Clippers "locked in" Jokić in the second half and won the seventh game, Branson showed why he is the king of the finals

The most interesting series of the first round of the NBA playoffs will get a seventh act, and it seems like the best way to resolve the question of the winner between the LA Clippers and Denver.

After two consecutive losses and when they had no room for error, the team from California showed character, winning 111:105 in their "Intuit home" and tying the game at 3:3.

The deciding game will be played at the "Bol Arena", and the winner will go to Oklahoma, the best team in the West.

Tyronn Lue's team achieved a great triumph in the second half when they stepped up their defense, especially against Nikola Jokic, as the Nuggets' best player scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half of the game.

The Nuggets haven't won in a seventh game since 2020, when they eliminated the Clippers in the conference semifinals during the "bubble" in Florida.

The Clippers' offense was led by James Harden with 28 points, eight assists and six rebounds and Kawhi Leonard with 27 points, 10 steals and five assists - Norman Powell added 24, Ivica Zubac 10, and Bogdan Bogdanović six points.

"It was - you either win or you go home, and we didn't want it to end. We had one more game left, one more chance," Harden said after the match.

Although he wasn't at his best in the second half, Jokić was definitely the best player on the other side - with 25 points, he also had eight assists and seven rebounds. Jamal Murray added 21 points and eight rebounds and an assist each.

And while Denver didn't manage to finish everything before the mastermind, New York did - the Knicks celebrated a 116:113 win over Detroit for 4:2 and a place in the East semifinals against champion Boston.

Jalen Branson recently won the "Jerry West - NBA Clutch Player of the Year" award, for the best player in tight ends, and then he showed once again why he is the king when games are decided.

The brilliant New York basketball player made the winning three-pointer with 4,3 seconds left in the game, and finished the match with 40 points.

"He's at his best when he needs it most, and he's shown it all season. That's what makes him special," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said clearly.

Along with Branson, the team from Madison Square Garden was led to the triumph by Mikel Bridges with 25, OG Anunoby with 22 and Josh Hart with 13 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns scored 10 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

For Detroit - Cade Cunningham scored 23 points, with eight assists and seven rebounds.