Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives past Francisco Garcia of the Houston Rockets during Game Six of the Western Conference quarter-finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Toyota Center on Friday in Houston, Texas. (AFP)
AFP/New York
The Oklahoma City Thunder, trying to get back to the NBA finals for the second straight year, moved into the second round of the playoffs Friday with a 103-94 victory over the Houston Rockets.
The Thunder wrapped up a 4-2 triumph in their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series and booked a second-round clash with the Memphis Grizzlies, who avenged their first-round loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last year with a 118-105 victory that lifted them to a 4-2 series win over Chris Paul and the Clippers.
Kevin Durant scored 27 points and Kevin Martin added 25 for the Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City, who had seized a formidable 3-0 lead in the series only to have Houston bounce back with two straight victories.
“I thought that was one of our best Thunder team wins that we’ve had all season,” said Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks, whose team scotched Houston’s bid to become the first NBA team to rally from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series.
Only three teams have come back from an 0-3 hole to force a decisive seventh game. The Rockets had their chances, on Friday, but couldn’t hold onto a double-digit lead.
In a back-and-forth battle Houston led by as many as 11 points in the first half and by as many as 10 in the third quarter, but Oklahoma City authored a 14-4 scoring run early in the final period and pulled away for the victory.
Oklahoma City led 78-77 going into the fourth quarter and held Houston to 6-of-19 shooting in the period.
James Harden, battling strep throat, scored 26 points with six rebounds and seven assists for the Rockets, who had 25 points from Chandler Parsons. Omer Asik had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“In that fourth quarter with about seven minutes left we were just stagnant. We couldn’t get any movement or make any shots,” Harden said.
Houston had to make do without key reserve Carlos Delfino, who needs surgery on his right foot.
Jeremy Lin came off the bench in the first quarter after missing two games with a bruised chest muscle. He scored three points in less than six minutes on the floor.
Oklahoma City had an encouraging performance from Reggie Jackson, filling in for star Russell Westbrook who had right knee surgery on April 27 and will miss the rest of the playoffs.
“He’s a guy that can continue to lead us as the playoffs go along,” Brooks said of Jackson, who scored 17 points with seven rebounds and eight assists.
The Thunder will host the Memphis Grizzlies in game one of their second-round series on Sunday.
The Grizzlies won their fourth straight game on Friday—after dropping the first two of the series—to beat the Clippers on their home court where Los Angeles had celebrated a game-seven first-round victory last year.
“Last year was a very disappointing series loss,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. “They made up their minds they would come back.
Knicks hold off Celtics to advance, Pacers move on
The New York Knicks turned back a furious late charge by the Boston Celtics on Friday, holding on for an 88-80 victory to reach the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The victory gave the Knicks a four-games-to-two triumph in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series.
They advanced to a second-round clash with the Indiana Pacers, who downed the Hawks in Atlanta 81-73 to win their series 4-2.
“They stood up and they made big plays they needed to make to get the win. It was a total team effort on our part,” said Knicks coach Mike Woodson, whose team will host the Hawks in game one of their series at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
In Atlanta, the Pacers became the first team to notch a road win in their first-round series against the Hawks to secure a second-round berth.
George Hill and David West scored 21 points each and Roy Hibbert scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Indiana.
