US sports compact
:
Kleber and the Mavs force game seven
Dusseldorf While most Europeans are asleep, the North American professional leagues are buzzing. What Happened That Night in American Football, Basketball, and Ice Hockey.
Basketball: Mavs force Game Seven – Miami onwards
Compensation achieved, the dream of the title is alive: In the fight for the semi-finals in the NBA play-offs, the German international Maxi Kleber forced his Dallas Mavericks to play a decisive game 7. The Texans defeated the Phoenix Suns in their own hall with 113:86 and equalized in the highly exciting series to 3:3.
Led by their Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic (33 points), the Mavs laid the foundation for victory in the first half (60:45) and won very confidently in the end. Kleber contributed nine points in just under 25 minutes. In the Suns, who had provided the best team in the main round, the exceptional talents Devin Booker (19 points) and Chris Paul (13) fell short of their potential.
Four wins are required to progress in the best-of-seven series, the decisive game seven will take place in Phoenix on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat booked their place in the finals of the Eastern Conference. The 2020 finalist won the sixth game against the Philadelphia 76ers with their star center Joel Embiid 99:90 and won the series early 4:2. The outstanding player of the Heat was Jimmy Butler with 32 points, Embiid scored 20 points.
Hockey: Draisaitls Oilers win game seven against LA Kings
The Edmonton Oilers with the German ice hockey star Leon Draisaitl have prevented another early end in the NHL playoffs. The Oilers won 4-2 (1-0, 1-1, 2-1) at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday evening (local time) and equalized the best-of-seven series to 3-3. The decisive seventh game takes place on Saturday in Edmonton, where the Oilers have lost two of three games.
Draisaitl put on the important goal to make it 3-2 by Tyson Barrie five minutes before the end. Star player Connor McDavid contributed three scoring points and Evander Kane two goals. Former national coach Marco Sturm is the assistant coach for the Kings.
Stanley Cup winners for the past two years, Tampa Bay Lightning, also made it into the seventh game. The Lightning won 4-3 after overtime against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Boston Bruins also forced a playoff against the Carolina Hurricanes with a 5-2 win.
In contrast, the St. Louis Blues have advanced to the next round. With a clear 5-1 win against the Minnesota Wild, the 2019 Stanley Cup winner won the series 4-2 and now meets the Colorado Avalanche with German Nico Sturm in the conference semifinals. Colorado was the only team to clearly win four games in the first round of the playoffs.
Football: Rams open NFL season against Bills
The Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams, open the new season in the National Football League (NFL) with a home game against the Buffalo Bills. The game will take place on September 8th at the SoFi Stadium, according to the schedule published on Thursday night.
This also leads to a direct duel between Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles) and Josh Allen (Buffalo). The teams of the two star quarterbacks belong to the inner circle of favourites. For superstar Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, the new season starts on September 11 with the game at the Dallas Cowboys. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have to go to the Arizona Cardinals first.
It had previously been announced that the Bucs game with Brady against the Seattle Seahawks would be played at the Allianz Arena in Munich (November 13). This is one of five international NFL games in the 2022 season, including three in London, one in Munich and one in Mexico City.
The regular season runs until January 8, 2023, and the Super Bowl takes place on February 12.
#sports #compact #Kleber #Mavs #force #game