Toronto, reigning NBA champion, snatched Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston. In the West, the Los Angeles Clippers made the break and lead 3-1 against Denver
Toronto snatched Game 7 against Boston in the semifinals of the NBA Eastern Conference. The Raptors, reigning champions, struggled to achieve a hard-hitting success against Boston (125-122) and equalize in a stifling series. The second extension was a digest of the match, with high-flying sequences where the two teams went head-to-head, but also moments of floating where the ball looked like a hot potato causing clumsiness, also due to physical fatigue.
Thus, when Boston chained three alley-oops with his pivot Daniel Theis at the conclusion, Toronto replied with baskets behind the arc of Lowry (33 pts, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and Nick Powell (23 pts off the bench, including 10 in the last five minutes). And when Marcus Smart, author of a great match (23 pts, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), also thought to hurt three points to lead 115-112, OG Anunoby immediately reversed the score to 118-117 in the same way.
In the end, it was a few stray bullets that cost the Celtics dearly. That of Jayson Tatum, intercepted by Lowry with 41 seconds from the end, was expensive, since it resulted in a basket of the Raptors. The talented winger however managed a very big match (29 pts, 14 rebounds, 9 assists). “There are two strong teams playing hard … We had to win. Win it or we would go home. We did. We have to be ready for Game 7,” Lowry said afterwards. -stroke.
“It was a fight, the game could have turned out otherwise, estimated C’s coach Brad Stevens.“ There we have to put ice on our legs and prepare for Friday. ”Miami, who eliminated the favorite Milwaukee (4-1), will then finally know his opponent.
Ruthless Leonard
What to do with the Kawhi Leonard machine (30 pts, 11 rebounds, 9 assists), when it seems more and more unstoppable as the play-offs advance? Not much: the 2014 titles with San Antonio and 2019 with Toronto are proof of that. But it is this final version which is in operation at the end of summer 2020. And it is at the service of the Los Angeles Clippers winners of Denver (96-85) and which now leads 3-1 in the series.
The California franchise is exhausting the Nuggets, already blunted by the chain of grueling matches (an intense series won 4-3 against Utah) and which encountered an intractable defense. This makes two enormous assets for LA, which can also count on the return to form of Montrezl Harrell (15 pts), just named “best 6th man of the year”, and the constant contribution of Lou Williams also out of bench (12 pts), even allowing himself the luxury of a performance on the sly of Paul George (10 pts) without unfortunate consequences.
Anxious to leave no hope for the Nuggets, the Clippers took off 26-12 in the first quarter and the Nuggets were never able to pick up, despite Nikola Jokic (26 pts, 11 rebounds, 6 assists). “We were very focused, we had our game plan, we put the energy we needed right from the start and from there we just kept going,” said Leonard.
This path could well lead the Clippers to a very first conference final in fifty years of existence, the franchise having been created under the name Buffalo Braves in 1970, before passing through San Diego where it was then called Clippers, then moving to Los Angeles in 1984.
