Warriors beat Rockets; Cavaliers sweep Heat, advance to conference semifinals

The Golden State Warriors are just one win away from advancing to the Western Conference semifinals. The San Francisco-based team, which had to come from behind in a more than evenly matched duel, beat the Houston Rockets (109-106) at the Chase Center in Game 4 of the first round, leaving the series with a 3-1 lead.

At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors had a two-point lead. However, in the second quarter, the Rockets rallied and managed to pull ahead on the scoreboard. It was in the third quarter when the Warriors pulled ahead, sealing the win in the last 12 minutes.

With Stephen Curry (17 points) less effective than usual, Jimmy Butler carried the offensive baton and ended up being the Warriors' top scorer (27 points). Brandin Podziemski was decisive as he put together his best performance to date in the Playoffs (26 points).

Players like Curry or Draymond Green, who led the Warriors to be the kings of the NBA in the last decade with four championships and six Finals appearances since 2015, know that they could be, due to their ages (37 and 35, respectively), facing their last chance to win a title.

"How many more chances will we actually realistically have at chasing a championship? Not saying this is the last year, this run that we're going to have. Just focusing on what we can get out of it. Me and him [Green] have been through every battle for the last 13 years. Obviously, we are trying to recreate that magic," Curry told ESPN right after the game.

On the visiting side, efforts by the Rockets, who had a great regular season, finishing second in the Western Conference, to try to even the series ended up fizzling out. Alperen Sengun was colossal under the hoop, posting a double-double (31 points and 10 rebounds).

Cavaliers await opponent in the semifinals

First the Oklahoma City Thunder did it and, now, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs have advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they will face either the Indiana Pacers or the Milwaukee Bucks after destroying the Miami Heat in the first round of the Playoffs, with a 4-0 sweep. In the last duel, they won very convincingly over their rival (83-138).

The great form of the Cavs this season lasted during this first phase of the Playoffs. From the start of the game, the team led by Hispanic coach Kenny Atkinson dominated. At the end of the first quarter, they were already leading by 26 points. They executed a potent performance both offensively and defensively.

"We have excellent leadership. Those first five minutes we were led by the starters and when the substitutes came in we didn't lose our pace, we came out with the right mentality. Our leadership doesn't allow us to put our heads down and that's very rare," Atkinson said, in words reported by AFP.

As many as six Cavaliers players finished with more than 10 points, with their top scorer being Donovan Mitchell (22 points). Jarrett Allen dominated the paint (14 points and 12 rebounds) and Evan Mobley added 17 points. For the Heat, Nikola Jovic (24 points) and Bam Adebayo (13 points and 12 rebounds) were outstanding.