LeBron James on Tuesday scored 30 points as the Los Angeles Lakers muscled their way into the NBA playoffs with a thrilling come-from-behind 108-102 overtime victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers clinched the seventh seed and advanced to a Western Conference first-round playoff series against the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies starting on Sunday after a pulsating duel at the Crypto.com Arena.
The Timberwolves have a second chance to reach the post-season when they face either the New Orleans Pelicans or Oklahoma City Thunder tomorrow when the eighth seeding in the Western Conference will be up for grabs.
Photo: AFP
“This is what our sport is all about — getting to April and having an opportunity to play in the post-season,” 38-year-old James said after the win. “We’ve been battle-tested all year, and since the All-Star break we’ve been playing some good basketball.”
A nerve-jangling fourth quarter saw the Lakers battle back from a 10-point deficit to move to the brink of victory after James engineered a three-pointer for German international Dennis Schroder to put Los Angeles 98-95 ahead with just 1.4 seconds remaining.
Just as the home crowd prepared to celebrate, Anthony Davis was called for a rash foul on Mike Conley as the Timberwolves veteran attempted a desperate game-tying late three.
Conley’s effort missed, but he duly stepped up to drain three free-throws under excruciating pressure to knot the game at 98-98 and force overtime.
However, the Lakers regrouped to start overtime with a flurry of points, Rui Hachimura’s three-pointer and a Schroder layup putting Los Angeles five points clear at 103-98.
The Lakers kept their noses in front and after a missed three-point attempt by Taurean Prince that could have tied it for Minnesota, the hosts closed out the win.
In Tuesday’s other play-in game, Trae Young scored 25 points as the Atlanta Hawks booked their place in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 116-105 win over the Miami Heat.
Atlanta’s bench combined to score 53 points to silence the Miami crowd and send the Hawks into a first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics.
Miami next face either the Toronto Raptors or Chicago Bulls to determine the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
“We brought the physicality to them,” Young said after the win.
“They’re known for being a very physical team and trying to bully a lot of teams on the defensive end, and if you don’t match their physicality you can get beat,” he said. “Tonight I think we matched their physicality and it showed.”
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS