It’s win or go-home time for the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Rockets find themselves down 3-1 to the Golden State Warriors in what has become an unusually chippy series. Draymond Green, Stephen Curry and Dillon Brooks all received technicals in a second-quarter Game 4 confrontation, while Green received a flagrant foul minutes later for pushing Tari Eason’s face to the ground when the two went to the ground after an attempted steal from Eason. Eason also received a technical in the altercation.
The real story, however, was Jimmy Butler III once again becoming “Playoff Jimmy.” Returning from injury, Butler led the Warriors with 27 points and grabbed the game-clinching rebound with four seconds remaining. Can he deliver another clutch performance tonight to end the Rockets’ season?
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves are coming off a 116-113 win against the Lakers, powered by Anthony Edwards scoring 43 points. Minnesota was down 94-84 going into the fourth quarter, but it found a second gear defensively, limiting the Lakers to 19 points in the concluding frame. The Lakers have faded in the stretch in this series. They’ve been outscored in all four fourth quarters by a total of 105-69.
In Game 4, head coach JJ Redick used the same five players in the entire second half: LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith. According to Elias Sports Bureau, entering Sunday, no team since 1997-98 had played only the same five players in a full half of a playoff game.
Can the Warriors and Timberwolves close things out? Follow along with all the live action right here.
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