Dallas Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers and entered the Western Conference Semifinals
instance in which they will play against Oklahoma City Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans executioner. For its part, Orlando Magic defeated Cleveland Cavaliers and forced a seventh game in the disputed East first round series.
The winner of the decisive game, to be played on Sunday, will face against the Boston Celtics, who knocked the Miami Heat out of the way.
The Mavericks advanced to the round with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving inspired
The Dallas Mavericks of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving defeated the Clippers 114-101 this Friday and eliminated the Angelenos 4-2 in the first round of the West.
The Mavericks, fifth in that conference, will now face the young and surprising Oklahoma City Thunder, who finished first in the West with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the wheel.
In addition, Doncic and Dallas got rid of a small curse they had with the Clippers, who sent them home the last two times they met in the playoffs (2020 and 2021).
Especially painful was 2021 when the Mavericks wasted a 3-2 at home and lost Game 7 in Los Angeles.
While the Texans, who reached the decisive stage in an excellent moment (16 wins in 18 games until they certified fifth place), ask for passage in the West, the Clippers accumulated one more failure for a multimillion-dollar project that once again remained very far from the expectations.
With Kawhi Leonard (absent due to injury in four games against Dallas), James Harden, Paul George and Russell Westbrook as the mainstays of a luxurious and a priori very powerful squad, the Clippers extended their painful record of never having reached the NBA Finals in more than half a century of existence.
Since Leonard and George disembarked in 2019, the Clippers have only managed to reach the Western finals (2021), the greatest success in the history of the franchise but insufficient for magnate Steve Ballmer who, as owner of the team, will open the next season the new stadium with many doubts on the sporting level.
His executioners tonight were Doncic (28 points with 9 of 26 shooting and 1 of 10 in triples, 7 rebounds and 13 assists) and, above all, an Irving who after scoring only 2 points in the first half went into a trance in the resumption and finished with 30 points (11 of 19 in shots, 5 of 9 in triples), 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
The local defense punished the Clippers, who had Norman Powell as their top scorer with 20 points. George (18 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists) and Harden (16 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists) could not rescue their team.
The Magic defeated the Cavaliers and there will be game seven in Cleveland
The series between Magic and Cavaliers will be decided this Sunday in a seventh game, which will be played in Cleveland, after Orlando took the sixth game this Friday by 103-96 and survived a spectacular performance by Donovan Mitchell with 50 points.
The winner of this first round tie in the East will face the Boston Celtics, the best team of the regular season and who awaits a rival after defeating the Miami Heat 4-1.
In a very close game in which no team gained an advantage of 10 or more points, this young and surprising Magic, who has been one of the revelations of the season in the NBA, won thanks to Paolo Banchero (27 points and 8 rebounds), Franz Wagner (26 points and 5 rebounds) and Jalen Suggs (22 points and 6 rebounds).
The masterclass of a Mitchell who scored a sensational 22 of 36 in field goals (3 of 9 in triples) was of no use to the visitors. He also contributed 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
A good example of how alone he was in the Cavaliers, who among the rest of the players only got 46 points compared to the 50 of their star, was that Mitchell scored each and every one of Cleveland’s 18 points in the fourth quarter and the His team’s last 22 points in the game, also counting the end of the third quarter.
Only Darius Garland (21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) gave him some coverage in the Cavaliers without the injured Jarrett Allen.
The Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland will pass judgment this Sunday in a seventh meeting.
