Pelicans complete sweep of Trail Blazers
Simmons, Sixers take control vs Heat • T'Wolves overcome Rockets • Rubio, Jazz silence Thunder
Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday each achieved career playoff scoring highs as the New Orleans Pelicans held off the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 131-123 on Saturday night.
Davis scored 47 points and Holiday 41 as the Pelicans clinched the bestof-seven playoff series with a fourgame sweep. Rajon Rondo dished out 16 assists to go with seven points and seven rebounds for New Orleans.
C.J. McCollum had 38 points, Al-Farouq Aminu scored 27 points, Damian Lillard added 19 and Jusuf Nurkic contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
Portland lost despite shooting 52.6 percent from the field and turning the ball over just six times. But the Blazers could not stop New Orleans, which shot 57 percent and assisted on 28 of their 45 baskets.
“The crowd was amazing,” Davis told reporters after the game. “It feels great to be able to go out and sweep these guys, be able to play the way I played, have Jrue play the way he played, and the entire team for the entire series.”
Davis and Holiday each scored 14 points and E’Twaun Moore added 12 as New Orleans took a 58-56 lead into intermission. McCollum and Aminu each had 15 points and Evan Turner 12 for the Blazers before the break.
The Pelicans scored 42 points in breaking things open in the third quarter. They hiked their advantage to 87-72 late in the quarter. The difference was 100-87 heading into the fourth quarter.
Portland scored the first five points of the final period to draw within 100-92.
Nurkic and Holiday traded baskets, and Davis’ dunk gave New Orleans a 110-104 edge with seven minutes to go. Aminu hit a three-pointer to cut it to 110-107, but Holiday scored on a drive to make it 112-107 with 6:33 to play. McCollum made a short jumper, and Aminu scored off a fast break to get Portland to within 112-111. But Davis converted a three-point play to give New Orleans a 115-111 lead with 4:56 remaining.
Nurkic made a reverse layup, but Davis drilled a three to make it 118-113. Lillard’s jumper got the Blazers to within 118-115 with 4:07 left. Nikola Mirotic split a pair at the line to make it 119-115 with 3:51 to go. McCollum scored on a drive to cut it to 119-117, but Davis dunked a rebound for a 121-117 lead with 3:24 to play.
Turner hit a pair at the line to make it 121-119 with 3:06 left, but Holiday’s three-point shot pushed the Pelicans’ lead to 124-119 with 2:44 to go. Davis made two free throws for a 126-119 edge with 2:29 remaining.
“It’s a disappointing end for us,” Lillard said. “It’s not how we envisioned it happening for us, especially having home court. But they played a great series, you’ve got to give them credit for how they executed offensively. And they came in with a great defensive game plan, they threw something at us that we hadn’t seen and it worked out for them. We just didn’t play great.”
Aminu’s driving layup drew Portland to within 126-121 with 1:47 remaining. Holiday made one of two foul shots to make it 127-121 with 1:09 left. McCollum’s driving layup cut it to 127-123 with one minute to go, but Holiday’s jumper pulled the Pelicans ahead 129-123 with 40.4 seconds left.
When Davis sank a pair at the line with 20.9 ticks on the clock, the issue was decided.
Sixers 106, Heat 102
J.J. Redick scored 24 points and Ben Simmons added a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to carry Philadelphia past host Miami.
Simmons is the fifth rookie in NBA history with a triple-double in the playoffs and the first since Magic Johnson had five in 1980.
Joel Embiid had 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots and Dario Saric added 11 points as the Sixers took a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 25 points while Goran Dragic added 20. Game 5 will be on Tuesday night at Philadelphia.
Timberwolves 121, Rockets 105
Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague combined for 51 points, and Minnesota finally produced a terrific offensive performance to blow past visiting Houston.
The starting backcourt of Butler and Teague outplayed the Rockets’ tandem of James Harden and Chris Paul, helping the Timberwolves cut the series deficit to 2-1 with Game 4 on Monday at Target Center. Andrew Wiggins added 20 points and Karl-Anthony Towns posted a double-double (18 points and 16 rebounds) as Minnesota shot 50 percent and rode a 69-point second half to victory.
Harden paired 29 points with seven assists while grabbing seven boards. Chris Paul scored 17 with six assists. Ryan Anderson, in his first action since April 3 after recovering from a sprained ankle, added four three-pointers for 12 points in 18 minutes off the bench for the Rockets in defeat.
Jazz 115, Thunder 102
Ricky Rubio recorded 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career postseason triple-double to lead Utah to a home victory over Oklahoma City. Game 4 is Monday in Salt Lake City.
Donovan Mitchell contributed 22 points and 11 rebounds as the Jazz took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Joe Ingles made five three-pointers while scoring 21 points, Rudy Gobert added 18 points and 12 rebounds and Derrick Favors tallied 11 points.
Paul George led Oklahoma City with 23 points while Russell Westbrook made just 5-of-17 shots while producing 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton scored 14 points apiece. Westbrook committed eight of the Thunder’s 17 turnovers.