Head Finisher... Denver Beats Lakers to Advance to NBA Semifinals
Oklahoma City beats New Orleans and joins PO in the semifinals.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) defending champion Denver Nuggets defeated the LA Lakers' persistent pursuit and advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs.
Denver defeated the Lakers by 2 points, 108-106, after a fierce battle in Game 5 of the 2023-2024 NBA Western Conference quarterfinals playoffs (4 wins out of 7) held at Ball Arena in Colorado, USA on the 30th (Korean time).
Denver, which finished the series with 4 wins and 1 loss, will first compete with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who advanced to the semifinals, to advance to the conference finals. https://www.casinositewiki.com
Point guard Jermall Murray played a key role in the victory by scoring 32 points and delivering 7 assists.
Murray in particular hit a jump shot 4 seconds before the end of the fourth quarter when the game was tied 106-106.
The Lakers, who went on the final attack, ran out of time and missed Terion Prince's 3-point shot, confirming Denver's victory.
Denver's star Nikola Jokic also played well, scoring 25 points, 20 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Lakers' LeBron James played the longest 44 minutes on the team, scoring 30 points, 9 rebounds, and 11 assists, but was unable to prevent the team from being eliminated.
The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 97-89 in Game 4 of the away game held at the Smoothie King Center and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with their fourth win in the series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the attack by scoring 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Jaylen Williams also scored 24 points to help lead the team to victory.
Oklahoma City trailed 75-80 until the beginning of the fourth quarter, but turned the tide to 83-80 with Chet Holmgren's two-pointer and Josh Gidey's two three-pointers.
With 3 minutes and 8 seconds left before the end, Williams took the lead with a 3-pointer, widening the score to 93-82.
The Boston Celtics of the Eastern Conference defeated the Miami Heat 102-88 in an away game held at the Kaseya Center, taking the lead with 3 wins and 1 loss, leaving them just one win away from advancing to the semifinals.
Boston easily won Game 4 with Derek White exploding 38 points.
However, starting center Kristaps Porzingis left the court with a right leg injury with 2 minutes and 35 seconds left in the second quarter, leaving anxiety ahead of Game 5.
Porzingis averaged 14 points and 5.7 rebounds in games 1 through 3 of the quarterfinal playoffs.
