Golden State qualified for the second round of the playoffs in the Western Conference of the National Basketball League of Canada and the USA (NBA), after the champions won 114 – 81 against the Houston Rockets (despite the absence of their biggest star Steph Curry). The Warriors won the series, after winning the fifth game. Their next opponent will be the winner of the game between the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland.
Klay Thompson finished with 27 points, scoring a three-pointer on 7 occasions, while Draymond Green added 15 points and recorded nine rebounds and eight assists. James Harden scored 35 points for the team of Houston, 25 of which came in the first half, in which the result was 59-37 in Warriors’ favour.
Without Curry among the starting 5, The Warriors relied mostly on the second best member of the squad – Thompson. He showed a great performance and set a new NBA record for long-distant shooting. He is now the only player to score 7 threes in two consecutive NBA matches.
Surprisingly, Portland became the favourites for reaching a match against Golden State. The Blazers defeated 108 – 98 Los Angeles Clippers and led by a victory before the decisive sixth game in the series. Christian McCollum scored 27 points. Damian Lillard finished with 22, 16 of which he scored in the last quarter of the game. Exactly, his brilliant performance gave this big chance to his team.
The fans in Miami also saw a surprising result. Charlotte beat 90 – 88 the hosts in the 5th game between these two teams. So, The Hornets have now a big chance to qualify for the next stage. Courtney Lee scored three points just 25.2 seconds before the siren, which was enough for his team to record the third consecutive victory in the series against the favourites from Miami.
National Basketball League of Canada and the USA (NBA) playoffs:
- Miami Heat – Charlotte Hornets 88 – 90
- Charlotte lead by 3 – 2 victories in the series after 3 consecutive wins over their opponents.
- Golden State – Houston 114 – 81
- Golden State are through after they won the series with 4 victories to 1. Steph Curry is out for two weeks.
- Los Angeles Clippers – Portland Trail Blazers 98 – 108
- Portland lead by 3 – 2 wins in the series.