Heat hold off Hawks to reach Eastern semifinals
Morant lifts Grizzlies over Timberwolves; Bridges, Paul lead Suns past Pelicans
Victor Oladipo scored 23 points, Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Miami Heat moved into the Eastern Conference semifinals by beating the Atlanta Hawks 97-94 on Tuesday night.
Trae Young's rough series for Atlanta remained that way: He finished 2 for 12 from the floor, scoring just 11 points. For the series, the Hawks' guard shot 32 per cent against Miami's swarming defence.
De'Andre Hunter scored 35 for Atlanta, which got 12 apiece from Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari.
Hunter fouled out with 41.6 seconds left, Miami clinging to a three-point lead at the time. The Hawks got a stop, taking over with 29.2 seconds remaining, and retained possession after a missed shot from Gallinari went out of bounds off Miami.
The Hawks never got another shot off, time expired and Miami moved on.
The <a href="https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MiamiHEAT</a> advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HEATCulture?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HEATCulture</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPlayoffs</a> presented by Google Pixel <a href="https://t.co/hnqrCZcWpz">pic.twitter.com/hnqrCZcWpz</a>
—@NBAOnyeka Okongwu's three-point play got Atlanta within 79-76 early in the fourth, the Hawks clawing back after being down by as many as 15.
But Herro hit a high-arcing jumper from the lane, Miami got a stop, and Oladipo hit a left-wing 3 on the next Heat possession to push the lead back to eight with 7:29 remaining.
That's how the final minutes went: Atlanta made a charge, Miami would hold it off, all the way to the end.
And now, the Heat get nearly a week off before facing either Philadelphia or Toronto in the East semis. Game 1 will be Monday in Miami.
Suns down Pelicans, take 3-2 series lead
Mikal Bridges scored 31 points in a stellar all-around game, Chris Paul added 22 points and 11 assists and the top-seeded Phoenix Suns beat the New Orleans Pelicans 112-97 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.
Bridges closed the Suns' scoring with two emphatic dunks in the final minute, capping arguably the best game of his pro career.
Brandon Ingram scored 22 points to lead the Pelicans. CJ McCollum added 21.
The Suns took an 89-78 lead into the final quarter after Cameron Payne's late 3-pointer. The Pelicans — just 36-46 during the regular season — pulled within seven points with less than two minutes left, but Cameron Johnson threw down a one-handed jam on the ensuing fast break to keep the Suns in control.
Phoenix will try to clinch the series in Game 6 on Thursday in New Orleans. If the first five games are any indication, it will not be easy.
Grizzlies push Timberwolves to bring of elimination
Morant, named the NBA's most improved player on Monday, struggled mightily much of the game. But he turned it on in the fourth quarter, scoring 18 points — including 9 of 10 at the free-throw line.
Morant finished with 30 and had 13 rebounds and nine assists. Desmond Bane added 25 points, and Brandon Clarke had 21 off the bench for Memphis, and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 12 before fouling out.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Anthony Edwards had 22, and D'Angelo Russell added 12 and Taurean Prince 10.
Game 6 is Friday night in Minnesota.
