National Basketball Association Playoff Game Capsules
Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – The Brooklyn Nets will get their shot at the Heat in the second round of the playoffs after narrowly ousting the Raptors on Sunday in front of a rabid Toronto crowd excited for its first Game 7. The Raptors nearly blew the roof off Air Canada Centre with a furious late comeback, but Paul Pierce blocked Kyle Lowry’s potential game-winner in the lane as the seasoned Nets pulled out a frantic 104-103 victory. The first Game 7 win in Nets history did not come easy, as Toronto cut a seven-point deficit with two minutes remaining to one down the stretch. Terrence Ross drove for two to pull the Raptors within 104-103, then stole Shaun Livingston’s inbounds pass and threw the ball out of bounds off Pierce’s leg to give the hosts one final chance with 6.2 seconds to go. Lowry was triple teamed at the top of the key and had the ball knocked away by Kevin Garnett before regrouping in the lane. With time ticking away and Pierce in his face, Lowry rose from six feet out, took some slight contact and had it batted away as the buzzer sounded to end an incredibly tight series. Joe Johnson led the sixth-seeded Nets with 26 points, Garnett added 12 points and 11 rebounds and Marcus Thornton stepped up with 17 points off the bench for the Nets, who will open their next series in Miami on Tuesday. Brooklyn swept the four regular season meetings against the two-time defending champions, though all were decided by a single point. Lowry finished with 28 points to pace the Raptors, who have still not won a playoff series since 2001.
Final Score: San Antonio 119, Dallas 96
San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – The fifth and final Game 7 of a wild first round in the NBA playoffs was anticlimactic, as the San Antonio Spurs jumped on the Dallas Mavericks early and rolled to a blowout 119-96 victory. San Antonio was put to the test by its in-state rival the past two weeks, but Sunday’s elimination bout was completely one-sided in favor of the Western Conference’s top seed. Tony Parker scored 24 of his 32 points in a first half that saw the Spurs shoot a blistering 68.4 percent from the field en route to building a sizeable cushion. Manu Ginobili finished with 20 points, five assists and six steals while Danny Green added 16 points for San Antonio, which will begin its second-round series at home against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. The Mavs were trying to become just the sixth No. 8 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed, but they did not have much going offensively outside of Dirk Nowitzki’s 22 points and Devin Harris’ 17-point showing off the bench. Monta Ellis, who averaged 24 points over the previous five games, netted just 12 of 3-of-11 shooting in the ouster.
Categorized in: NBA