PELICANS 131, TRAIL BLAZERS 123
NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Davis sat on the court, a scowl on his face and his biceps flexed on each side of his head.
The Pelicans All-Star had just converted a layup as he fell to the court after a hard foul. His strength-projecting celebration afterward was that of a franchise player determined to lay the foundation of his playoff legacy with a dominant performance in the clutch.
"In a close-out game and then the magnitude of the situation, this is probably the best game he's played since I've been here," Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry said. "He just was not going to let us lose."
Davis scored 33 of his franchise playoff-record 47 points in the second half -- including 12 points in the final five minutes -- and New Orleans completed a first-round playoff sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers with a 131-123 victory on Saturday night.
"It was fun," Davis said. "It was an amazing feeling for me to go out and sweep these guys and play the way that I played."
And when Davis wasn't devastating the Blazers, Jrue Holiday was giving Portland fits with explosive drives or pull-up jumpers. Holiday capped his 41-point night with an 18-footer that gave the Pelicans a six-point lead with 40 seconds left.
Rajon Rondo had 16 assists, and Davis also had 11 rebounds and three blocks for New Orleans, which is moving on to the second round of the playoffs for only the second time since the NBA returned to the city 16 seasons ago.
Rondo has said he came to New Orleans to play with what he viewed as the best "Big Three" in the NBA -- Davis, Holiday and DeMarcus Cousins. Misfortune struck Cousins in late January, when he was lost for the season to a left Achilles tear. Davis and Holiday had to raise their games, and have come through beyond expectations.
Portland never gave up, trimming a 15-point second-half deficit to a single point on Al-Farouq Aminu's layup with 5:08 to go, but Davis responded with 12 points over the final 4:56, starting with a layup as he was fouled and a three-pointer. Holiday scored six points during the final 2:52, starting with his three-pointer. The pair combined for all but one of New Orleans' points during that pivotal stretch.
"You put the ball in these two guys' hands and they delivered for us," Rondo said. "I couldn't ask for a better duo right now, especially at the time of the game where we needed to get the ball in the hole."
C.J. McCollum scored 38 for the Trail Blazers, who responded to a blowout loss in Game 3 by keeping Game 4 close until the final minute. Aminu scored 27, Damian Lillard added 19 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 18 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out.
76ERS 106, HEAT 102
MIAMI -- Ben Simmons had the first playoff triple-double by a rookie in nearly 40 years, JJ Redick scored 24 points and the Philadelphia 76ers outlasted the Miami Heat to move within a victory of the second round.
The 76ers lead the Eastern Conference series 3-1 and can close out the Heat when play resumes in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
Simmons became the first rookie since Magic Johnson in 1980 to post a playoff triple-double -- 17 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists. Joel Embiid finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia.
Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 25 points off the bench for the Heat, who led by 12 points in the second half before letting the game slip away. Wade carried the comeback effort, with the Heat down six and less than 2 minutes left. His three-point play cut the margin in half and his next two field goals got Miami within one each time.
Goran Dragic scored 20, James Johnson had 15 and Hassan Whiteside finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds for Miami.
TIMBERWOLVES 121, ROCKETS 105
MINNEAPOLIS -- Jimmy Butler hit four three-pointers among his 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns snapped back from a bad start to the series with 18 points and 16 rebounds, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Houston Rockets in Game 3 for their first postseason victory in 14 years.
Jeff Teague scored 23 points and Andrew Wiggins pitched in 20 points with another four three-pointers, helping the Timberwolves match the fire-away Rockets from behind the arc and cruise down the stretch behind a 50 percent shooting performance.
Derrick Rose added 17 points off the bench for the Wolves, who will try to even the series with a victory in Game 4 on Monday night.
James Harden led the way with 29 points, but Chris Paul fouled out with 17 points and the Rockets went just 15 for 41 from three-point range.
JAZZ 115, THUNDER 102
SALT LAKE CITY — Ricky Rubio had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Utah’s first playoff triple-double in 17 years, and Donovan Mitchell added 22 points to lead the Jazz to a victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night and a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Joe Ingles had 21 points for Utah. Rubio’s triple-double was the first by a Jazz player in the postseason since John Stockton in the 2001 playoffs against Dallas. Paul George scored 23 points, and Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Raymond Felton each had 14 for the Thunder.
At a glance
FIRST ROUND
(Best-of-7)
FRIDAY’S GAMES Indiana 92, Cleveland 90
Washington 122, Toronto 103
Milwaukee 116, Boston 92
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Philadelphia 106, Miami 102
Philadelphia leads series 3-1
New Orleans 131, Portland 123
New Orleans wins series 4-0
Minnesota 121, Houston 105
Houston leads series 2-1
Utah 115, Oklahoma City 102
Utah leads series 2-1
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Boston at Milwaukee, noon
Boston leads series 2-1
Golden State at San Antonio, 2:30 p.m.
Golden State leads series 3-0
Toronto at Washington, 7 p.m.
Toronto leads series 2-1
Cleveland at Indiana, 7:30 p.m.
Indiana leads series 2-1
Sports on 04/22/2018