Grizzlies eliminate Blazers
Warriors are up next forMemphis inWest semis
The Memphis Grizzlies missed one chance to finish off their first- round series and get some muchneeded rest before facing the Golden State Warriors. They didn’t waste a second, especially on their own court.
Marc Gasol had 26 points and 14 rebounds as the Grizzlies advanced to the Western Conference semifinals by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 9993 on Wednesday night, closing out the series 4- 1.
In the West semifinals for the third time in five years, the Grizzlies will play Game 1 on Sunday in Oakland against top- seeded Golden State. Vince Carter said older players like himself appreciate the rest more than anybody.
“We wanted to go get the job done now, get some days of rest to get ready for the next tough series,” Carter said.
Memphis closed it out despite not having point guard Mike Conley for a second straight game as he recovers from surgery to repair broken bones near his left eye.
Courtney Lee scored 20 points for Memphis, Zach Randolph had 16 and Jeff Green added 10 off the bench.
CJ McCollum led Portland with a career- high 33 points. Damian Lillard had 22 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge, a free agent after the season playing in perhaps his final game with the Blazers, had 14 as they combined to shoot 13 of 37. The Trail Blazers lost in the first round for the seventh time in their past eight postseasons after reaching the West semifinals last year.
Hawks 107, Nets 97: Al Horford and Jeff Teague scored 20 points apiece, helping top- seeded Atlanta hold off Brooklyn for a 3- 2 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series. The series goes back to Brooklyn for Game 6 on Friday night.
Cavaliers: KevinLovehad surgery on his dislocated left shoulder and may need up to sixmonths to recover. Love was injured in Cleveland’s series- sweeping win at Boston on Sunday, and will miss the remainder of the NBA playoffs.
Donovan meets with Thunder: Florida coach Billy Donovan is entertaining a move to the NBA again. This time with Oklahoma City, a person familiar with the search said. Eight years after leaving Florida to coach the Orlando Magic and then changing his mind the following day, he appears poised to make the jump and not look back this time. Donovan spent Wednesday in talks with the Thunder about its coaching vacancy, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the search have not been released.
Ex- NBA player pleads guilty in shooting: Former NBA player Javaris Crittenton has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2011 shooting death of a woman. Crittenton appeared in court and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Prosecutors have said Crittenton was aiming for a man who had robbed him days before the shooting but shot 22year- old Julian Jones instead.
Wiggins to be top rookie: Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 overall pick last summer by the Cavaliers and traded to the Timberwolves, will be named rookie of the year on Thursday, a person with knowledge of theannouncement told The Associated Press.
Abdul- Jabbar examined, released: Kareem AbdulJabbar briefly returned to UCLA Medical Center two weeks after undergoing quadruple coronary bypass surgery, but his business manager said he had an examination and was released after about an hour.