NBA Playoffs: Timberwolves eliminated Lakers and Rockets stretched the series against Warriors

Minnesota Timberwolves made the big blow and sentenced 4-1 the series against Los Angeles Lakers to advance to semifinals of the West Conference. Thus, the team of LeBron James and Luka Doncic He said goodbye very quickly from the NBA playoffs. For its part, Houston Rockets He got a victory that kept him in the race in front of Golden State Warriors And now the series is 3-2 in favor of the team of Stephen Curry.

Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday taking 4-1 the First Round series after defeating Los Angels 103-96, an authentic disappointment for the LeBron James team that aspired to everything after the arrival of Luka Doncic.

The Timberwolves now expect rival in the semifinals of the West, which will leave the series between Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors who dominate the Californians 3-2.

In the fifth game, Minnesota dominated the Lakers with their big men, very needy height in these playoffs.

Rudy Gobert scored 27 points and caught 24 rebounds. Julius Randle contributed 23 points.

Little mattered that the Timberwolves star, Anthony Edwards, only scored 15 (although he caught 11 rebounds and distributed 8 assists). Nor that Minnesota was especially misguided from the triple with 7 of 47 (14.9%).

Their mastery of the rebound (65 to 48) allowed them to enjoy seconds and third opportunities in front of some Lakers that saw how the possibility of ring escaped.

Never before the Lakers had fallen in the first round of the playoffs after ending at least in third position the regular season, as they did this year. The Timberwolves were sixth.

For the Lakers, Luka Donc scored 28 points, caught 7 rebounds and distributed 9 assists despite playing all the second half with discomfort due to a fall before the break.

Rui hashimura contributed 23 points, LeBron James 22 and Austin Reaves stayed with 12.

Houston Rockets survived the threat of elimination at the hands of Golden State Warriorscon a 131-116 victory, which had a remarkable exhibition in the first half, with which they put the 3-2 in the series, forcing the sixth game.

Rockets (seconds) and Warriors (seventh) will play the next duel this Friday in San Francisco.

The Rockets left the game seen for sentence in the second quarter, when the headlines of the Warriors seemed to lower their arms when they saw 30 points below. The result was so clear that the two coaches sat their best players in the third quarter.

But IME UDOKA had to finish the game with the headlines on the court to ensure victory against the Warriors substitutes, who had managed to reduce their advantage in the last quarter from 31 to 13.

Bad mouth taste for Houston after the domain displayed in the first half.

The Rockets were led by Fred Vanvleet with 26 points, Ame Thompson with 25 and Dillon Brooks with 24. Alperen Sengun finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists.

For the Warriors, the best was Moses Moody with 25 points and 9 rebounds. Stephen Curry stayed with 13, while Jimmy Butler scored 8.

The Warriors still have the court factor in the series thanks to the game they won in Houston, the first of the series.

In the sixth game, on Friday in California, the Warriors will play to liquidate the series and qualify for the semifinals of the West, while the Rockets will seek to take the tie to the seventh game in Houston.