The Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James and Luka Doncic were eliminated in the first round of the NBA series by losing Wednesday at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, carried by a huge Rudy Gobert (27 points, 24 rebounds).
Winners 103 to 96, the Timberwolves won the 4-1 series and will either challenge the Golden State Warriors, or the Houston Rockets in the semi-finals of the West Conference.
After having aroused the hope of their fans thanks to their 3rd western place in the regular season, the Lakers disappointed in the playoffs, with early elimination and without relief, losing two of their three games disputed at home.
For his first season at the head of the team, coach JJ Redick could not do better than his predecessor Darvin Ham, released at the same stadium last year.
The Lakers seemed to pay the lack of depth of their workforce, turned upside down in February with the arrival of the Slovenian magician Doncic, in exchange in particular of the star interior Anthony Davis.
Dononic was still important (28 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists) but the Californian franchise collective was particularly feverish on Wednesday, remaining for a long time in the game thanks to the clumsiness of the Timberwolves (7 out of 47 from afar at 14.9 %).
“King” James (22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) finished his 22nd season in the NBA at 40 years old. He had signed a new two -year contract last summer estimated at $ 100 million with Lakers, the second year ($ 52 million) remaining at his discretion.
Unable to contain it for lack of size, the Lakers were martyred by the French pivot Rudy Gobert, author with 27 points and 24 rebounds of his record statistics in series.
Houston stays alive against Golden State
Houston’s Rockets have largely dominated the Warriors of Golden State 131 to 116, at home.
They thus reduce the gap to 3-2 in the first round series before a sixth game which will be presented Friday in California.
On the verge of elimination, the Rockets of Fred Vanvleet (26 points) and Amen Thompson (25 points) very quickly took the lead, reaching the break with 76 points (against 49), and counting up to 31 points ahead.
Dillon Brooks added 24 points.
The Warriors Cadors were transparent, with 13 points for Stephen Curry and 8 for Jimmy Butler, their five holders registering in total only 40 points.
The two coaches turned their workforce in a last quarter who saw the spirits warm up, notably between Alperen Sengun and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Pat Spencer, from Golden State, was also expelled to the fourth quarter after a whim against Sengun, which was also jostled by Jackson-Davis during an altercation after a battle for a rebound.
The Rockets want to become the 14th team in the history of the NBA to fill a delay of 3-1.
