2023-05-02 09:51:16
The Denver Nuggets advanced firmly this Monday in the semifinals of the Western Conference of the NBA at the hands of the Serbian Nikola Jokic by beating the Phoenix Suns, while the Philadelphia 76ers made a strong start in the East by defeating the Boston Celtics.
Led by Serbian Jokic, the Nuggets beat the Suns 97-87 and went on to lead 2-0 in their Western semifinal series.
Jokic overflowed with 39 points and 16 rebounds, while Jamal Murray He did it with only 10 goals.
Murray had built his reputation in the playoffs in the bubble of Orlando 2020 with multiple 50-point games to then lead Denver to the Western Conference finals.
In the current postseason, he again became the team’s catalyst.
He had just scored 34 points, including six triples, in the Nuggets’ victory on Saturday in the first game of this series.
He has scored 34 or more points in half of Denver’s six postseason games this year, taking much of the offensive load off Jokic.
But this Monday, the Suns were able to control Murray but not the European, who was a constant danger under the boards.
“Both teams shot well, it was a low scoring game 97-87, it was a tough game, tough, but we won the game and that’s the most important thing,” Jokic said after the win.
Game 3 of this best-of-seven series will be Friday in Phoenix.
Jokic will find out this Tuesday if he beat the Cameroonian Joel Embiid and to the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo for his third consecutive NBA MVP award.
The Serb scored 26 of his goals in the second half as the Nuggets erased a seven-point deficit in the third quarter.
Jokic’s big night was necessary as Murray made just 3 of 15 shots from the field and none from long range.
Aaron Gordon added 16 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope he added 14 cards and was 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.
The Nuggets took the lead for good at the start of the fourth quarter.
For the ´Suns´ the outstanding ones were Devin Bookerwho led the offense with 35 points and the star Kevin Durant added 24 units.
– Sixers, very tuned –
In Boston, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Celtics at home 119-115 in the first game of this Eastern Conference semifinal series with a superb offensive performance by James Hardenwho overflowed with 45 points.
The ‘beard’ was seconded by Tyrese Maxeywho contributed 26 points for the victory of the Sixers.
Harden turned in a magical performance, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds left, to leave Boston’s TD Garden in stunned silence as the Sixers took the series lead.
Harden’s 45 points came from 17-of-30 shooting with seven 3-pointers made.
“He was unbelievable,” Harden’s coach Doc Rivers said. “He kept his cool, knew when to attack, knew when to slack off.”
Meanwhile, Harden stressed that “we are a resilient team. Even without Joel (Embiid), we have the confidence to come here and win games. “We’ve been doing it all year, that’s good for us.”
Jaylen Tatum stood out for Boston with 39 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaylen Brown added 23 points.
The second game of this best-of-seven series will also be in Boston on Wednesday.
Harden shouldered the team in the absence of Cameroonian star Joel Embiid, who sprained his right knee during the third game of the first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets.
Embiid had scored 52 points in the Sixers’ lone regular-season win over Boston in early April.
Boston took advantage of Embiid’s absence to score freely in the paint and lead by 12 points in the second quarter.
In the end, touchdowns from Harden and Maxey ensured the Sixers stayed in the game down the stretch.
A loose pass from Brogdon with 32 seconds left he gave Maxey an easy layup to put Philadelphia up 114-113, before Tatum answered with two free throws to give Boston a 115-114 lead.
Afterward, Harden sauntered down the court and took his time before hitting a 25-foot 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a 117-115 lead with seconds left.
Acts followed, Paul Reed he earned a foul to seal the victory for the Sixers with two free throws.
Boston eliminated in the first round the Atlanta Hawks.
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