Celtics keep hopes alive
Win, move within half-game of No. 1
The Boston Celtics are keeping the pressure on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Isaiah Thomas scored 32 points, and the Celtics remained in contention for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 121-114 victory Saturday against the host Charlotte Hornets.
Al Horford added 16 points and Kelly Olynyk had 13 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season as the Celtics swept the four-game series and pulled within a halfgame of the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers (51-28) have road games remaining against Atlanta and Miami before closing at home against Toronto. The Celtics (51-29) have two home games left, against Brooklyn and Milwaukee.
Thomas said the way the Celtics won — falling behind by seven points in the fourth quarter after leading by 19 early in the second half — could prove to be beneficial down the road.
“Coach even said in the huddle, ‘Don’t think there’s not going to be playoff games like that. Just figure out a way to win,’” Thomas said.
Thomas was a key in the comeback.
The 5-foot-9 guard, who averaged 29.2 points in four games this season against the Hornets, scored on a drive and left-handed layup with 2:13 remaining to put his team up for good at 111-109.
He added two free throws and knocked down a 3pointer from the top of the key coming off a screen to push the lead to six.
Thomas then passed up an open shot and dished to a wide-open Avery Bradley, who buried a backbreaker 3pointer to seal the win.
Nicolas Batum tied a season high with 31 points and Kemba Walker added 23 for the Hornets, who were eliminated from the playoffs.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens called it a “goodbad-good” night.
“When Batum gets rolling like that, he’s a hard guy to stop,” Stevens said. “They made a ton of shots. They put us in a corner. That’s hard when you’ve had the lead and they take it all the way up to seven. To come back and win it, it shows a lot of resolve.”
Bradley was also big in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points on three 3-pointers.
“We need Avery to make shots,” Stevens said. “We need Avery to be great.”
The Celtics built a 71-54 lead at halftime after shooting 63 percent from the field, including 11 of 21 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Thomas had 19 in the opening half, including four 3-pointers as the Hornets continued to struggle with their perimeter defense.
“We were good on both ends of the floor in the first half,” Thomas said.
Other games
Nets 107, Bulls 106: Spencer Dinwiddie made four free throws in the final 13.6 seconds for Brooklyn in its home finale — a win against Chicago. He scored 19 points, as did rookie Caris LeVert. Dwyane Wade was returned to the starting lineup against Brooklyn after the Bulls had said he would be out for the year.
Pacers 127, Charlotte 112: Paul George scored 37 points and Myles Turner was solid with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Indiana to a win in Orlando.
Bucks 90, 76ers 82: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists as Milwaukee won in Philadelphia to clinch a playoff berth.
Wizards 106, Heat 103: Hassan Whiteside scored 30 points and James Johnson hit a layup with 11 seconds left to give Miami a victory in Washington.
Clippers 98, Spurs 87: Chris Paul scored 19 points and Blake Griffin added 18 as balanced Los Angeles scoring led to a win in San Antonio.