Victor Wembaneyama’s San Antonio Spurs defeated Anthony Edwards’ Minnesota Timberwolves with a resounding 139-109 victory, clinching a spot in the Western Conference Finals with a 4-2 series record.
Sophomore Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 32 points and 11 rebounds as the Spurs made a franchise-record 18 3-pointers that night.
Their team will face the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a highly anticipated matchup between the top two seeds in the West.
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell, 24, and forward Victor Wembaneyama, 1, celebrate scoring.
De’Aaron Fox added 21 points and nine assists, rookie Dylan Harper scored 15 points off the bench for the victors, while Wenbanyama quietly scored 19 points in 27 minutes.
“Of course I’m confident, but I need to maintain the right confidence level,” Wenbanyama said ahead of the much-awaited Thunder series.
“I’m not thinking about anything right now. I’m just thinking about recovering.”
“This shows that we already have a little bit of experience from our short time in the playoffs. It’s simple, but we feel like we’ve put ourselves in the best possible position.”
Anthony Edwards speaks with referee Josh Tibben during the first half of Game 6
Edwards scored 24 points on 9-of-26 shooting for the Timberwolves, capping an impressive postseason in which the No. 6 seed pushed one of the NBA’s best teams to its limits.
“I just take my hat off to them,” Edwards said. “They were just a better team.”
Minnesota head coach Chris Finch agreed: “As this series went on, it felt like we ran out of bullets.”
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LeBron James talks about his future in the NBA after the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs last night.
The Thunder dominated the series, winning the first two series and putting LeBron James’ future NBA career in doubt with a win in the second round, but they will surely face their toughest test of the playoff campaign so far when they face San Antonio in Game 1 of the series opener on Monday night.
Pistons defeat Cavs on the road to decide Game 7
Cunningham led the team with 21 points and scored the winning goal.
The top-seeded Detroit Pistons put together a dominant second-half performance to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-94 on Friday night and advance to Game 7 of their Eastern Conference second-round series.
The Pistons’ 21-point win tied the 66-year NBA playoff record for the most road wins in Game 6 by a team that trailed 3-2 in the series. In the 1960 West Division Finals, the St. Louis Hawks defeated the Minneapolis Lakers 117-96.
Cunningham made five 3-pointers and the Pistons made 16-of-36 shots from beyond the arc, tying the most this preseason. Duncan Robinson, who missed Wednesday’s Game 5 with a lower back injury, scored 14 points on four 3-pointers off the bench.
Jalen Duren had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, Danis Jenkins also scored 15 points, and the Pistons have won four times this postseason despite facing elimination.
Cleveland Cavaliers’ James Harden (1) shoots between Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren (0) and Danis Jenkins (24)
“It was a collective effort. We needed every effort. It was a great team win,” Cunningham said.
Cleveland’s James Harden’s 23 points, along with 18 points from Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, weren’t enough to stop the Cavs from suffering their first home loss of the postseason.
“We’ve never really kicked to that second level, and we need to get to that third and fourth level. There’s never been a consistent flow on both ends of the floor, and that’s frustrating,” Harden said.
The decisive match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in Detroit at 1am (British time) on Monday.
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