Boston and Philadelphia in semis, Denver tie with Los Angeles

Philadelphia: The Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics savoured play-off joy on Thursday as they advanced with last-gasp wins to close out their first-round series 4-2, while the Denver Nuggets avoided elimination by the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 76ers edged the injury-hit Chicago Bulls 79-78 to reach the Eastern Conference semi-finals for the first time in nine years, and will next meet the Celtics who battled past the Atlanta Hawks 83-80 after finishing with a commanding 7-1 run. The fast-paced Nuggets, however, kept their play-off hopes alive with a runaway 113-96 home victory over the Lakers whose top player, All-Star guard Kobe Bryant, was hampered by a stomach ailment.

Sixth-seeded Denver, who had previously trailed 1-3, levelled the best-of-seven series at 3-3 and will return to Los Angeles for Game Seven on Saturday.

In Philadelphia, with just 2.2 seconds remaining, Andre Iguodala kept his cool to score with two free throws and then blocked a three-point attempt by guard C.J. Watson for the 76ers to clinch the series.

Iguodala finished with 20 points while guards Jrue Holiday and Louis Williams each contributed 14 as eighth-seeded Philadelphia booked their place in the next round.

Luol Deng and Richard Hamilton both weighed in with 19 points for the top-seeded Bulls who were without the injured MVP Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.

"I don't know how we son the game, 76ers coach Doug Collins said. "Dre [Iguodala] has gone through a lot here and I told him after the game that no one deserves more than him to have this moment,"