NBA, Lakers save in overtime and play-offs. Atlanta also passes

Extra time is needed Los Angeles Lakers to beat 108-102 i Minnesota Timberwolves and qualify for the play-offs, where they will face the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. Minnesota competes head-on for over 40 minutes, then collapses in the final, it seems beaten in the last seconds but then thanks to an ingenuity by Anthony Davis manages to catch overtime: in the last five minutes, however, there is no game and the Lakers go like this after you. One of the decisive passes of the match comes less than two seconds from the siren, when on 95-95 LeBron James he collapses the defense on himself and then reopens for Dennis Schröder for a corner: triple, +3, big party in LA. It seems done, but on the last possession, Anthony Davis lunges for a corner to close a complicated triple from Mike Conley who takes advantage of it, gets fouled and sends the three free throws on target, bringing the match back to a draw and thus forcing overtime .

LeBron makes 30, Schroder crucial

At the final siren, the best scorer at Lakers is once again LeBron James, author of 30 points with 12/21 shooting to which he also adds 10 rebounds and six assists – exhausted at the end of a match in which he remained on the parquet for 45 minutes . Two more than those in which Anthony Davis takes part, who puts up 24 with 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, while the third violin comes off the bench and is wild Dennis Schröder – crucial in the last 20 minutes of the match with his 21 points and an eloquent +22 plus/minus. Minnesota, on the other hand, flounders in the final, scoring 16 points overall in the last 17 minutes of the game: at the final siren there are 23 points for a decisive Conley, alongside whom a Karl-Anthony Towns with 24, 11 rebounds and five assists also does very well. Without the disqualified Rudy Gobertbut with Kyle Anderson ready to lead the team with 12 points and 13 assists, it is above all Anthony Edwards who is missing from the appeal who finishes with nine points and a disastrous 3/17 shooting with 0/9 from the arc.

Atlanta switches to Miami and moves on

Also in the playoffs Atlanta which is imposed 116-105 a You love me and win the qualification. A real lesson in tactics and more: the Hawks find the best approach for the match against Miami, surprise the Heat at home at the start and then manage to maintain the necessary advantage to win and qualify for the post season as seventh strength of the Eastern Conference and therefore as the next opponent of Boston – thus overturning every prediction that saw the Florida franchise as the favorite, dominant last year in the playoffs against the Hawks in a series that ended 4-1 for the Heat.
Atlanta thus confirms itself as the perfect team to face the Play-in (3-0 the franchise record), able to take advantage of the evening of 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists by Trae Youngwho this time finds the support of an 18-point Dejounte Murray and the four men coming off the bench all in double figures – 17 points on 17 shots for Saddiq Bey.

Atlanta dominates in rebounds

Clint Capela’s performance from just four points scored but with 21 rebounds collected, in a battle that rewarded the Hawks 63-39 in team rebounds, should also be underlined. Miami on the other hand, already down by 20 lengths during the second quarter, will have to be able to forget this empty pass as soon as possible, in which the Heat were unable to take full advantage of the 33 points of a wild Kyle Lowry coming off the bench ( season best) with 11/16 from the field and 6/9 from the arc, while Tyler Herro has 26 points and 21 with nine assists for Jimmy Butler – who failed to transform into “Jimmy Buckets” as hoped . The Florida team awaits the winner between Toronto and Chicago.