The Grizzlies had no choice but to win on their floor to keep hope in their series against the Lakers. The duo Desmond Bane (33 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) – Ja Morant (31 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) had obviously assimilated the thing.
Memphis’ speed of play quickly handicapped the Lakers, especially since LeBron James was not at the party. The Los Angeles star struggled tonight (10 rebounds, 15 points), with 5 of 17 shooting, including a dirty 1 of 9 three-pointers. Anthony Davis (31 points, 19 rebounds), his team’s offensive and defensive machine, did his best to keep the Lakers afloat. Insufficient. “Tonight I sucked, I will be better at Game 6”, promised a lucid LeBron James in a post-match press conference. This time, King James will be able to count on the support of the Staples Center in order to complete an expected qualification in the conference semi-finals.
The Warriors collective makes the difference
By finding his room, Sacramento intended to take the opportunity to take the advantage in his series against the Warriors. Everything had started well in the first quarter for the Kings, led in particular by De’Aaron Fox (24 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists in the game). To the point of ending this quarter in (short) lead (36-33). The Fox show will continue at the start of the second quarter … before the Golden State machine starts up, notably with three successive three-point shots from Klay Thompson.
The precious Kevon Looney (22 rebounds in the game) and the address of Andrew Wiggins (20 points), Klay Thompson (25 points) and Draymond Green (21 points), then allow the defending champions to manage their meeting. With a 12-point lead in the last quarter, Golden State could have rolled out late in the game. But the collective will then seize up and multiply the errors, in a room of the Kings which then regains hope by seeing its team return to a small point five minutes from the end…. This does not ultimately prevent the Warriors from l trump experience: 123-116. Two-time MVP Stephen Curry finished as the best player of the night, with 31 points and 8 assists.