In San Francisco, Jordan Poole had a chance to tie a dramatic duel nine seconds before the end at 115:112 for the Lakers, but he missed a difficult three-pointer and the guests took the lead from free throws. Anthony Davis contributed 30 points and 23 rebounds to the win, bettering his career high. LeBron James added 22 points and 11 rebounds, but hit nine of 24 shots. D’Angelo Russell and Dennis Schröder each scored 19 points.
“We’ve been playing playoff basketball for basically two and a half months to be here now,” James said. The Lakers already had to pass the preliminary round. “The Warriors are great on the home board, but we were very resilient today. We stepped up well,” added the best scorer in NBA history after the first expected battle with Stephen Curry.
The Warriors, who just two days before the start of the series advanced after the seventh game over Sacramento, led Curry with 27 points, 25 points were added by Klay Thompson and 21 by Poole. Ten points and 23 rebounds were collected by Kevon Looney in less than 30 minutes.
Although the Lakers allowed 21 three-pointers from 53 attempts, while they themselves hit only six of 25, they held the Warriors to 40.6 percent shooting success and almost 47. The series continues again on Thursday in the Golden State hall.
Leader Miami Butler is nursing a sore ankle from the first meeting. Even without him, the Heat held on, but then Brunson scored to tie the series, even though his ankle hurt too. “You had to find a way to be tough mentally and deal with everything. Just go and do your job,” Brunson said.
His team won on rebounds 50:34, so he didn’t even mind that he dropped nine out of 30 sixes. Julius Randle added 25 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Knicks, and RJ Barrett had 24 points, including five three-pointers, in a close game in which no one led by more than eight points. Josh Hart was just one assist short of a triple-double, with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
“We’re not happy that we couldn’t find a way to win. But we need to get over it and be ready for Saturday,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. His team leaders were Caleb Martin with 22 and Gabe Vincent with 21 points.
| 2. kolo play off NBA |
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| Eastern Conference – Game 2: |
| New York – Miami 111:105, series status 1:1 |
| Western Conference – Game 1: |
| Golden State – LA Lakers 112:117 |
