Houston (USA), May 30 (EFE) .- The superiority of the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks was demonstrated in the fourth game of the qualifying rounds of the first round of playoffs that both teams played this Sunday against the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks with victories that left one more to get a pass to the semifinals of the Eastern Conference by dominating them 3-1 to the best of seven.
While in the Western Conference, as expected, the equality is much greater and with greater suspense after the Phoenix Suns, second classified in the regular season, and the Los Angeles Clippers, fourth, achieved valuable victories that allowed them to regain the advantage of field by drawing 2-2 their respective first-round qualifiers against the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.
The point guard Trae Young was once again the leader of the balanced attack of the Hawks that beat the Knicks 113-96 with ease in what was their third victory, to one of the semifinals in the fourth game of the first round eliminator. of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The victory was the third for the Hawks who are one more win away from reaching the semifinals and will look to close out their first victory in the playoff series since 2016 when they travel to Madison Square Garden, where they will play Game 5 on Wednesday night. night.
Young scored 27 points, including four 3-pointers from 14 attempts, and dished out nine assists, while power forward John Collins contributed another 22, while another tall man, Italian number four Danilo Gallinari became the winning surprise factor after finishing with 21 points and being the sixth player for Atlanta.
Despite the control problems, power forward Julius Randle finished as the leader of the Knicks attack by scoring 23 points, but he scored only 7 of 19 shots from the field and always had more than two Hawks players on him as soon as received the ball.
The offensive power of the “Big Three” was present at the TD Garden in Boston, where the Nets beat the Celtics 126-141 and took control of the tie.
Although the Celtics fans, who filled the stands for the first time in more than a year, were dedicated to dedicating all kinds of taunts and booing to the base Kyrie Irving, former player of the Boston team, every time he touched the ball, the response on the Nets field was devastating.
Irving himself, who was also thrown a bottle onto the field when he retired, finished with a monumental double-double of 39 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two recoveries, which was decisive.
The television broadcast showed Irving and Nets guard Tyler Johnson looking into the stands and pointing at a fan; Video on social media appeared to show police pulling out a man in a handcuffed Kevin Garnett T-shirt.
The 42 points of forward Kevin Durant were also decisive, who was perfect 3-3 from triples, and 11-11 from the personnel line, in addition to distributing five assists and putting two blocks.
While guard James Harden was in charge of directing the game with a double-double of 23 points and 18 assists without the Celtics having answers to the inspiration of the “Big Three”.
Game 5 will be played at the Barclays Center in New York on Tuesday night, as the Nets will attempt to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2014.
Power forward Jayson Tatum scored 40 points as the Celtics leader, following his 50-point effort in Game 3 victory.
While at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Lakers not only lost the fourth game 92-100 against the Suns but also the pivot Anthony Davis due to injury from the second half, being a doubt for the fifth game to be played. Tuesday in Phoenix.
Point guard Chris Paul, who was doubtful before the game with a shoulder injury, came out with the Suns and helped by chipping in 18 points and nine assists, while Hispanic guard Devin Booker and forward Jae Crowder added 17 points each.
Bahamian center Deandre Ayton finished with a double-double of 14 points and 17 rebounds that left him a leader in the inside game for the Suns, who took advantage of Davis’ loss in the second half after injuring his groin.
Forward LeBron James contributed a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who were deeply behind in the third quarter while Davis was evaluated in the locker room.
Forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined to lead the Clippers to another 81-106 victory over the Mavericks and regain control of the series in which they trailed 0-2.
Leonard added a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds, George scored 20 points and the Clippers mistreated the Mavericks in their own field.
Point guard Reggie Jackson added 15 points, and the Clippers head to Staples Center for Game 5 on Wednesday.
Slovenian point guard Luka Doncic, affected by a cervical strain, could not perform at his best with the Mavericks and his 19 points were far from the average of 38 in previous games and left the Dallas team with no chance of victory.
(c) EFE Agency