Friday night featured the end of four NBA series as winners moved on to the next round. Missed the action? Here’s a recap of all of the games.
New York defeats Boston 88-80 to win series
Winning the two previous games against the Knicks, the Celtics had a bit of confidence heading into Game 6. But despite hosting the critical contest, Boston fell short against New York and subsequently lost the series, falling 88-80 in the final game.
The Celtics struggled mightily early on, scoring only 47 points in the first three quarters. That allowed the Knicks to build up a 26-point lead in the fourth quarter. But Boston fought back – and in a big way. Largely behind Avery Bradley and Jeff Green, the team rallied to score 20 consecutive points to get back in the game
But it wasn’t enough as Boston faded down the stretch, scoring only one field goal in the final 3:30 of the game. Four of the Knicks’ five starters scored in double figures and the lone player who didn’t, Tyson Chandler, had nine points and a game high 12 rebounds.
New York will now advance to the next round to face the Indiana Pacers on Sunday in New York.
Indiana tops Atlanta, 81-73
Like the Knicks, the Indiana Pacers closed out their series on Friday with an 81-73 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
The surprise is the Hawks have held a major advantage over the Pacers at home in recent memory. Atlanta battled against Indiana, but in the end, the Pacers proved to be too much and broke a losing streak in Atlanta that dated back to 2006.
Indiana dominated the game, but had to endure a mini-rally by Atlanta in the end. The Pacers were up by 15 points heading into the fourth quarter, but at one point, the Hawks cut the lead to only three. But that’s as close as they got and several starters helped take control of the game, including Pacers guard George Hill (21 points and seven rebounds) and power forward, David West, who added 21 points and eight rebounds.
Oklahoma City closes out series against Houston with 103-94 win
On Friday, the Oklahoma City Thunder knocked off the Houston Rockets to win their playoff series after a 103-94 victory.
The Thunder got a bit more than they bargained for in this series. After falling behind 3-0 in the series, the Hawks nearly forced a Game 7. But in the end, they fell just short against Oklahoma City.
Getting Jeremy Lin back for the first time in several games, it was hoped that the guard could be a solid contributor for Houston. But Lin came off the bench and scored only three points for the Rockets. And in actuality, Lin was virtually a non-factor in the series.
Leading the way for Houston was James Harden and Chandler Parsons, who both combined for 51 points. But they simply couldn’t keep up with the Thunder, who got 52 points from stars Kevin Durant and Kevin Martin. In all, six Thunder players scored in double figures.
The game was close throughout, but after Oklahoma City got off to a 14-4 start in the fourth quarter, they began to pull away from the Rockets.
Grizzlies defeat Clippers, 118-105
The Memphis Grizzlies hung on for a 118-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. With the win, the Grizzlies moved on the second round, where they’ll face the Oklahoma City Thunder. Game 1 will be on Sunday.
Part of the Clippers’ problem was that forward Blake Griffin was extremely limited, scoring only 14 points and coming off the bench. They clearly weren’t the same team and when Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, and Tony Allen combined for 65 points, that marked the end of the series.
Seven of Memphis’ nine games scored in double figures on the night.
For the Clippers, the series has to be a bit of a disappointment. Los Angeles gave its fans something to remember by having a significantly stronger season than their counterpart, the Los Angeles Lakers. With stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, Los Angeles hoped to contend for the Western Conference crown. But while the team took a step forward this season, they still weren’t able to get out of the first round and have plenty of work to do for next season.
