Celtics look to finish off sweep of Sixers tonight NBA PLAYOFFS ROUNDUP
The unthinkable has happened before.
Conference semifinals, 2010, Boston vs. Philadelphia: Boston wins the first two games at home, then goes into Philadelphia to capture Game 3 and take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Undeterred, Philadelphia won in seven games to reach the Eastern Conference finals.
One small detail to note: That was in hockey.
If there's one piece of solace for the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors right now, it's likely this — comebacks from 3-0 deficits are not completely unheard of in major sports. There's been four of them in the NHL. Another happened in baseball, the Boston Red Sox rallying to oust the New York Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship Series. And even Cleveland has blown a 3-0 lead, albeit again in hockey, and that was of CELTICS AT 76ERS 6 p.m., Wells Fargo Center (TNT)
the minor league variety in 1960. But in the NBA, never. NBA teams staring into the 0-3 abyss have never been saved: 129 have tried, 129 have failed.
"There's a breaking point we all have," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. "And I believe that if we can maintain our spirit, why couldn't we be the one? And I mean that. That's my goal with us, is to fight. That's all I know. I can't see any other way to approach this that makes sense to me. So that's what we're going to do."
The odds are obviously overwhelmingly in favor of the Celtics and Cavaliers, who seem destined to meet in the Eastern Conference finals for the second consecutive year.
That's hard to believe, given where those clubs were a week or so ago. Both needed to survive Game 7s just to get out of the first round.
Warriors 118, Pelicans 92
Kevin Durant had 38 points and nine rebounds and Golden State soundly defeated the New Orleans on Sunday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. The Warriors responded to their 19-point loss in Game 3 with a resounding effort that produced a wire-to-wire win with leads as large as 26 points. Durant made 15 of 27 shots. Stephen Curry scored 23, Klay Thompson added 13 and Quinn Cook, who was a Pelicans reserve earlier this season, contributed 12 points. Anthony Davis had 26 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, but the Pelicans hit only 36 percent (32 of 88) of their shots, missing 22 of 26 3-point attempts. E'Twaun Moore scored 20 and Jrue Holiday 19, but New Orleans reserves combined for just 14 points after scoring 32 two nights earlier. Rajon Rondo finished with 11 rebounds, but the Pelicans also committed 19 turnovers, which led 21 Warriors points. After shooting poorly for much of their loss on Friday night, the Warriors were eager to regain their rhythm and did so immediately. They hit six of their first eight shots, with Durant making his first three, and Thompson and Curry each making 3s. That, and solid defense that included Green's block of Rondo's layup, helped Golden State open up a 10-point lead before the game was four minutes old.
Rockets 100, Jazz 87
Chris Paul had 27 points and 12 rebounds while James Harden scored 24 points to power Houston to a win over Utah, taking a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series. Paul, playing the sidekick to Harden for most of his first season in Houston, took center stage, controlling the tempo and getting to his favorite spots as the Rockets led from start to finish. Donovan Mitchell scored 25 before fouling out and Joe Ingles had 15 for the Jazz. Mitchell started finding lanes to the basket late and got the Jazz within 85-80 after he fueled a 10-2 run. But Paul, who matched his scoring high for this playoff run, hit a pull-up jumper and found Trevor Ariza for a 3-pointer to put the Rockets back up by double digits and they never looked back.
Late Saturday Cavaliers 105, Raptors 103
LeBron James banked in a running one-hander at the buzzer, giving Cleveland a win over Toronto in Game 3 and shoving the Raptors to the edge of their most devastating playoff exit. After the Raptors tied it on rookie OG Anunoby's 3-pointer with eight seconds left, James took the inbounds pass, dribbled the length of the floor and in one motion, dropped his 10-footer in front of Toronto's stunned bench. The Cavs ran and mobbed James and moments later he was back up on the scorer's table — just like after a game-winner against Indiana last round — to celebrate a win that was up for grabs. James finished with 38 points, Kevin Love added 21 and 16 rebounds and Kyle Korver 18 for the Cavs, who can sweep the Raptors for the second straight year. Kyle Lowry scored 27 for Toronto, which clawed back in the fourth quarter with All-Star DeMar DeRozan on the bench.