Atlanta: Atlanta and Memphis both capitalised on a return to their home courts by beating their more-fancied opponents on Thursday to take 2-1 leads in their NBA first-round playoff series, while the Los Angeles Clippers won a nail-biter to also go up 2-1.
Atlanta beat Indiana 98-85 to stay ahead in the series against the Eastern Conference top seed, while Memphis beat Oklahoma City 98-95 in overtime to also seize the initiative in the series. The Clippers edged Golden State 98-96 in Oakland to also go up 2-1.
Atlanta continued to play well above the standard expected of a No. 8 seed, particularly one that finished the regular season with more losses than wins.
The Hawks did appear to get some advantage from the officials, When they were up 84-78 with the shot clock running down, Jeff Teague hit an improbable running 3-pointer from the sideline. His foot appeared to touch the line, putting him out of bounds, but it was allowed to stand even after a video review.
Kyle Korver clinched it with the last of his four 3-pointers, putting Atlanta up 92-80 with 1:41 remaining.
Teague scored 22 points and Korver added 20 to lead the Hawks, who are playing with confidence and swagger against an Indiana team that is still scrambling to regain the form it showed much of the season.
Lance Stephenson led the Pacers with 21 points, and Luis Scola added 17 in another stellar performance off the bench that at least gave Indiana hope. But Paul George was held to 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting, George Hill made only 1-of-11 from the field, and Roy Hibbert continually missed shots close to the hoop.
Memphis won its second straight overtime game after blowing a fourth-quarter lead, beating Oklahoma City 98-95.
This time, they led by 17 before going cold for most of the final 7:43 of regulation. Still, they regained momentum in overtime, when Mike Conley scored five of his 20 points and Courtney Lee clinched the win, hitting three of four free throws in the final 10.9 seconds of OT.
NBA scoring champ Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each scored 30 for the Thunder who even got another four-point play in the final minute to force overtime. This time, it was Westbrook’s turn with 26.6 seconds left.
But Durant missed all eight 3-point attempts and was 10 of 27. Westbrook was 9 of 26. The Thunder hit only 3 of 12 overall in overtime.
Zach Randolph scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds for Memphis, which now has won 15 straight at home.
Los Angeles’ Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Clippers edged Golden State 98-96.
DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the frontcourt tandem bullied and bruised the Warriors inside to power the Clippers ahead by 18 points in the third quarter.
They did just enough late to silence the sellout crowd of 19,596 and hold on for a tight victory.
Klay Thompson scored 26 points, and Stephen Curry had 16 points and 15 assists to rally the Warriors back. But Curry missed a contested, step-back 3-pointer over Chris Paul in the final seconds.
“I just tried to make him as uncomfortable as possible,” said Paul, who had a 100-degree fever earlier in the day.
The Clippers held the Warriors to 6-of-31 shooting from 3-point range and 41.6 percent shooting overall. Los Angeles also forced 17 turnovers.
Golden State’s streaky backcourt duo, who were both smothered most of the game, still gave the Clippers quite a scare in the closing moments.
Thompson hit a jumper and Curry connected on all kinds of shots to trim Los Angeles’ lead to 96-93 with 49 seconds left. But reserve Draymond Green fouled out when officials called him for a block against Griffin, who made 1 of 2 free throws.
Curry hit another 3-pointer with 11 seconds left. Then Paul missed 1 of 2 free throws, giving Golden State the ball with 8.6 seconds remaining.
Jordan intentionally fouled Curry off the inbound to make Golden State inbound the ball again. And the Warriors ran the same play to Curry, whose 3-pointer sailed short. Jordan grabbed the rebound, and tossed it out to Paul as time expired.
“For us to withstand their biggest punch and keep our defense up,” Jordan said, “I thought that was the key to us winning the game.”
The victory was another big step for the third-seeded Clippers after they lost home-court advantage in Game 1. They regrouped to rout Golden State 138-98 in Game 2 in Los Angeles on Monday night.
But they still had to win on the road and at Oracle Arena - both of which had been tough obstacles.
The Clippers had lost 15 of their previous 17 games in Oakland, including five in a row. Los Angeles also had lost five consecutive road playoff games.
The Clippers overcame a sloppy, physical game to end all those streaks.
Officials called a flagrant foul on Clippers forward Matt Barnes for shoving Andre Iguodala to the floor by the back of his head as the two jostled for position under the basket in the first quarter. A few possessions later, David Lee leveled Paul to the ground on a blind-side screen. Green also drew a flagrant foul for swinging his arm and fouling Griffin under the basket in the third quarter.
All the while, Griffin and Jordan just dominated the paint against an undersized Warriors team playing without center Andrew Bogut, who is out indefinitely with a fractured right rib. The Clippers also kept trapping and double-teaming Curry, forcing him to pass or attempt difficult shots on the perimeter.
Los Angeles led by 18 points early in the third quarter - just enough of a cushion to hold off Golden State’s furious, final push.
“Last year, we lose a game like this,” Crawford said. “That foundation of learning how to win, learning not to splinter and fragment, is huge for us going forward. There’s going to be adversity, especially where we want to go. But you have to find ways to deal with it and bounce back from it.”
