Warriors Slam Door on Rockets; Sixers Nip Heat in Play-in Preview
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 05 Apr 2024
The Play-In cast in the West is now all but complete as the visiting Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets, 133-110 virtually killing the latter's bid for a tie for the 10th place and a spot in the play-in.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers scored a close 109-105 road win over the Miami Heat in a virtual preview of their play-in for the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference.
The win which likewise swept their season series against the Rockets, put the Warriors record to 42-34, five games ahead of Houston which drooped to 38-38, all but assuring Golden State the 10th place with just six games left for both teams. In the remote possibility of the Rockets tying the Warriors at the close of the season, Golden State will still move to the play-in on the strength of their series sweep of the Rockets.
Golden State showed their determination to end the Rockets bid by fielding the Splash Brothers while starting Tryce Jackson-Davis at center and moving Draymond Green at power forward and Andrew Wiggins in the other forward spot. This combination immediately staked the Warriors ahead with Klay Thompson (29 points) staging an awesome show in three point shot making with Stephen Curry (29) and Wiggins (10).
This show of firepower continued with Chris Paul (8) joining the fray and Jackson-Davis (20) dominating on the inside as the Warriors maintained double figures lead for much of the contest until the final buzzer.
Center Jabari Smith (24), Amen Thompson (8), Cam Whitmore (14) Jalen Green (11) and Fred Van Fleet (10) gallantly carried the fight for Houston but the Warriors have too much talent and firepower.
Philadelphia and Miami could have recognized the importance of the game hence both came with their best possible personnel available which their coaches utilized to their perceived advantage.
The Sixers were without Tobias Harris but his absence was hardly felt as the returning Joel Embiid (29 points) combined well with an inspired Tyrese Maxey (37) and Kelly Oubre (18) to lead Philadelphia to the road win.
Both Jimmy Butler (20) and Bam Adebayo (14) were at hand for this important game but needed extra help from veterans Kevin Love (11), Hayword Highsmith (14) and Terry Rozier (22) to stay competitive with the Sixers.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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