SPURS 96, GRIZZLIES 87
MEMPHIS -- Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 96-87 on Friday night to take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round series.
The Spurs are a victory away from their ninth postseason series sweep and third against Memphis. They finished the game on a 13-6 run in the final 3:41, and Leonard, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, scored 13 points in the quarter as he shot 11 of 22 for the game and 6 of 9 from three-point range.
NBA playoffs glance
All times Central Best-of-7
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Cleveland 101, Detroit 91
Cleveland leads series 3-0
Boston 111, Atlanta 103
Atlanta leads series 2-1
San Antonio 96, Memphis 87
San Antonio leads series 3-0
TODAY’S GAMES
Toronto at Indiana, 2 p.m.
Miami at Charlotte, 4:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Dallas, 7 p.m.
LA Clippers at Portland, 9:30 p.m.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Danny Green and Manu Ginobili each added 11 points for San Antonio.
Zach Randolph led Memphis with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-21 shooting. Matt Barnes added 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Vince Carter had 11 and JaMychal Green was 5 of 5 for 10 points.
Game 4 is Sunday.
With Jarell Martin out with an injured left foot, Memphis had only 10 players available, and the 6-foot-7 Barnes jumped the opening tipoff at center.
The Spurs so dominated the first two games in San Antonio that Memphis led only once, by a point and for 25 seconds. This time, the teams swapped the lead eight times with seven ties. Memphis not only took its second lead of this series, the Grizzlies also won consecutive quarters, outscoring San Antonio 25-18 in the second to trail 44-43 at halftime and 28-26 in the third to lead 71-70 going into the fourth.
Memphis Coach Dave Joerger stuck with his starters much of the game, with Barnes leading the Grizzlies with more than 41 minutes and Randolph on the court more than 39. Leonard played a game-high 42 minutes, 23 seconds.
The Grizzlies led for more than two minutes in the third quarter, taking their biggest lead at 51-48 after a three-pointer from Carter and two free throws by Tony Allen. That set up a taut quarter where neither team led by more than three.
Boris Diaw scored as the shot clock was running down to put the Spurs ahead to stay with 7:47 left, starting a 7-0 run. Memphis last got within 83-81 on a tip-in by Barnes. Leonard hit a free throw off a defensive three-second call on Allen with 3:41 to go, and the Spurs finished off the victory forcing five turnovers in the quarter.
With the victory, Tim Duncan tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for third in career playoff victories with 154. Duncan trails Robert Horry (155) and Derek Fisher (161). Duncan already tied Horry for second with 244 postseason appearances. Fisher (Little Rock Parkview, UALR) also leads that category with 259 playoff games.
CAVALIERS 101, PISTONS 91
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- LeBron James had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving made two three-pointers down the stretch to help the Cleveland Cavaliers move within a game of a first-round sweep with a victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Irving scored 26 points for Cleveland, which overcame a gritty effort by the Pistons in Detroit's first home playoff game since 2009. Andre Drummond scored 17 points for the Pistons, but Detroit fell behind toward the end of the third quarter, and a late rally came up short.
The Cavs lead the series 3-0, with Game 4 on Sunday night.
The Pistons have now lost 11 consecutive playoff games against Cleveland, and they've lost nine in a row overall in the postseason.
CELTICS 111, HAWKS 103
BOSTON -- Isaiah Thomas scored a career-high 42 points, and the Boston Celtics held on to beat the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Evan Turner, inserted into the starting lineup, had 17 points and seven assists. Amir Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds as the Celtics closed to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Playing by far their best first half of the series, Boston led by as many as 20 points before seeing that mostly erased by a 12-0 run by the Hawks in the third quarter.
The Celtics then survived a frenetic fourth quarter that featured three ties and two lead changes, finally getting separation with five consecutive points for a 104-98 lead.
Jeff Teague had 23 points for Atlanta. Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder each finished with 20.
Sports on 04/23/2016