The Denver Nuggets qualified for the Western Conference finals in the NBA by defeating the Phoenix Suns 125-100 and settling the series in their favor 4-2.
Sharjah 24 – Asaad Khalil:
Serbian star Nikola Jokic led his team, the Denver Nuggets, to reach the Western Conference final in the NBA, by defeating the Phoenix Suns 125-100 and ending the series 4-2, while Boston Celtics star Jason Tatum saved his team from exiting the Philadelphia 76ers to impose A decisive seventh game.
In the first match, Jokic starred twice as the best player in the American League in the match and succeeded in achieving the “Triple Double” by scoring 32 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. Jamal Murray also contributed to the victory with 26 points, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 21 points.
The best scorer among the losers was Cameron Payne, “31 points, including 7 triples,” and Kevin Durant added 23 points.
It is the first time that Denver has reached the Western Conference final since 2020, and the winner will meet the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, the defending champion last season, with the first advancing 3-2.
Denver settled the score greatly at the end of the first half, after leading by 30 points, “81 – 51”.
And Jokic considered that his team was not affected by the idea of the “hostile atmosphere” in the “Footprint Center” stadium, and said: “We played with the same mentality that we usually play on our land, which is to be combative and make it difficult for the other team to score, and I think that’s what we did.” .
And the absence of Phoenix star Chris Paul continued for the fourth consecutive match due to injury, and DeAndre Eaton did not participate due to a rib injury.
As for Durant, he expressed his disappointment at the exit of his team, saying, “It is a bad feeling. We hit the opposing team and we could not get up.”
Tatum the Rescuer:
And Jason Tatum saved the Boston Celtics from being eliminated by the Philadelphia Seventy Sixers, scoring 16 of his 19 points in the last quarter, to lead his team to a 95-86 victory, equalizing the score in the series 3-3, to force a seventh game.
Tatum had scored once out of 14 attempts before hitting four three-pointers in the final quarter. The Celtics’ best scorer was Marcus Smart with 22 points, and Jaylen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon added 17 and 16 points, respectively.
“We had to persevere despite the difficulties and difficult times the team went through,” Tatum said.
He added, “Every one of us left an impact in this match, and in the end, the most important thing is that we came out winners.”
On the other hand, the best scorer in the ranks of Philadelphia, his Cameroonian star Joel Ambid, was the best player in the regular league this season with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while James Harden settled for 13 points.
Boston advanced by 16 points in some stages of the first half, but Philadelphia managed to reduce the difference, and even entered the last quarter, leading 73-71, without succeeding in settling the series in its favour.
It is noteworthy that the coach of the Philadelphia Seventy Sixers, Rock Devers, faces the danger of losing for the fourth time in the playoffs, after his team advanced 3-2, and this happened to him three times in 2009, 2010 and 2012 when he was coach of Boston.
Boston will host the decisive game on Sunday and will try to prevent the Sixers from reaching the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2001.
