First dominating, then caught up in the second half, the Nuggets almost gave up the advantage of the field to the Angelinos who were not unworthy.
Last night, it wasn’t just the draft lottery or Victor Wembanyama in the basketball news. There was the start of the Western Conference Finals between the Nuggets and the Lakers. Fortunately Denver had a very good first half because the Angelinos did not give up. They came back to score and got closer to the feat, that of winning on the floor of the Ball Arena. The Lakers woke up too late and Anthony Davis’ 40 points on offense weren’t enough. His XXL performance marked Nikola Jokic who was still one of the architects of the success of the Nuggets. In a press conference, the pivot felt “that he was one of the most talented players in the league”.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham fed some regrets after game 1 before reassuring fans of the franchise. “There is no doubt in my mind that we will be ready for the second game. It will be fine, believe me,” he warned. The Angelinos will this time have to counter the attacks of Denver, which overtook them for the first 24 minutes of play. The next duel will take place on May 19. But before this second opposition, there will be tomorrow night, the Eastern Conference final between Boston and Miami.
Eastern Conference Finals
Boston Celtics (2) – Miami Heat (8)
Western Conference Finals
Denver Nuggets (1) – Los Angeles Lakers (7): 1-0
Eastern Conference Semifinals
- Boston Celtics (2) – Philadelphia 76 (3): 4-3
- New York Knicks (5) – Miami Heat (8): 2-4
Western Conference Semifinals
- Golden State Warriors (6) – Los Angeles Lakers (7): 2-4
- Denver Nuggets (1) – Phoenix Suns (4): 4-2
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
- Milwaukee Bucks (1) – Miami Heat (8) : 1-4
- Cleveland Cavaliers (4) – New York Knicks (5): 1-4
- Boston Celtics (2) – Atlanta Hawks (7) : 4 – 2
- Philadelphia 76ers (1) – Brooklyn Nets (6) : 4-0
Western Conference Quarterfinals
- Sacramento Kings (3) – Golden State Warriors (6) : 3-4
- Memphis Grizzlies (2) – Los Angeles Lakers (7) : 2-4
- Phoenix Suns (4) – Los Angeles Clippers (5): 4-1
- Denver Nuggets (1) – Minnesota Timberwolves (8): 4-1
Denver Nuggets – Los Angeles Lakers
May 17 : Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers: 132-126
May 19 : Denver Nuggets – Los Angeles Lakers
May 21st : Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets
May 23 : Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets
Boston Celtics-Miami Heat
May 18: Boston Celtics-Miami Heat
May 20 : Boston Celtics – Miami Heat
May 22 : Miami Heat-Boston Celtics
May 24 : Miami Heat-Boston Celtics
In the West, Nicolas Jokic led his team to victory. The Nuggets have the best record in this Western Conference with 23 wins and 29 losses. They are just ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies who took advantage of a superb Ja Morant during the regular season. Sacramento placed third. The Suns, who were joined by Kevin Durant, came 4th ahead of the Clippers, who finished the regular season well with the return of Kawhi Leonard. The defending champions, Golden State Warriors provided the essentials as the Lakers of lebron james who finally got away with it. Rudy Gobert’s Minnesota team completed the “final 8”.
In the East Milwaukee, Boston and Philadelphia were the favorites and they held their ranks and took the top three spots in the conference regular season respectively. Fourth place went to the Cleveland Cavaliers carried by Donovan Mitchell. The New York Knicks are back in the playoffs. It’s only the second time in 10 years that the franchise has played in the finals. The Brooklyn Nets are victims of the departures of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks are the last two teams to qualify.
Each NBA franchise plays 82 games in the regular season. At the end of this regular season, the top eight franchises in each conference are ranked from 1 to 8. The 1st faces the 8th, the 2nd is opposed to the 7th,… The winners of the first round advance to the conference semi-finals , the winners of the second round advance to the conference finals. The champions of each conference meet in the NBA Finals. The series are played in the best of 7 games which are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, since the 2013-2014 season.
Since the 2020-2021 season, the play-in has made its appearance in the NBA in which the teams ranked from 7th to 10th place play a mini tournament. The 7th and 8th of each conference face each other in a match, where the winner is qualified in 7th position of the playoffs. The loser plays the winner of the match between 9th and 10th in each conference, where the winner of the game advances to the playoffs in 8th place.
In the NBA, there are 30 franchises divided into two conferences:
Western Conference:
- Dallas Mavericks
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Phoenix Suns
- Portland Blazers
- Sacramento Kings
- San Antonio Spurs
- utah jazz
Eastern Conference:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- Brooklyn Nets
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Detroit Pistons
- Indiana Pacers
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks
- New York Knicks
- Orlando Magic
- Philadelphia Sixers
- Toronto Raptors
- washington wizards
Prestigious event of the NBA, the best players come together for a weekend. Several events are organized such as the three-point contest, the dunk contest, the “skills challenge” and at the end, a gala match between the superstars of the American basketball league.
Holder of NBA TV rights, BeInSport broadcasts a game every NBA night. The “NBA Extra” program broadcast from 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday to Friday analyzes NBA news.
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Nikola Jokic could almost have achieved the hat-trick, but the NBA preferred to award the title on May 3, 2023 to Joël Embid. The Sixers pivot was rewarded for his magnificent regular season. This is the third consecutive year that the distinction has been awarded to a pivot.