Heat continue super series
Euphoric Lakers kick out defending champions
05/13/2023, 07:21 am
The Los Angeles Lakers are in the finals of the Western Conference and meet the Denver Nuggets. In game six against the Golden State Warriors they are clearly superior. Schröder is still angry. Meanwhile, Isaiah Hartenstein’s dreams of the title have burst.
After an extremely dominant performance, the Los Angeles Lakers are back in the NBA Conference Finals for the first time since their last championship three years ago and have ended the season of the Golden State Warriors. Against the defending champion, the record champion came to a 122:101 and won the series in game six with the necessary fourth win. “Not many on our team were in a crucial game. That was strong,” basketball superstar LeBron James praised his teammates. “It was the defending champions, they don’t just come out on their own. The way they throw, it’s incredible. We wanted to be aggressive everywhere. It started with Dennis (Schröder) and a good effort from everyone,” said Anthony Davis.
For the Lakers around James and the national team captain Dennis Schröder, who played from the start, who was thrown off the field in the second half because of his second technical foul for a provocation by opponent Draymond Green, it is now Tuesday after an outstanding performance, especially in the first half on with the series against the Denver Nuggets. They also beat the Phoenix Suns 4-2. “It’s going to be a great series. We have respect for Denver,” said James.
Schröder’s aggressiveness helps the Lakers
James was the best pitcher for the Lakers with 30 points, while Steph Curry scored 32 points for the Warriors. Anthony Davis topped the game with 20 rebounds for the Lakers and had 17 points himself. Austin Reaves, who may play for the German national team in the future, delighted the Lakers fans with 23 points.
Schröder replaced Jarred Vanderbilt in the starting line-up, who recently played weakly on offense, and his aggressiveness and speed contributed to the rocket launch. At 27:10 in the first quarter, the hosts were already 17 points ahead of the team around Stephen Curry and Green and delighted the spectators in the Crypto.com Arena with one successful action after the other. The Warriors stabilized and got into the game better, but didn’t take the lead once in the game and can no longer defend their title. The Lakers, on the other hand, still have a shot at championship number 18.
Miami achieves historic success
The Miami Heat are also further in the title race. The Florida team beat the New York Knicks 96-92 in front of their own fans, earning the necessary fourth win in the best-of-seven series in game six. Final opponents in the east are either the Boston Celtics or the Philadelphia 76ers. This series is 3:3 and the decision will be made in game seven. The Heat are only the second team in NBA history to advance to the Conference Finals as the number eight-seeded team. “We have some really good players on this team,” said Heat star Jimmy Butler when asked how that was possible. “That’s what we do best: earn these victories. We’re prepared for that.”
Thanks to Jalen Brunson, the Knicks got off to a much better start and were quickly 14 points ahead at 31:17. But before the break, the Heat, led by their top players Butler and Bam Adebayo, regained the lead and were no longer behind in the second half. Butler had 24 points, Adebayo 23. Brunson’s strong 41 points were not enough to prevent the Knicks from going out.