In command: Champs up 3-1
Kevin Durant scored 33 points, Klay Thompson added 32 and the Warriors beat the Clippers 113-105 on Sunday in Los Angeles to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference firstround playoff series.
Stephen Curry was in foul trouble for the second straight game and finished with 12 points.
The Warriors were 17 of 19 from the free-throw line. They controlled the boards 49-33.
Coming off a 27-point loss in Game 3, the Clippers played tougher defensively and hung tough.
They outscored the Warriors 30-25 in the third when they rallied to take a five-point lead. But Curry scored seven of the Warriors’ final 10 points to send them into the fourth ahead 87-84.
Game 5 is Wednesday in Oakland, whenthe twotime defending league champs can close it out.
The Clippers narrowed it to 87-86 early in the fourth, but Thompson sank his sixth 3-pointer and the Clippers never got close the rest of theway.
Celtics secure sweep:
Gordon Hayward scored 20 points and Marcus Morris started a decisive 3-point flurry late in the fourth quarter to give the Celtics a series-clinching 110-106 victory over the Pacers in Indianapolis.
It’s the first four-game sweep for the Celtics since 2011 and their second since 1986-87.
Game 4 of the Eastern Conference series turned on a flagrant foul called on the Pacers’ Cory Joseph with 6:45 to play.
Jayson Tatum took advantage by making both free throws to give the Celtics an 83-82 lead. Al Horford sank 1 of 2 on their next possession, and then Morris hit a 3 with 5:08 to play. Hayward’s three-point play with 4:24 left made it 90-83, and Celtics made three more 3s over the next three minutes to take an insurmountable 102-90 lead.
Nets GM gets ban: General manager Sean Marks was suspended one game without pay and fined $25,000 by the league Sunday for entering the referees’ locker room after Nets’ loss to 76ers in Game 4 of their series Saturday.
Marks will miss Game 5 on Tuesday.
Dudley was fined $ 25,000 and Butler $15,000.