Golden State qualified for the NBA Western Conference Finals by beating Memphis (110-96) at home on Friday in Game 6 of their NBA play-off conference semifinals, won 4 to 2.
In the other game of the evening, Boston, carried by Jayson Tatum (46 points), tied at 3-3 by beating defending champion Milwaukee (108-95) at home, despite a great Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The 7th and final game of the series will take place Sunday in Boston to determine Miami’s opponent in the Eastern Conference final.
The Golden State Warriors will also know their opponent in the Western Conference Finals on Sunday night, after the last game of the series between Phoenix and Dallas.
Absent from the finals the last two seasons, the Californian team, crowned in 2015, 2017 and 2018, has not played in the NBA final since its defeat against Toronto in 2019.
Once again, she can thank Klay Thompson, who returned to the courts in January after two and a half years of absence due to two serious injuries. He still scored 30 points, including eight three-pointers. His friend Stephen Curry scored six, for a total of 29 points.
The 11 points of the MVP (best player in the league) 2015 and 2016 made it possible to tilt the meeting in favor of the Warriors, still led by two points with less than seven minutes remaining and who had been swept 134-95 in the game 5 in Memphis.
This time around, the Grizzlies have not been able to overcome the absence of their young star Ja Morant (22), who suffers from a bruised bone in his right knee.
– Stats records pour Antetokounmpo –
In Milwaukee, Tatum spearheaded the Boston Celtics by making seven of his team’s 17 three-point shots. He notably lined up 11 straight points in the fourth quarter, when the Bucks came back from minus 13 to minus 4.
And the Bucks seemed capable of a new comeback, after that of the previous game when they had come back 14 points from a deficit to finally win, but Tatum and the Celtics held on this time.
“I think we put a bit more intensity in this game,” Tatum said. “Our season was at stake. I knew it and we knew it. We had to give everything we had”.
He was helped by Jaylen Brown (22 pts) and Marcus Smart (21 pts).
Boston, however, had a hard time dealing with the great form of the opposing star, Giannis Antetokounmpo (44 pts, 20 rebounds), who managed his third game to 40 points in four games.
The “Greek Freak” was also the first player, since the legendary Shaquille O’Neal in 2001, to reach 40 points and 20 rebounds in one game.
The decisive match will be held Sunday in Boston.