Celtics on Thursday in Orlando.
“I would have been surprised not to face them in these playoffs,” Nurse said of her future opponents. “They are super talented, have depth, are very well trained and they are playing well now.”
It remains to be seen whether Lowry will be there. According to Nurse, it will have to be a serious injury for her player not to be there.
“It will have to be a huge injury to prevent him from being on the field,” said the coach. If it’s a small injury, he’ll try to play anyway. “
Remember that last year, when the Torontonians were crowned, Lowry played despite a serious injury to his hand. He had torn a ligament in his left thumb in the semi-finals and he hadn’t missed a game.
– With the collaboration of the QMI Agency
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