The Greek Nigerian power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and the guard James Harden were the two great protagonists of the NBA playoff semifinals day as they became the leaders that led their respective teams to the triumph of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Rockets of Houston
Antetokounmpo was once again the great star of the Bucks by contributing a double-double of 39 points, 16 rebounds and four assists that allowed his team to beat the Boston Celtics 101-113 at home in the fourth game of the semifinal tie of the Eastern Conference.
The victory puts the Bucks ahead 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 will be played next Wednesday in Milwaukee, where with one more win they would advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since the 2001 season.
Although the Bucks lost the first game of the tie in their field, when Antetokounmpo did not have his best performance, now they are on the verge of eliminating the Celtics and reaching the finals, which they played in 2001 and lost to the Philadelphia Sixers in seven games.
The protagonists then were Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson for the Bucks and Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo for the Sixers.
Antetokounmpo, who in Game 3 was just two assists from a triple-double, this time was deadly in the fourth quarter with 17 points and seven rebounds that helped the Bucks move away on the scoreboard and secure the victory.
Along with Antetokounmpo, the reserves were once again a winning factor for the Bucks with veteran point guard George Hill, who contributed 15 points, and guard Pat Connaughton, who was on the verge of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Bucks reserves got 32 points for just seven from the Celtics, who were again inconsistent in their game in the decisive moments.
Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who was able to play his last game with the Celtics at the TD Garden in Boston, was the best of his team with a double-double of 23 points and 10 assists that put him in front of the five starters who they had two-digit numbers.
But, once again, Irving and the rest of the Celtics could not control Antetokounmpo or score the decisive points.
Irving made 7 of 22 shots from the field, including a triple of seven attempts, and confirmed that he had lost his best wrist touch, the one he did have in the first game when he was the leading scorer with 26 points.
Since then, Irving has made 19 of 62 shots from the field, including four of 20 triples.
If Antetokounmpo silenced the TD Garden, Harden shone again when the Rockets needed him most by contributing a double-double of 38 points, 10 rebounds and four assists that allowed them to beat the Golden State Warriors 112-108 in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal tie.
The Rockets’ victory, the second in a row, ties the series (2-2) and ensures the return of the competition to Houston for the sixth game, while the fifth will be played on Wednesday at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Again, the suspense remained until the last second of the game as with less than two minutes to go the Rockets had a nine-point lead.
But the Warriors with a triple by point guard Stephen Curry were only two goals (110-108) with 19 seconds remaining.
Harden, with 11.5 seconds to go, forced a personal and when everything seemed to be sentenced if he scored the two free throws, he made the first, but he missed the second and the defensive rebound went to the Warriors, who were going to have the last opportunity to force at least extra time, as had happened in the third game.
The Warriors’ strategy was for forward Kevin Durant to be the first option with the triple attempt, which failed, but the offensive rebound went to the Golden State team and then the ball to Curry, who tried the second triple in search of the tie, and also failed.
This time the defensive rebound went to the Rockets and point guard Chris Paul scored the two personnel shots that ensured the Rockets victory.
Harden made 13 of 29 shots from the field, including 6 of 17 from 3s, and 6 of 8 from the personnel line.
Durant with 34 points, seven rebounds and four assists was once again the leader of the Warriors, who had four players with double-digit numbers.
Curry finished with 30 points, eight assists, four rebounds and three turnovers, but scored just four 3-pointers from 14 attempts and did not contribute the decisive points either.
Power forward Draymond Green emerged once again as the Warriors’ leader in the inside game, finishing the game with a double-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and a block.