All-stars Stephen Curry and Jordan Pole each had 27 points and the Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 118-113 on Thursday to bring their playoff series in the NBA Western Conference to the point of mate (3-0).
Source: AFP
Another who contributed greatly to the victory was sharpshooter Klay Thompson, who finished with 26 points, including six triples.
Power forward Draymond Green stole a key ball from Serbian Nikola Jokic, who finished with 37 points and 18 rebounds, in the last minute and the Warriors closed with a 9-2 offense to put the Nuggets on the verge of the elimination.
Golden State can conclude the series on Sunday in Denver.
– Brunson lifts the Mavericks –
In Salt Lake City, the Dallas Mavericks, without Slovenian Luka Doncic, also emerged victorious in their playoff game to lead their series 2-1 in the Western Conference.
The Mavericks, who have been without Doncic for three games due to a calf strain, now leaned on basket player Jalen Brunson, who overflowed with 31 points playing with a back contusion and beat the Utah Jazz with a score of 126 -118.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas, Maxi Kleber had 17 points and Dorian Finney-Smith added 14 points, hitting a 3-pointer with 1:56 left to take a 10-point lead at that point.
Everything seems to indicate that Doncic could return for Game 4 on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half for Utah. Bojan Bogdanovic added 24 and Mike Conley had 21.
The Jazz had won 11 straight at home against Dallas.
Brunson appeared to hurt his back midway through the second quarter when Royce O’Neale hit him at full speed from behind.
The Jazz made 14 of 18 shots and cut the lead to 97-91 entering the final period, but Dallas took the quarter 29-27 to seal the win.
– Bane guides Grizzlies –
In Minneapolis, with excellent work from point guard Desmond Bane, the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 104-95 to put their series in the West also 2-1 in their favor.
Bane finished with 26 points and six rebounds, followed by Brandon Clarke with 20 and eight sacks coming off the bench and star Ja Morant with 16 points, ten rebounds and nine assists.
D’Angelo Russell stood out for the Wolves, with 22 cartons and eight assists. His teammate Anthony Edwards did it with 19 units and seven balls recovered in the rebounding fight.
The next game in this best-of-seven series will be next Saturday at the same venue in Minnesota.
Bane included seven 3-pointers in his offensive work and his team overcame a 26-point deficit to come out on top.
For his part, Clarke scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half for Memphis, and Morant came close to a triple-double.
The Grizzlies upset a Wolves team that won Game 1 on the road 130-117, but suffered an ugly 124-96 loss in Game 2.
Russell, with his 22 points and eight assists, had been the key driver of a third-quarter awakening for the Wolves, who led as many as 23 points but went 0-for-3 and didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
Basket ball Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota’s other max-contract player, had a lousy night with only eight points.
After taking a 47-21 lead early in the second quarter with a deafening roar in the 32-year arena, the Wolves were outscored 15-0 in the final 5:45 of the second quarter by an unstoppable Grizzlies.
With a 20-point lead (81-61) at the end of the third quarter, they could already see some hungry ‘wolves’ heading for victory, thanks in part to 22 goals from Russell so far.
However, Memphis entered aggressively in the fourth quarter and with a 21-2 offense they went up 88-85 with six and a half minutes remaining in that quarter.
The Wolves went 8:34 minutes of playing time between the second and third quarters without a basket until Russell hit a 3-pointer.
