Sharp Spurs eliminate Jazz from playoffs

Salt Lake City: The San Antonio Spurs swept the Utah Jazz out of the first round of the NBA playoffs on Monday, holding on for an 87-81 win thanks to a balanced attack that saw five players score double figures.

Manu Ginobili scored a team-high 17 points and Tim Duncan had 11 points and five rebounds for the top-seeded Spurs, who went on a 20-2 scoring run in the second half to seize command of game four in their Western Conference series.

"We didn't lose our composure. That was great," Duncan said. "We used the clock when we could. We took advantage of plays when we had to and found a way to close it out."

In the other West game, Chris Paul dominated in overtime as the Los Angeles Clippers moved to the brink of advancing to the second round with a 101-97 win over Memphis. The Clippers lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can close it out with a win in game five today in Memphis.

In Utah, France's Tony Parker had 11 points for the Spurs, who won the series 4-0, while Gary Neal also had 11 and Tiago Splitter contributed 10.

For the Jazz, Al Jefferson tallied a game-high 26 points, Devin Harris had 19 and Derrick Favors finished with 16 points and 10 boards.

Utah is now 22-25 all-time in elimination games and still no team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit.