Houston (USA), .- The Houston Rockets, for the second consecutive season, became the executioners of the Utah Jazz to eliminate them from the playoff competition after Win the fifth game of the first round series of the Western Conference that played the best of seven, in a day in which the Warriors, current champions, were surprised again by the Los Angeles Clippers, who forced the sixth game.
The guard James Harden re-emerged with the decisive points that allowed the Rockets to win 100-93 to the Jazz in the fifth match of the tie that won by 4-1 to the best of seven.
Harden, who did not have his best inspiration, failed 16 of 26 field goals, including nine of 12 triples, in the end scored the decisive points in the last minutes that were the ones that secured the victory of the Rockets, who for the second consecutive season they eliminate the Jazz in the playoffs.
Last year they did it in the semifinals with the same result of 4-1.
The star guard of the Rockets, who did not score in the first quarter, failed the initial seven shots and 11 of 12 field goals, finished the game with 26 points, six rebounds, six assists, five turnovers and five personals.
While the Swiss center Clint Capela, was reunited again with his best game in the paint and provided a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three blocks.
In addition, Capela was also key in an offensive rebound and basket that forced the staff and although the failed did not allow the Jazz to get ahead on the scoreboard.
Base Chris Paul and guard Eric Gordon with 15 points each completed the list of the four Rockets players who had double-digit numbers.
Waiting to know the next rival in the semifinals that will be the Warriors or the Clippers, if the rivals are the current two-time league champions, they will have the advantage of field, having concluded the regular season with the best record of the Western Conference, and the first game would be played at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Whereas if they were the Clippers, then the series would start in Houston, at the Toyota Center, since the Rockets finished the regular season in fourth place, and the Clippers did in the eighth, the last one that gave them the right to be in the playoffs.
Despite the defeat and elimination, Spanish baseman Ricky Rubio emerged as the great leader who kept them in the game until the decisive points of Harden and Paul came from the line of personnel.
Rubio finished with a double-double of 17 points and 11 assists in the 35 minutes he played, being the second highest encestador of the Jazz that had five players with two-digit numbers, including the escort-forward reserve Royce O’Neale, who was the leader with 18 goals.
The El Masnou player scored 7 of 15 field goals, including a triple of five attempts, and hit 2-2 from the personnel line.
Rubio also captured two defensive rebounds, recovered three balls, lost another three committed three fouls.
Reserve guard Lou Williams contributed a double-double of 33 points, including the decisive ones of the last two minutes of the game, and 10 assists, which left him leader of the Clippers that were imposed at home 121-129 to the Warriors in the fifth match of the tie.
The victory allows the Clippers to stay alive for the best-of-seven tie that now remains favorable to the Warriors 3-2, but they will have to travel back to Los Angeles to face off again on Friday at the Staples Center. .
The two-time NBA champions had everything ready for the celebration in their field of Oracle Arena and begin to weigh in their next opponent, which will classify the Rockets.
The Warriors’ defeat is the second consecutive playoff game that they have suffered in their field since the 2016 NBA Finals when they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Warriors, despite the 45 points contributed by forward Kevin Durant, his best mark as a professional in the playoffs, in the end did not get the decisive goals, which always fell on the side of the Clippers.
The team from Los Angeles once again had the Warriors’ field as their talisman where they perform their best game as they did in the second game when they came back from a historical disadvantage of 31 points.
The base Patrick Beverley also returned to be a winning factor by providing a double-double of 17 points, 14 rebounds -11 defensive, and delivered four assists, in addition to making a great defense on the guard Klay Thompson.
Italian power forward Danilo Gallinari also excelled in the Clippers attacking game with 26 points and seven rebounds, which left him as the second highest scorer.
The Clippers, who dominated the Warriors in the indoor game with 42 rebounds for 39 of the current league champions, also had the support of reserve center Montrezl Harrell who got 24 points.
Durant was the great leader of the Warriors, but his great individual work encestadora, guessed 14 of 26 shots of field, in his third party of the series of at least 30 points, they were not enough at the time of avoiding the defeat.
The Warriors’ forward, who also grabbed six rebounds and delivered six assists, scored 40 or more points in playoff games for the ninth time in his professional career.
Durant reached 3,816 points in the playoff competition and outscored John Havlicek (3,776) in 12th place on the all-time NBA list.
The base Stephen Curry finished as second maximum encestador when writing down 24 points, including four triples of five attempts, that allowed him to arrive at the 400 in the competition of the playoffs, the best mark of all the times, that is in his power .(EFE)
