Spanish
Sports Writing (USA) (EFE).- The Oklahoma City Thunder returned this Wednesday the blow suffered 48 hours earlier at the hands of Aaron Gordon with a tremendous beating 149-106 to the Denver Nuggets that ties 1-1 their Western Conference semifinals series.
It was the second game of the series that began on Monday in Oklahoma City with a surprise victory for the Nuggets with a three-pointer by Gordon at 2.8 seconds, one more of the epic endings in these 2025 playoffs.
The Nuggets, with the home-court advantage and a huge game load, were surpassed today by an explosive start from a Thunder team that never let up. Oklahoma City's 87 points at halftime is a new record in a playoff game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, favorite for the MVP as leader of a Thunder team that was the best team of the regular season (68 wins and 14 losses), shone with 34 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds.
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Jalen Williams finished with 17 points and 7 assists, Chet Holmgren had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Isaiah Hartenstein scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.
The Thunder managed to take a 49-point lead in the final quarter.
The other candidate for the NBA MVP, Serbian Nikola Jokic, had to settle for 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. He was ejected in the final stretch of the third quarter with 6 fouls.
Russell Westbrook was the Nuggets' top scorer with 19 points in what was his home for 11 seasons.
The Thunder's victory today breaks the streak of 6 consecutive losses by the four home teams in the start of the conference semifinals, something that had never happened before in NBA history.
The series now moves to Denver for Game 3 this Friday and Game 4 on Sunday.
Los Thunder muestran hambre
It was an explosive start for Oklahoma City, chastened by the blow received on Monday. The Thunder, brilliant but young and inexperienced, played as if it were a life-or-death match.
“We came out desperate. We knew what it meant to go 0-2 playing away from home. For us, that wasn't an option. We were clear about it from the moment we got up this morning and did what was necessary to get the win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game.
‘SGA’ led a Thunder team with a 56.2% field goal percentage compared to the Nuggets' 37.9%, 44.4% to 38.9% in three-pointers, and 91.7% to 78.1% in free throws. 31 assists to 12 and only 9 turnovers to 20 for the Nuggets.
Only in the first quarter, the Thunder had already put distance between them 45-21.
At halftime, the score was 87-56. The Thunder thus broke the scoring record in a first half in the history of the playoffs, until now at 86 held by the 2017 Cleveland Cavaliers, with LeBron James on the team.
Unlike the first game, the Thunder managed to keep their big men disciplined and on the court, practically nullifying Jokic's game, who was ejected before the end of the third quarter with 6 fouls.
With a 124-76 on the scoreboard, Mark Daigneault and David Adelman sat all their heavy artillery and left the last and inconsequential quarter to the substitutes.
With that second unit, the Thunder reached a maximum lead of +49 in a game in which they were not sated until it ended.
90-91. Los Knicks asaltan Boston de nuevo
For their part, the New York Knicks, in a victory mirroring that of the first game, once again took Boston this Wednesday by 90-91 and left the reigning NBA champions against the ropes with a 0-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The series now travels to Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple, which will host the third game this Saturday, May 10, and the fourth game on Monday, May 12.
Practically everything that happened in the first duel (105-108) happened again in the second with an identical result.
The Celtics squandered a +20 in the third quarter on Monday and tonight they also wasted a +20 in that third period.
Boston's problems from beyond the arc also continued, going from the historic -for how dismal- 15 of 60 (25%) in the first game to a similarly sad 10 of 40 (25%) in the second.
More similarities? Mikal Bridges was again the New York hero on defense: he snatched the ball from Jaylen Brown on Monday in the last possession and tonight he signed the key steal from Jayson Tatum.
On offense, Jalen Brunson once again showed off his 'clutch' player of the year with the last 6 points for his team.
Josh Hart was the Knicks' top scorer (third in the East) with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Dominican Karl-Anthony Towns was also key with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Brunson contributed 17 points and 7 assists, and Bridges scored each and every one of his 14 points in a spectacular fourth quarter.
As if they had awakened from a nightmare to enter another, the Celtics (second) once again sealed a very worrying performance with 36.2% in field goals.
Brown (20 points with 8 of 23 in shots in addition to 6 rebounds) and Derrick White (20 points with 6 of 17 and 9 rebounds) led the home attack. Tatum was unrecognizable with 13 points and 14 rebounds and a disastrous 5 of 19 in basket attempts.
Kristaps Porzingis, who couldn't finish the first game due to illness, only played 14 minutes, scoring 8 points off the bench.
For their part, the Knicks became the first team in NBA history to come back from a 20-point deficit in two consecutive playoff games.
The New Yorkers arrived at the playoffs with many doubts after a regular season in which they were unable to beat the three best teams in the league (Celtics, Thunder and Cavaliers), but now they have everything on their side, including statistics: 85.7% of the teams that won the first two away games in a seven-game series qualified for the next round (30-5 in total).
In addition, the Knicks extended the festival of these conference semifinals for the visitors with six consecutive away wins throughout the bracket.
Mismo cuento, mismo final
The Celtics tried to change things from the opening matchup by attacking the paint more at the start and with Brown and White setting the pace.
The Knicks left all their offensive ideas in the locker room, so much so that they closed the first quarter with only 13 points (24-13).
Towns came to the rescue. Measuring himself against the also Dominican Al Horford, the center shined with 10 points in the second chapter and several plays of great courage inside.
But Tom Thibodeau's team found no further way in attack and the Celtics, without brilliance but also without major problems, landed at halftime ahead (50-41). Brown reached 17 points at halftime but Tatum only got 2.
The first sign that an identical copy of the previous game was brewing was the third quarter, in which the Celtics stretched their lead to +20 (70-50 with 4:05 on the clock) but the Knicks, thanks to 10 points from the ever-willing Hart, made it to the final stretch with a fighting chance (73-61).
From there it was a new disaster for Boston.
Bridges, who hadn't scored a single point all night, started making shot after shot as murmurs once again took over TD Garden.
The Celtics' collapse was once again mind-blowing: Payton Pritchard made a three-pointer with 8.40 left and Joe Mazzulla's team didn't make another field goal (yes from the free throw line) until 19 seconds remained.
Along the way, these irreductible Knicks signed up for the epic one more night with a brutal 2-21 run that gave them their first lead of the game with only 57 seconds left to play (86-89).
Two free throws and a dunk by Tatum put the Celtics back in control (90-89 with 19 seconds left) but Brunson also responded from the free throw line (90-91 with 12.7 seconds).
The decisive ball went to Tatum, who went for Mitchell Robinson, ran into the help of OG Anunoby and from behind was caught by a Bridges who, with another providential steal, further excited these surprising Knicks.
