Golden State and Philadelphia, strong against Denver and Toronto, started the NBA play-offs well on Saturday, as did Utah and Minnesota, which regained the advantage of the floor by winning in Dallas and Memphis, Anthony Edwards bursting the screen, for its premiere at this point.
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What if the "splash brothers" were in fact no longer two but three?
To see Jordan Poole (30 pts, at 9/13 including 5/7 behind the arc) planting banderillas from all corners of the field, we say to ourselves that coach Steve Kerr was right to make him a starter, when of the victory against the Nuggets (123-107).
This choice made Stephen Curry start on the bench.
And for his return after a month of absence, the point guard scored 16 points, without his injured ankle bothering him.
As for Klay Thompson, he was solid (19 pts), Draymond Green struggling in all directions (12 pts, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks).
On the Denver side, Nikola Jokic responded (25 pts, 10 rebounds, 6 assists), but without weighing on the meeting.
In Memphis, where Minnesota won (130-117) quite unexpectedly, the duel between Anthony Edwards, N.1 of the 2020 draft aged 20, and Ja Morant, 22, chosen in 2nd position in 2019 by the Grizzlies, has kept all its promises.
Edwards as Abdul-Jabbar
The first, by no means paralyzed by the stakes, was impressive.
Striking in the basket, solid in shooting (12/23), fierce defender (2 counters including a sensational on Morant), he finished with 36 points, like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Julius Erving, for their first in the play-offs.
Morant was not outdone (32 pts, 8 assists).
But he did not have Karl-Anthony Towns by his side, Minnesota's second weapon, dominating in the racket (29 pts, 13 rebounds), even if he had to struggle with Jaren Jackson Jr, formidable defender (7 against, 12 points).
Started stronger (first quarter won 41-33), Wolves led almost the entire match, however letting Memphis approach three units at the start of the 4th quarter.
But two award-winning baskets from Patrick Beverley (10 pts) and Jaden McDaniels (15 pts, 7 rebounds), in the money-time, definitely repelled the opposing inclinations.
Earlier, Utah took advantage of the absence of Luka Doncic on the Mavericks side to win in Dallas (99-93).
Sluggish in the first period, during which Bojan Bogdanovic took over offensively (26 pts), Donovan Mitchell accelerated the tempo for the Jazz, scoring 30 of his 32 points in the second act.
Almost not used in attack, Rudy Gobert (0/1, 5 pts only free throws) was very dissuasive (3 against, 17 rebounds), the Mavs having been limited to 38.7% success in shooting.
Maxey-efficiency
"
Hopefully I'll have more scoring opportunities in the next game, but at the same time, for most of the game, we moved the ball around.
Sacrifice is the key word, that's what it's all about in the play-offs
, ”commented the French pivot.
Led by 12 lengths in the last quarter, Dallas returned to one unit two minutes from time, when Royce O'Neal scored his first basket of the game, three points (95-91), which definitively extinguished the Texas hopefuls.
Without Doncic, who is nursing a calf strain, the Mavs lacked solutions in attack, despite Jalen Brunson (18 pts) and Spencer Dinwiddie (17 pts).
In the East, Philadelphia had a tough night in Toronto (131-111), which lost to injury Scottie Barnes, whose ankle bent under the weight of Joel Embiid.
Rare fact, but which says a lot about the depth of the Sixers collective, the Cameroonian was only the fourth best scorer for his team (19 pts, 15 rebounds), behind James Harden (22 pts, 14 assists), Tobias Thomas (26 pts, 6 assists) and Tyrese Maxey on a cloud (38 pts, at 14/21).