The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Denver Nuggets to set up a tense NBA playoff finale, while the New York Knicks won the series by clinching a victory over the Detroit Pistons.
With four seconds left on Thursday, Brunson scored the game-winning three points to give the Knicks a thrilling 116-113 victory over the Pistons.
The Clippers won the Western Conference game 3-3 to set up a crucial game seven against Denver on Saturday when they defeated the Nuggets 111-105 at the Intuit Dome.
As Los Angeles recovered from its 131-115 game-five drubbing in Denver, James Harden led the team with 28 points, while Kawhi Leonard added 27 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.
After rallying from 11 points down to lead 112-105 with just under three minutes left, the Pistons also appeared poised to bring their best-of-seven series to an end with the Knicks in Detroit.
With 36 seconds left in the final minutes, the Knicks were able to reclaim the lead with an extraordinary late rally led by Brunson.
A chilly three-pointer from Brunson gave the Knicks what they thought would be the lead after Cade Cunningham’s missed a layup to restore the Pistons’ lead.
“I rely on the trust and calmness that my teammates give me,” Brunson said. Without them, nothing would happen.
Game one is scheduled for Monday, and the third-seeded Knicks advance to an Eastern Conference semifinal series against the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics.
Mikal Bridges scored 25 points, while OG Anunoby added 22 and Brunson added 40 while OG Anunoby added 22.
What can you say about Jalene’s shot? Tom Thibodeau, the coach of the Knicks, described Brunson’s three-point performance. He performs at his best when his best is required, and he has done it all year. That is what makes him unique.
Cunningham led Detroit’s scorers with 23 points, assisted by Malik Beasley’s 20 and Jalen Duren’s 21.
After the opening quarter, the Knicks surged to a 14-point lead, outscoring the Pistons 37-23 in the opening frame thanks to 15 points from Brunson.
However, the Pistons fought back in the second quarter, scoring five of his eight three-pointers to give them a slim lead at half-time thanks to Beasley’s strong hand.
The defense stayed in place to stop the flow of Detroit points while Brunson and Bridges combined for 21 points to give the Knicks a double-digit lead in the second half.
The momentum picked up again in the fourth quarter as the Detroit fought off a Knicks team that had given the Knicks a bad idea as they led, but Brunson saved New York at the break.
A late charge from Denver was halted by a fiery Clippers in Los Angeles to claim their series-levelling victory.
With just under six minutes left in the third quarter, the Clippers outscored Denver 32-22 to open a double-digit lead that grew to 15 points. This resulted in a nip-and-tuck contest.
With less than a minute to go, the Clippers held firm to set up Saturday’s decider, but Denver rallied to close the gap.
“We didn’t want to go home,” Clippers star Harden said, “and it was win or go home.”
In a few days, we have one more game. We must improve. There are still many mental mistakes and areas for improvement in execution. However, we must go outside and take it.
The third quarter was when Denver’s interim head coach, David Adelman, pointed out the game’s ending.
“We played defense, but we never could come up with the 50-50 ball,” the team said. “We got sped up, we didn’t handle it. Adelman remarked, “That quarter absolutely killed us.
“We had a really good fourth quarter, but we had to be better the entire way.”
Source: Aljazeera
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