In the Raptors 23 points for Ingram and Barnes. Spurs with 28 points from Fox and 27 from Wembanyama
Toronto, driven by its very hot crowd, wins game 4 despite shooting a paltry 32% from the field and draws the series with Cleveland, while San Antonio, after being 17 points down at halftime, dominates the second half and beats Portland.
Toronto Raptors (5)-Cleveland Cavaliers (4) 93-89 (2-2 in the series)
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A game from another era with the defenses dominating and the three-point shot not being a factor at all. Toronto manages to consistently win an offensive performance that is certainly not memorable. The Canadian team shoots with a terrible 32% from the field but above all with 4/30 from long range, with statistics like that in the modern NBA you can’t win, yet Cleveland does even worse in attack, seasoning a bad afternoon of shooting with 17 bloody turnovers. Thus, the Canadian team, encouraged by its very hot crowd, equalizes the series and will show up in Cleveland for Game 5, scheduled for Wednesday, with the wind in their sails. He then produced his maximum effort halfway through the final half and with a run of 15-2, boosted by Merrill’s triples, he tried to take possession of the match, reaching +8. Toronto, however, awakens from its offensive lethargy, comes back behind with the production of Barnes and in the last two minutes scores nine consecutive points, thus knocking out the Cavaliers.
Toronto: Ingram 23 (3/16, 3/7, 8/9 TL), Barnes 23 (6/13, 0/2, 11/14 TL), Barrett 18. Rebounds: Murray-Boyles 10. Assists: Barnes 6.
Cleveland: Mitchell 20 (2/12, 4/12, 4/4 TL), Harden 19, Merrill 14. Rebounds: Allen 15. Assists: Harden 8.
Portland Trail Blazers (7)-San Antonio Spurs (2) 93-114 (1-3)
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With a cinematic second half, the Spurs recovered from a deficit of 17 points at halftime and knocked out the Blazers, taking a 3-1 lead in the series. Wemby returns after the concussion that kept him out of game 3 but the first half is all Blazers branded. Avdija attacks the basket and sends San Antonio’s defense into a tailspin, which wobbles especially in the second quarter. The hosts ran away with a 13-0 run and arrived at the break in total control of the match, ahead by 17 points. The Frenchman struggled a lot in the first half, finishing with 4/12 from the field, so the Spurs became too predictable in attack. However, everything changes at the beginning of the second half. The intensity of San Antonio is decidedly different, Fox and Wemby immediately make it clear that they have another step, the Spurs thus silence the crowd at the Moda Center by scoring the first 13 points of the second half, thus getting back in the wake. Now it’s Portland who struggles to find good shots, San Antonio doesn’t slow down and at the beginning of the last quarter puts a seal on the match. Fox becomes unstoppable, Wemby does Wemby (in the end 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks) and the guests complete a knockout run of 16-3 and take control of the match, eventually reaching +20 with four minutes to go. The rest is academic. San Antonio can therefore close the score in front of their fans in Game 5 on Tuesday.
Portland: Avdija 26 (6/11, 2/3, 8/9 TL), Holiday 20, Grant 17. Rebounds: Avdija 7. Assists: Holiday 4.
San Antonio: Fox 28 (7/9, 4/8, 2/4 tl), Wembanyama 27, Castle 16. Rebounds: Wembanyama 11. Assists: Castle 8.
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