On May 11, Beijing time, the NBA arranged two more playoff games: at 7:30, the Heat led 3-1 on aggregate against the Knicks, can Butler lead the team back to the Eastern Conference Finals? At 10 o'clock, the Lakers, who are also 3-1 on aggregate, are away against the Warriors, can James and Thick Eyebrows finish the Warriors in G5 and reach the Western Conference Finals? After surpassing the Skyhook in the last game to become the player with the most two-point shots in the playoffs, James will hit a new playoff milestone in this game, and another statistic is expected to rise to the first place in history.
7:30: Heat vs Knicks
After the first round of the "Black Eight" Bucks, the Heat are expected to eliminate the Knicks and move on. They are just one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals.
In G4, Butler and Adebayo both contributed double-doubles, and the Heat beat the Knicks 109-101 to rewrite the aggregate score to 3-1. If the Heat make the cut, they will become the second eighth-seeded in history to reach the divisional finals, the first being the Knicks in 1999.
"We still have work to get done," Butler said in G4 with 27 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, "and I think we have enough capacity to get it done." ”
The Knicks are good overall, with 47 wins in the regular season and a 4-1 knockout of the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. But they didn't perform well after making it to the second round.
The data shows that the Knicks had 52 turnovers in their first four games, 13 more than the Heat. Randle believes the team is less motivated than the Heat. "We have to find a way to energize."
To make matters worse for the Knicks, Quickley may still not come back. The Sixth Man of the Year nominee was sidelined by G4 after a sprained ankle in Game 3 and his form in Game 5 remains in doubt.
It was a series that emphasized confrontation and defense, with neither side hitting a high percentage. The Knicks shot 43.6 percent from the field and 28.2 percent from three-point range; The Heat shot 43.2 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from three-point range.
10 p.m.: Lakers vs Warriors
The Warriors are 3-1 down and will be eliminated if they fail to hold their home court at G5. The Lakers G4 narrowly beat the Warriors 104-101, and in addition to James and Thick Brows, Reeves and Walker stepped up. Walker, in particular, scored 15 points in the fourth quarter.
The last time the Lakers reached the Western Conference finals was in 2020, when they finally won the championship, James averaged 23.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 blocks per game in the series against the Warriors. In the G5 race, he is expected to hit a new milestone -
Currently, James has 2,073 playoff defensive rebounds, just eight short of Duncan (2,081) at the top of the list. This season, James has grabbed at least eight defensive rebounds in 28 games (23 in the regular season and five in the playoffs).
'The work is not done yet, we will try to win the fifth game and keep the same mentality as before.' Reeves said. He scored 21 points in G4, compared to nine, from Warriors' shooting guard Thompson. Thompson excelled in G2, scoring 30 and eight three-pointers. But in the past two losses, Thompson has been unable to replicate G2's form, scoring just 24 points and shooting just 8-of-25 from the field in the two games.
The Warriors' Curry once scored 50 points in the first round of the seven-game game, and now facing a life and death battle again, can Curry still break out? Since Kerr became coach in 2015, the Warriors have won 19 consecutive Western Conference series. They have experienced two 3-1 trails in the last 7 years.
In the 2016 Western Conference Finals, the Warriors trailed the Thunder 3-1 and eventually completed a three-game winning streak to advance to the Finals. In the 2019 Finals, the Warriors trailed the Raptors 1-3, and they failed to create another miracle, and finally lost 2-4 and missed the championship.
"Going home and getting this game done, the momentum will be a little more favorable for us again, that's it," Warriors coach Kerr said, "and one side wins four games to really win, we have to get one back at home."