By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Golden State Warriors finally put on a dominant performance to win their first game against the Sacramento Kings, 114-97, while the Philadelphia 76ers survived a late rally from the Brooklyn Nets, 102-97, to move a win away from an Eastern Conference semifinal ticket last April 21, 2023, in the ongoing first round of the NBA Playoffs.
As expected, the Warriors will be coming out hot to energize their home floor and they just did that to score a wire-to-wire victory to take Game 3 against Sacramento.
Despite the loss of Draymond Green who got suspended due to the stomping incident with Domantas Sabonis, Golden State looked sharp and ran their fluid offensive sets to perfection.
Stephen Curry, who already unloaded 28 points during Game 2 at Sacramento, proved he still got enough gas left in the tank and led all scorers with 36 markers in 36 minutes of playing time in the crucial Game 3.
The former NBA Season Most Valuable Player (MVP) was electric from the get-go and drained six treys out of his total 12 attempts.
Golden State’s signature balanced attack which went missing in the first two games on the road, finally happened in Game 3 with four other players scoring in double figures aside from Curry.
The Kings never won a quarter against the Warriors in Game 3 with the closest they got was equalizing the scoring at 31-all during the third period.
Despite baskets from De’ Aaron Fox at the start of the fourth to keep Sacramento afloat, the trio of Curry, Jordan Poole, and Klay Thompson sent the early exclamation point when they extended Golden State’s lead to as much as 20 points with six minutes still left in the ball game.
Golden State will seek to equalize the series at 2-2 on April 24, 2023, in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round matchup.
Meanwhile, in the east, the 76ers hold off the Nets in a nail-biting Game 3 showdown to take a 3-0 series lead.
Despite losing James Harden after receiving a Flagrant II foul he committed on Royce O’Neale, Philadelphia still managed to dig deep and got another huge performance from Tyrese Maxey who carried them offensively in the last three minutes of the game.
Maxey led the 76ers with 25 points, three rebounds, and three assists while possible season MVP Joel Embiid chipped in 14 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks.
Philadelphia averted a near-game meltdown after the Nets evaporated their 12-point lead in the third quarter with a 35-18 burst before heading into the final canto.
However, head coach Doc Rivers was able to adjust to Brooklyn’s up-and-down gameplay and matched fire with fire.
Philadelphia will look to complete the first-round sweep on April 23, 2023, in front of a hostile Brooklyn home crowd.
