Pacers, Celtics roar, make East semis

Pacers, Celtics roar, make East semis | Daily Tribune

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics became the latest teams to book their places in the second round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs on Tuesday while the Detroit Pistons thwarted the New York Knicks to keep their postseason hopes alive.

In Indianapolis, the Pacers battled back from a 20-point deficit and then rallied again in overtime to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 119-118 and seal a 4-1 victory in their NBA Eastern Conference duel.

The reigning NBA champion Celtics had an easier time of it as they overpowered the Orlando Magic with a series-clinching 120-89 victory at Boston’s TD Garden.

The Knicks, leading their series 3-1, missed the chance to join Boston and Indiana in the second round after losing 106-103 to Detroit at Madison Square Garden.

In the other game, the Denver Nuggets edged into a 3-2 lead in their tense series with the Los Angeles Clippers after grabbing a crucial 131-115 win in Colorado, thanks to a 43-point masterpiece from Jamal Murray.

The Pacers advanced to an Eastern Conference semifinal series with top seeds Cleveland after pulling off a remarkable overtime Houdini act.

The Pacers trailed, 118-111, with 40 seconds remaining but launched an 8-0 run that culminated with Tyrese Haliburton’s driving layup to clinch victory with 1.3 seconds left on the clock.

A late blunder by Milwaukee’s Gary Trent Jr — who fumbled a wide-open pass to turn over possession and set up Haliburton’s winning layup — proved pivotal.

“Both teams literally left every single ounce of everything they had out there, including timeouts — nobody had anything left,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

“But you know, fortune favors the bold — and our guys were bold in the last three quarters and we’re very grateful and thankful to be moving on.”

Asked what his message to his players had been after they had fallen 20 points behind early on, Carlisle replied: “Hit somebody.”

Haliburton led Indiana’s scoring with 26 points, five rebounds and nine assists while Myles Turner added 21 points. Aaron Nesmith finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds.