By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Brooklyn Nets punched their respective tickets to the NBA playoffs after grabbing wins in the battle of seventh and eighth places.
Minnesota had to withstand a waxing-hot Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers, 109-104, while Kyrie Irving’s stellar outing led Brooklyn to a 115-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It seemed like the Clippers were ready to claim the Western conference seventh spot after taking the early lead courtesy of George’s efficient shooting.
Things got worse for the Timberwolves as superstar Karl Anthony Towns shot poorly from the floor and only sank two of his nine attempts in the first half while committing costly turnovers that were turned into points on the other end.
However, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell erupted in the perfect time and combined for a total of 59 points, 30 and 29, respectively.
Things got out of hand for the Clippers as they got outscored by Minnesota in the final canto, 31-20, despite Towns fouling out with still plenty of time left in the clock.
Patrick Beverly then sealed the deal and played one of his biggest games of the season after anchoring the whole Minnesota defense in the crucial stretch of the game.
In the East, Kevin Durant and Irving proved to be too much to handle for the banged-up Cavaliers who missed the services of all-star Jarrett Allen due to an injury.
The Nets led by as much as 20 points in the first half led by the unconscious Irving who went perfect from the field, 9/9, heading into the second half.
Cleveland put up a decent fight in the next two quarters and even outscored Brooklyn, 65-58, but was still short of inching closer in the last two minutes of the ball game.
Irving led Brooklyn with his 34 points backstopped by Durant who chipped in a double-double performance of 25 points, 11 assists, and five rebounds.
With their wins, Minnesota will be squaring off against the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies led by Ja Morant while the Nets will be testing their firepower against the revamped Boston Celtics in the first round.
