NBA Playoffs: Curry and Warriors handle the Lakers in Game 5 to avoid elimination | nba

Stephen Curry had 27 points and eight assists, Andrew Wiggins added 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and the defending champion warriors of the golden state avoided elimination by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 121-106 in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday night.

LeBron James had 25 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles. Anthony Davis added 23 points and nine rebounds, but was late to the locker room after he apparently took a blow to the head from Kevon Looney.

Austin Reaves made a 3-pointer with 5:25 left that cut the Warriors’ lead to single digits at 104-95 only for Curry to respond with five straight points, then hit another big shot after D’Angelo Russell connected from the deep. .

Draymond Green contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds as Golden State played a tough defense that created better opportunities on the offensive end, just as coach Steve Kerr has challenged his team.

Now, he returns to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Friday night with the Lakers 5-0 at home this postseason, having won eight straight home court games since losing to the Bulls on March 26.

Golden State is trying to rally from a 3-1 series deficit for the second time in franchise history and will try to win one more to bring Game 7 back to Chase Center on Sunday. The Warriors rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City.

Curry got past the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer on Lonnie Walker IV as the Warriors took a 70-59 lead. Golden State’s 70 first-half points were the most for Golden State in the playoffs since scoring 72 in a Game 6 first-round win over the Clippers in 2019. The last team to score 70 or more in the first half of a playoff game against the Lakers. it was Phoenix with 71 in Game 4 of the 2000 second round.

Green and Wiggins took turns on James and Golden State tried to get Davis out of rhythm after he had 23 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two assists in Game 4.

Curry shot 12-of-24 but just 3-of-11 from long range following his third playoff triple-double in a 104-101 loss in Game 4.

Miami Heat 103-112 New York Knicks

Jalen Brunson had 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while playing all 48 minutes in a season-extending performance, and the The New York Knicks beat the Miami Heat 112-103 on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Knicks denied the Heat’s first attempt to become the second No. 8 seed to reach the conference finals and sent the series back to Miami for Game 6 on Friday night.

RJ Barrett added 26 points and Julius Randle had 24 for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who stayed alive hoping to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000. They did it by beating the Heat in seven games in the second round. . a possibility that still exists.

The Knicks built a 19-point lead in the third quarter, then held on as the Heat finally got their 3-pointers started to fall and cut it to two with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

Jimmy Butler had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Heat, staying under 25 points for the first time this postseason. Bam Adebayo added 18 points and Duncan Robinson had 17.

The 1999 Knicks, for now, remain the only No. 8 to reach a conference final in the current playoff format that began in 1984. They went all the way to the final. nba finals after defeating the top-seeded Heat in the first round.

The Heat used a couple of big runs opening the quarter, 18-2 to start the second and 23-7 in the third, to build a 73-54 lead midway through the third quarter. The Heat got as far as 103-101 before Isaiah Hartenstein, in the game because the Heat were intentionally fouling starting center Mitchell Robinson, hit a follow-up dunk to start New York’s final kickoff.

Quentin Grimes also played the full 48 minutes for the Knicks, finishing with eight points.

The Heat dominated Game 3 and outscored the Knicks in the fourth quarter to hold on and take Game 4, putting themselves in position to finish a series in five games for the second time this postseason. They started it by knocking down Milwaukee, which had the best record in the league.

But they missed 21 of their first 25 3-pointers and were still down 13 with 9 1/2 minutes before Robinson and Lowry each made a pair in a 12-3 burst that cut the score to 95-91 with more than half the time. end period. remaining.

Butler had one of his typical go-it-all stretches with a basket, blocked shot and free throw to cut the score to 103-10, but the Heat couldn’t come from behind like they did in the deciding game against the Bucks. , when they were down by 16 points.

They led 24-14 after one, but Butler started the second quarter on the bench and the Knicks capitalized. They pushed the pace to get rare and easy shots and Barrett hit two 3-pointers in an 18-2 run that gave them a 32-26 lead.

Randle’s three-pointer made it 50-47 at halftime. Kevin Love got the first basket of the third, but Barrett and Brunson responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to ignite the Knicks’ next streak. The lead was eight before an 11-0 surge, with back-to-back 3s by Brunson and Randle, brought it to 73-54 at midterm.

Robinson went 4-for-8 at the line, finishing with eight points and 11 rebounds.