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Good morning to everyone but especially to…
THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS…
Often, the playoffs — regardless of sport — are great because of the names you know. The greats, the GOATs, the icons, the stars. One-name players. LeBron. Steph. AD. Klay.
But sometimes, it’s the names you don’t know. The role players, the rotation guys, the bench mob, the journeymen. On Monday, it was Lonnie Walker IV. Walker scored all 15 of his points in the fourth quarter as the Lakers stormed past the Warriors, 104-101, to take a 3-1 series lead.
- It was the most fourth-quarter points by a Lakers bench player in the playoffs since Kobe Bryant in 1997. Here’s our Sam Quinn on Walker’s heroics.
- Walker made as many fourth-quarter field goals (six) as the Warriors did.
- For what it’s worth, those one-name guys were pretty good, too: LeBron James had 27 points, and Anthony Davis had 23 points, 15 rebounds and several key defensive stands.
- Stephen Curry had his third career playoff triple-double — 31 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds — but missed two potential go-ahead shots and had a turnover all in the final 30 seconds.
More on this one — specifically GSW — in a second.
… AND ALSO A GOOD MORNING TO THE MIAMI HEAT
So far in this series, the Heat have been everything the Knicks normally are — tough, sound and well-rounded — but better. That was never more apparent than in Miami’s 109-101 Game 4 win that gave the Heat a 3-1 series lead.
- Miami out-rebounded New York 44-35 and outscored New York 17-7 on second-chance points. In the fourth quarter alone, Miami shot just 6-22 but used seven offensive rebounds to prevent any potential Knicks rally.
- Jimmy Butler had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Bam Adebayo contributed 23 points and 13 rebounds, Max Strus added 16 points and Kyle Lowry pitched in 15.
- Miami has never blown a 3-1 series lead (14-0). New York, on the other hand, has never overcome a 3-1 series deficit (0-14).
Three-and-a-half weeks ago, the Heat were one quarter away from crashing out of the play-in. Now, they’re one game away from their third conference final in four seasons.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for…
THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
I am not going to write off the Golden State Warriors. I refuse to. I’ve…
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