76ers finish off Raptors in Game 6
76ers 132, Raptors 97: Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds, James Harden added 22 points and 15 assists and visiting Philadelphia beat Toronto in Game 6 to end the first-round series Thursday night.
Philadelphia will face Miami in the second round. The top-seeded Heat beat Atlanta in five games.
Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points, going 5 for 12 from 3-point range, and Tobias Harris had 19 points and 11 rebounds, to help the 76ers finish off the Raptors with a blowout after losing the past two games.
Danny Green scored 12 points and shot 4 for 7 from 3-point range as the Sixers finished 16 for 40 from beyond the arc. The Raptors struggled from 3point range, going 7 for 35.
Chris Boucher had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto, Pascal Siakam fouled out with 24 points, Gary Trent Jr. had 19 and Scottie Barnes 18. Toronto lost in the first round for the first time since being swept by Washington in 2015.
Toronto’s Precious Achiuwa had 17 points in Game 5 but didn’t score Thursday until making a free throw in the fourth quarter. He shot 1 for 7 and scored three points.
Suns 115, Pelicans 109: Chris Paul went 14 for 14 in the best shooting night in NBA playoff history, Devin Booker returned from a hamstring injury to hit a late 3-pointer and visiting Phoenix beat New Orleans to finish off the firstround series in six games.
Paul had the most field goals without a miss in a playoff game, hit all four of his free throws and had eight assists as the top-seeded Suns overcame a 10point halftime deficit.
Paul helped put the Suns up for good, at 102-101, on an assist on Deandre Ayton’s dunk with 2:12 left. Ayton had 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting.
The Suns erased the 10-point halftime deficit by making 13 of their first 14 shots in the third quarter to take a 77-74 lead.
At that point, Paul was 10 of 10 from the field and Ayton was 6 of 6. Paul had 13 points in the quarter, but New Orleans used an 11-5 run to take an 85-82 lead into the final period.
Mavericks 98, Jazz 96: Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson each scored 24 points and the visiting Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 98-96 on Thursday night in Game 6 to wrap up the first-round series.
After Brunson hit a 3-pointer from the corner, Mike Conley was called for traveling with five seconds remaining, and Brunson made one of two free throws with 4.3 seconds to play.
The Jazz got an open look for Bojan Bogdanovic on the left wing, but he came up short and the Mavericks moved on to face top-seeded Phoenix in the second round.
Doncic also had nine rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and two steals.