As expected, the Raptors and Celtics will meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals after sweeping Brooklyn and Philadelphia, while Dallas equalized 2-2 against the Clippers.
Doncic hero of the Mavs
A triple-double still out of the ordinary 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 affected to one knee, facing the Clippers who can blame themselves for having squandered 21 points ahead. To say that 48 hours earlier, Doncic sprained his ankle in Game 3 … What a contrast between his dismay at the time and the rage that accompanied his incredible shoot after 46 minutes of effort. His 43 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists sickened LA and made him the youngest player in NBA history to land a triple-double to at least 40 points in the play-offs, 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, Stephen Curry, all subject matter experts, have expressed their admiration on social media. In contrast, the Clippers have shown unusual fragility. “We were very fragile emotionally (…) If I knew why, I would be Sigmund Freud”, railed their trainer Doc Rivers, for whom the difference “was made at the level of the state of mind. It’s up to me to get the guys to recover. ” Paul George in the first place, still very disappointing (9 pts, at 3/14, 8 rebounds), unlike Kawhi Leonard (32 pts, 9 rebounds) and Lou Williams (36 pts) who were not enough.
Toronto and Boston at no charge
The defending champion did not detail in his fourth game against the Nets by winning (150-122), thanks in particular to substitutes Nick Powell (29 pts, 5 rebounds) and Serge Ibaka (27 pts, 15 rebounds) ). The only downside, Kyle Lowry twisted his left ankle in the first quarter and did not finish this meeting where only Caris LeVert stood out in the ranks of Brooklyn (35 pts, 6 assists). The Celtics, them, finished with Philadelphia after a 4th 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 pts, 10 rebounds), the Sixers have not been unworthy. But they had to deplore the loss of Tobias Harris in the third quarter, violently fell his head against the ground, after a rebound. Victim of a cut at the level of the right browbone, he went to follow the protocol relating to a possible concussion, then returned to play the last minutes, managing to score two shots (20 pts). 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 opposite Jamal Murray who planted him 50 pawns (11 rbds). After his 57 points in Game 1, Mitchell became the third player in history after Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson to exceed 50 in the same series of play-offs. 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-finals in the West. Mike Conley (26 pts) and Rudy Gobert (17 pts, 11 rebounds) who again delivered a big fight against Nikola Jokic (29 pts), were also precious.
Results of the night:
Boston-Philadelphia 110-106
Dallas-LA Clippers 135-133
Toronto-Brooklyn 150-122
Utah-Denver 129-127
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