Draymond Green fuels Warriors' Game 2 win over Jazz

WASHINGTON -- Draymond Green keyed an early surge as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz 115-104 on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA Western Conference second-round playoff series.

Green drained five three-pointers en route to 21 points as the Warriors remained unbeaten in six games this post-season.

Kevin Durant added 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Stephen Curry had 23 points and seven assists for Golden State, who raced to an early lead and stifled Utah's attempts to come back.

Gordon Hayward shook off a slow start to score 33 points for Utah, who were without injured point guard George Hill.

Rudy Gobert added 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Jazz before fouling out in the waning seconds.

By then, the Warriors had rebuilt their lead to 12 points after seeing it dwindle to seven with 1:45 to play.

Throughout the contest the Warriors had an answer for every threat from the Jazz -- despite some sloppy defense and 17 turnovers that led to 22 Utah points.

The Warriors' biggest scare came when Green took a hard fall in the fourth quarter, then seemed to slip as he rose and grabbed his left knee.

He eventually returned to the court -- a good sign for the Warriors, who will try to stretch their lead in the best-of-seven series in game three on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pacers seal seventh seed, avoid Cleveland

LOS ANGELES -- The Indiana Pacers clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with a 102-90 victory over New York on Tuesday, avoiding a daunting opening postseason with Cleveland.

The Pacers win coupled with the Miami Heat's 99-93 victory at Detroit means Indiana will now play second seeded Toronto in the first round of the playoffs.

Detroit, who squeezed into the postseason at the expense of the Chicago Bulls, will face LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

Indiana recovered from a first-quarter blitz that saw New York score 36 points.

Nineteen points each from Paul George and George Hill anchored the Indiana effort as the Pacers wrapped up a 26-15 record at home during the regular season, 44-37 overall.

"Teams hit their stride at different times in the season, and we were hoping to enter the playoffs with some momentum," said Indiana coach Frank Vogel, whose team travel to Milwaukee on Wednesday for their final game.

"We got a great game tonight from George Hill, who we ask to play his game and be aggressive. He does whatever he is asked."

New York's Derrick Williams top-scored for the Knicks with 21 points, while Jerian Grant chipped in with 18 and Arron Afflalo 13. The Knicks finished the season with a 32-50 record.

"The Knicks came out hot and negated what we were trying to do, but then our defensive pressure got better, and we were able to get control of the game defensively," George said. "In the second half, we got some stops and got some easy opportunities, a lot of transition plays."

Knicks coach Kurt Rambis bemoaned his team's failure to blunt the Pacers attack.

"They were allowed to penetrate, and that created confusion in our defense and allowed them to get open scoring opportunities," Rambis said.

"Paul George got himself going, and a lot of that had to do with our execution."

Meanwhile in Michigan, the Pistons tumbled to defeat as Miami improved their chances of securing home-court advantage for the opening round of playoffs.

Luol Deng scored 17 points and 10 rebounds while Goran Dragic finished with 16 points for the Heat (48-33). Hassan Whiteside weighed in with 14 points and nine rebounds while Dwyane Wade chipped in 14 points.

Heat rookie forward Justise Winslow was missing after suffering an ankle sprain.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was Detroit's highest scorer with 17 points. Marcus Morris added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Elsewhere Tuesday, San Antonio scored a 102-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, with Kawhi Leonard scoring 26 points, to snap a three-game losing streak.

Leonard drained a jumper with 49 seconds left in the extra period to put the Spurs 100-98 ahead before Tony Parker added two free throws with 12 seconds to go.

The win saw the Spurs tie the 1985-86 Boston Celtics for most home victories in a single season in NBA history (40).

San Antonio's 66 wins is also a new franchise single-season record. The Spurs had already secured the second seeding in the Western Conference and complete their campaign on Wednesday against Dallas.

The Thunder, who rested stars Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka, will be seeded third in the Western Conference in the playoffs.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pacers snap Cavaliers' 12-game win streak

Former Cleveland guard C.J. Miles scored 26 points, 16 of them in the fourth quarter, as Indiana snapped the Cavaliers' 12-game NBA winning streak with a 103-99 come-from-behind triumph.

Miles drained three three-pointers in the final period, and George Hill completed a remarkable four-point play with 1:26 remaining that put the Pacers up for good.

Cleveland's Kyrie Irving snagged Hill's left hand as Hill dribbled around a screen set by Roy Hibbert at the top of the arc, Hill using his right hand to flip in a neat basket from three-point range -- looking surprised himself when it fell.

Hill connected on the ensuing foul shot to give the Pacers a 95-92 lead.

After Cavs superstar LeBron James missed a three-pointer, Miles snatched the rebound from Iman Shumpert and was fouled.

He drained both free throws with 53.2 seconds remaining and the Cavaliers couldn't recover, suffering their first defeat since January 13.

Cleveland, who got off to a stuttering start this season as they adjusted to the return of Ohio native James after his stint with the Miami Heat, fell one win shy of matching the longest winning streak in club history.

The Cavaliers have won 13 consecutive contests twice before, the most recent from between January 16 and February 11, 2010.

Hill finished with 20 points and seven assists, while David West added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won four of their last six games.

Irving supplied 29 points and five assists and James delivered 25 points, six rebounds and five assists for Cleveland.

The win marked the fourth time this season the Pacers rallied for a victory when trailing after three quarters.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pacers rip Cavaliers to stretch East edge

INDIANAPOLIS - Paul George scored 21 points and Roy Hibbert added 19 to power Indiana over Cleveland 91-76 on Tuesday, improving the Pacers' NBA Eastern Conference-leading record to 25-5.

The Pacers, who have won 15 of 16 home games so far this season, also had 13 points from George Hill and 12 off the bench from Danny Granger in stretching their overall winning streak to five games.

George grabbed eight rebounds and Luis Scola came off the bench to make nine rebounds for Indiana, who moved 1.5 games ahead of Miami (24-7) in the fight for the best record in the East, where only three clubs have winning records.

Cleveland, which fell to 10-21, lost for the 14th time in 16 road games this season and ended 2013 on a six-game losing streak.

The Cavaliers were led by 14 points and 11 rebounds from center Anderson Varejao, 13 rebounds from Tristan Thompson and 10 points from Kyrie Irving, but shot a woeful 29-of-80 (36.3 percent) from the field.

"Today's game was a perfect example of being able to win a basketball game when you're shot isn't falling," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We buckled down on defense. It was a really special defensive performance."

Irving was helped off the court late in the third quarter after suffering what appeared to be a left knee injury, but returned to begin the fourth quarter.

"I thought the worst happened," Irving said. "I continued to play but I felt something pop in my knee and I was falling down around all over the place.

"I'm going to have an MRI tomorrow and we'll see how it goes. But it was a painful experience. When I went back out it still didn't feel right."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Nets' Pierce fined $15,000

NEW YORK - Brooklyn forward Paul Pierce was handed a $15,000 fine by the NBA on Tuesday, a day after he was thrown out of the Nets' blowout loss to Indiana.

The NBA veteran was ejected from the contest and charged with a flagrant foul 2 with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter after clashing with Pacers point guard George Hill.

Hill was racing toward the basket on a fast break when Pierce caught him on the neck with his left arm, sending Hill crashing to the court.

NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said Pierce had been fined "for making excessive and unnecessary contact with George Hill of the Indiana Pacers."

Pierce didn't score a point in the game, just the second time in 1,123 games that the 16-year veteran was held scoreless and the first time since March 1999 when he was an NBA rookie.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com