After the defeat suffered last night against the Sacramento Kings, the Golden State Warriors find themselves up to their necks in water. The California team made it 2-0 in their tie against the Warriors in which Draymond Green was sent off for stepping on Domantas Sabonis's chest (114-106). Stephen Curry's legendary team, with four rings in the past eight years, is in trouble, having never trailed 2-0 in a playoff series in the Steve Kerr era.
The most tense moment of the game came when Green was sent off with 7 minutes to go. Sabonis was on the ground after falling in the fight for a rebound, from there he grabbed the foot of a Green who wanted to go on the counterattack and the Warriors center responded by stepping on Sabonis's chest. While the referees reviewed the action, which ended with a flagrant type 2 for Green and a technique for Sabonis, the Warriors player, who could be sanctioned by the NBA, faced some fans and celebrated the boos that came from the stands .
For the Kings, Sabonis put his gray first game behind him and finished with 24 points and nine rebounds (8-of-12 shooting) and De'Aaron Fox had 24 points and nine assists. The locals suffered in the triple (9 of 38) but controlled the rebound (58 of 46) and took advantage of the 22 turnovers of their rivals.
Stephen Curry stood out for the Warriors with 28 points and six assists and Andrew Wiggins, who started again, contributed 22 points. The tie now travels to San Francisco, where the third game will be played on Thursday.
In the same situation as the Warriors are the Brooklyn Nets, who on Tuesday lost their second consecutive game (96-84) in their series against the Philadelphia 76ers. With a scoring display from Tyrese Maxey (33 points) and a dominant Joel Embiid despite fierce pressure from their rivals, the 76ers, third-seeded East in these playoffs, did their homework at the Wells Fargo Center. The Nets are forced to make a stronghold at Barclays Center to stay alive in the series.
The Cameroonian Embiid finished his game with 20 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks, although with eight turnovers, on a difficult night for James Harden, who only scored eight points. Maxey shined offensively with 33 points and six 3-pointers, the best since the arc of his playoff career, while Tobias Harris contributed 20 points.
The 76ers are two wins away from advancing to the second round, where they will face the winner of the series between the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks.
