NBA, Curry is out: Sacramento eliminates Golden State. Lakers in the playoffs

Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs, Golden State eliminated. These are the first verdicts of the play-in Nbathe challenges that assign the last places (two per Conference) for the race for the ring.

The Angels vince 110-106 a New Orleans at the home of the Pelicans and in the first round they will face the reigning champions Denver Nuggets in the remake of the Western final from a year ago. Sacramento closes the disappointing season of Warriors beating Curry and his teammates 118-94. On the night between Friday and Saturday New Orleans and Sacramento will play the eighth seed in the West, whoever advances will face Oklahoma in the first round.

Lakers in the name of LeBron

Los Angeles makes no mistakes and in the name of an eternal LeBron James takes the play-offs. The Chosen One finished with 23 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds and will play in the postseason for the 17th time in 21 seasons in the league. But LeBron is not alone: ​​20 points and 15 rebounds for Anthony Davis, 21 points for D’Angelo Russell. The Pelicans still have a chance to play in the play-offs but they risk having to do without Zion Williamson, who gets hurt towards the end of the game against the Lakers, after scoring 40 points and 11 rebounds, effectively paving the way for the yellow-purple success.

Golden State, end of an era?

The format introduced in 2021 proved fatal for the Golden State Warriors, who failed to mask all their limitations in 48 minutes. The 2022 champions (4 titles in the last ten years) left the impression of a team at the end of the race. Klay Thompson (0 points with 0/10 shooting) was null and Steph Curry (22 points) could do little against Keegan Murray (32 points), Aaron Fox (24) and Domantas Sabonis (16 points and 12 rebounds). The Kings thus took revenge after being eliminated by the Warriors in the first round of the play-offs last year (4-3). A knockout that probably marks the end of an era for the Warriors. “You can’t stay at the top forever, now we have an offseason ahead of us with many things to think about” the words of Steve Kerr, coach of Golden State, who also addresses the topic of the future of Klay Thompson, returning from a subdued season and free agent in the summer. “We need Klay to stay and I know I speak for everyone in this organization when I say that. Obviously this is also a business and there are issues that need to be addressed. But for what Thompson has meant to this franchise, for how strong it is, we want absolutely that he stays with us.”