Celtics take 3-0 series lead, beating Pacers 104-96
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Russell Westbrook had 33 points and 11 assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-108 on Friday night to cut their series deficit to 2-1.
Paul George added 22 points, Jerami Grant had 18 and Dennis Schroder 17 for the Thunder. They will host Game 4 on Sunday night.
Damian Lillard scored 32 points, but he had just three in the fourth quarter after scoring 25 in the third. C.J. McCollum had 21 and Enes Kanter added 19.
Oklahoma City closed the second quarter on a 10-1 run to take a 49-39 lead. Lillard was held to four points on 2 -or-6 shooting and the Trail Blazers shot 37.5% in the half.
George hit a 3-pointer, was fouled and made the free throw in the opening minutes of the second half to push Oklahoma City's lead to 55-43. Westbrook backed down Lillard, hit a bank shot and was fouled. Westbrook brought out his "rock the baby" celebration, then made the free throw to put Oklahoma City up by 15.
Lillard scored 23 points the rest of the quarter to help cut Oklahoma City's lead to 86-82 at the end of the period. McCollum hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 89 early in the fourth. Oklahoma City regained control, with Westbrook's jumper with just over two minutes remaining putting the Thunder up 10.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 23 points and Kyrie Irving added 19 to help Boston beat Indiana for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
The Celtics can close out the Eastern Conference series Sunday in Indianapolis.
Irving also had 10 assists and five rebounds.
Tyreke Evans matched his career playoff high with 19 points for the Pacers. Bojan Bogdanovic had 15, not enough to prevent Indiana from losing its sixth straight to Boston in the regular season and playoff.
Indiana desperately needed a win to avoid facing its second sweep in three years, but Boston started fast and closed it with a 10-4 spurt late in the fourth quarter. And once again, Boston's defense turned the game by allowing just 12 points in the third quarter.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Pascal Siakam had 30 points and 11 rebounds, Kawhi Leonard added 16 points and Toronto held off Orlando to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference series.
Siakam was 13 for 20 from the floor and the Raptors held Orlando to 36% shooting. Leonard had 10 rebounds, Danny Green had 13 points and Kyle Lowry finished with 12 points and 10 assist.
Terrence Ross led Orlando with 24 points, and Nikola Vucevic shook off a slow start to finish with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Game 4 is Sunday night in Orlando.
Lowry's 3-pointer with 7:48 left gave Toronto its biggest lead at 86-69. The Magic came flying back, and Ross' 3-pointer with 41 seconds left got Orlando to 96-93. Leonard was short with a jumper on the next possession — but the Magic couldn't control the rebound, and were doomed shortly afterward. Leonard made a pair of free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game again.