Playoffs NBA

Indiana. The Indiana Pacers took advantage of the absences of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 126-113 and lead their respective first-round series of the Eastern Conference of the NBA playoffs 3-1.

The Bucks’ options, third seed in the conference, are fading as they do not know if they will be able to recover either of their two figures. Lillard aggravated an Achilles tendon injury on Friday and Antetokounmpo did not even debut in the series due to muscle problems.

The team led by Doc Rivers was also left without another of its biggest scorers, the controversial Bobby Portis, after seven minutes of play, when he was sent off for an altercation with point guard Andrew Nembhard.

Brook López and Khris Middleton, with 27 and 25 points respectively, led Milwaukee’s resistance, which reduced a 19-point deficit to just six before the Pacers gave the final acceleration at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Center Myles Turner was the top scorer with 29 points and 7 triples, while point guard Tyrese Haliburton contributed another 24 and 5 for the Pacers who are looking to return to the second round after a decade of waiting.

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Phoenix Suns 122-116 this Sunday and completed a 4-0 sweep that qualifies them to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2004.

The Timberwolves are the first team to overcome this first round of the NBA playoffs. Their next rival will come from the tie between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, who dominate 3-1 overall.

Young shooting guard Anthony Edwards, one of the league’s emerging stars, was the great figure for Minnesota with a 40-point performance at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.

On the other side, Devin Booker reached 49 points and Kevin Durant reached 33 in an attempt to avoid the humiliating elimination of Phoenix in front of their fans, which was crowned with a spectacular dunk by Edwards on his idol Durant two minutes from the end.

The game ended accidentally with an inadvertent collision on the sideline between Timberwolves guard Mike Conley and his coach, Chris Finch, who had to be helped to the locker room with just under two minutes remaining.

The sweep culminates the failure of the Suns’ ambitious project this season, who made one of the big signings of the year to recruit Bradley Beal and form a powerful ‘Big 3’ with Booker and Durant.

Minnesota, on the other hand, will play in the West semifinals for the second time in its 35-year history, after a single precedent dating back to 2004.