The Lakers lost the opening quarter by seven points, but outscored their opponents 36:18 in the second and went on to win. Anthony Davis contributed 25 points and 13 rebounds, star LeBron James, who played a record 275th game in the playoffs, added 21 points, eight rebounds and assists.
Stephen Curry scored 23 points for the losers, Andrew Wiggins added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Klay Thompson dropped 30 points from the first game to 15. Game 4 is Monday night.
“We had 19 losses, that’s just gallows. The Lakers got 27 points from them. In addition, they shot 20 sixes more than us. When you put all these numbers together, nothing else comes out, except that the game simply belonged to the opponent,” he said disappointed visiting coach Steve Kerr.
Miami also succeeded convincingly, never losing in the third duel against the Knicks and leading by as many as 22 points. And this despite the fact that the Heat shot with a success rate of less than 39 percent. The defense held the opponent to even worse numbers.
“You have to learn to win in different ways, I’ve been saying that for years. Every game is completely different,” said veteran Kyle Lowry, who helped the Heat with 14 points. “We can always win a game where we don’t hit but we defend,” added Jimmy Butler.
It was Butler, who missed the second duel after injuring his ankle in the first match and now returned, who was the main star of the match. He scored 28 points, including ten sixes on 11 attempts, and added four rebounds and three assists.
Other drivers of Miami were Max Strus with 19 points and Bam Adebayo with 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Knicks were led by Jalen Brunson with 20 points and eight assists, Josh Hart had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and RJ Barrett had 14 points.
| 2. kolo play off NBA |
|---|
| Eastern Conference – Game 3 |
| Miami – New York 105:86, series status 2:1 |
| Western Conference – Game 3 |
| LA Lakers – Golden State 127:97, stav series 2:1 |