Millsap, Schroder power Hawks to Game 3 victory
ATLANTA - Paul Millsap scored 29 points, Dennis Schroder had 27 and the Atlanta Hawks delivered an early knockout blow against Washington, cruising to a 116-98 victory Saturday that sliced the Wizards’ lead to 2-1 in the opening-round playoff series.
After two tight losses in Washington exposed some bad blood between the teams, Atlanta returned home and built a 25-point lead by late in the first quarter.
The Hawks were never seriously challenged by the Wizards, who were essentially a one-man team. John Wall kept up his dazzling play in the series, scoring 29 points, but the point guard got no help from his teammates.
The other Washington starters combined to score 30 points on 14-of-45 shooting.
Millsap also had 14 rebounds, while rookie Taurean Prince chipped in with 16 points. Game 4 is Monday night in Atlanta. The Hawks came out intent on moving the ball, getting open looks and cutting down on the turnovers that plagued them in the first two contests. Talk about following the game plan. Atlanta pushed out to a double-digit lead before the game was 3 minutes old and stretched the margin to 38-13 with just under a minute to go in the opening quarter on Schroder’s 3-pointer.
Raptors 87, at Bucks 76: DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points as the Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks in a defensive slugfest to tie their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at two games apiece.
Kyle Lowry had 14 of his 18 points in the second half for the Raptors, who turned up their intensity before a hostile road crowd after getting embarrassed in a 27-point loss to Milwaukee in Game 3. Toronto’s tested backcourt reverted to its playmaking form, especially the resurgent DeRozan. He was 12 of 22 from the field after missing all eight of his attempts in Game 3.
The Raptors seized home-court advantage back in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Monday at the Air Canada Centre.
Tony Snell led Milwaukee with 19 points.
At Grizzlies 110, Spurs 108 (OT): Marc Gasol hit a 12-foot floater with 0.7 seconds left in overtime, and Memphis beat San Antonio to even up their first-round series at 2-2.
The Grizzlies won despite blowing a 10-point lead with 7:38 left in regulation and 23 turnovers that San Antonio turned into 31 points.
Mike Conley set a franchise postseason record with 35 points, and Gasol finished with 16 points after shooting 5 of 12 for the game. He also had 12 rebounds.
The Grizzlies overcame another postseason personal best from Kawhi Leonard who had 43 points. He rallied the Spurs by scoring the last 16 points of regulation, but missed a 21-footer short of the rim with James Ennis defending him just before the buzzer. Leonard tied it at 108 with 17 seconds left with a 3 from the left corner.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in San Antonio.
Late Friday
Clippers 111, at Jazz 106: Chris Paul scored 34 points and Los Angeles rallied over Utah on to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
At Thunder 115, Rockets 113: Russell Westbrook scored 32 points in a triple-double, and Oklahoma City held off Houston to cut their deficit to 2-1 in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
— Wire services