Young's clutch shot pushes Pacers past Wizards

INDIANAPOLIS -- Thaddeus Young's short jump shot with one second left on the clock lifted the Indiana Pacers to a 107-105 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday.

"I just made a play, that was the biggest thing," Young said of his jumper from 10 feet. "My teammates put me in a position to make that play by having a lot of guys on the court that could space the court out."

Washington's Bradley Beal missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in front of a crowd of 18,100 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse arena.

Paul George led the Pacers with 27 points and teammate Jeff Teague added 23. Myles Turner fouled out with 20 points and eight rebounds.

"They switched out and denied Paul," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "Thaddeus did what he was supposed to do and come to the ball. With four seconds to go you want to attack the basket. It was the right thing instead of just settling for the hero long jump shot.

"He put his head down and attacked the basket. It was an aggressive move by Thaddeus."

Beal, who hit both two free throws to narrow the Pacers' lead to 105-103 with 50 seconds left, had tied the score by hitting a jumper with 15 seconds left.

Marcin Gortat tallied 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards (12-15). Teammate John Wall delivered 19 points.

Washington erased a deficit by scoring the first nine points of the fourth quarter to tie it 88-88. George's basket made it 90-88 and halted the Wizards' run.

Elsewhere, Dennis Schroder and Paul Millsap combined to score 61 points in leading the Atlanta Hawks to a 110-108 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Schroder scored 31 points on 10 of 16 shooting to go along with eight assists. Millsap poured in 30 points, 11 rebounds and hit three of five from beyond the arc.

Thabo Sefolosha added 15 points as the Hawks raised their record to 14-14.

Oklahoma City was led by Russell Westbrook, who had a game high 46 points. He also racked up 11 rebounds and seven assists.

In Minneapolis, the Minnesota Timberwolves held onto a late advantage to escape with a 115-108 win over the Phoenix Suns at the Target Center.

The win for the Timberwolves came two days after they let a 12-point lead slip away with just over two minutes to play against Houston. The Rockets eventually won that game in overtime.

On Monday, Wolves center Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points and grabbed 15 boards for his 18th double-double of the season -- and his eighth straight.

Canada's Andrew Wiggins had 26 points in the win, and Zach LaVine chipped in 23.

In Chicago, Rajon Rondo narrowly missed a triple-double with 10 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls rolled to a 113-82 win over the Detroit Pistons.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Balanced Hawks cruise past Knicks

The Atlanta Hawks were one of the most unselfish teams in the NBA last season, ranking second in the league in assists and in a 112-101 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday, the Hawks once again shared the ball and the scoring.

Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-1) with 23 points, Al Horford had 21, Kyle Korver contributed 15 and Dennis Schroder came off the bench to record 13 points.

Paul Millsap chipped in with 11 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals, while Tiago Splitter added 10 points.

"I think the ball moved better," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "Our offense fed off our defense, and we could get out and run. "Guys were seeing team mates, making good decisions and good reads."

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks (1-1) with 25 points.

Robin Lopez, a free agent acquisition over the summer, added 18 points, and rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis scored 10 and grabbed eight rebounds. Kyle O'Quinn contributed 10 points and 10 boards.


 Anthony is a combined 14-for-43 (32.6 percent) from the field in the Knicks' first two games.

"We have to get to a point where we are concerned with winning percentages and not shooting percentages," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. "Being good takes time."

The Knicks never got closer than the 11-point final differential in the fourth quarter.

Teague scored 14 consecutive points to increase Atlanta's lead to 79-57 with 5:42 remaining in the third. He scored on two driving layups and a floater and was 8-for-9 from the foul line in the sequence.

"When Jeff is aggressive and attacking, it can collapse the defense and create opportunities," Budenholzer said.

The Hawks shot a sizzling 62 percent (8-for-13) from beyond the arc to grab a 61-45 halftime lead. Horford and Korver led the way with 12 points apiece.

New York were ahead 33-32 with 7:20 left in the second, thanks mostly to their second unit, but the Hawks used an 18-6 run to move ahead 50-39 with three minutes to go before the half. Korver deposited seven points in the run.

"Their execution in those first-half stretches was good," Fisher said. "They were able to disrupt our timing and force us to play behind the rest of the night."

(Compiled by Peter Rutherford)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Hawks soar over Nets to seal series victory

Paul Millsap collected 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists as the Atlanta Hawks closed out their first round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets with a 111-87 road victory in Game Six on Friday.

Kyle Korver had his best postseason game from behind the arc by hitting six three-pointers while scoring 20 points for Atlanta, who advanced past the first round for the first time since 2011 with a 4-2 victory in the best-of-seven series.

DeMarre Carroll finished with 20 points and point guard Jeff Teague set a playoff career-best with 13 assists.

The Hawks will host the Washington Wizards in Game One of the Eastern Conference semi-finals on Sunday.

Brook Lopez scored 19 points for the Nets, who were two wins away from becoming the sixth eighth seed to win a first-round series and the second team with a losing regular-season record (38-44) to win a postseason series.

The Nets had won Games Three and Four at home to make things interesting against top-seeded Atlanta but were unable to match the Hawks in the final two contests.

After falling behind early, the Hawks led for the final 45:31 and left little doubt about the outcome, outscoring Brooklyn 41-21 in the third quarter to blow the game wide open. (Editing by John O'Brien)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Undermanned Atlanta escapes Miami

Hawks 93, Heat 91

The Atlanta Hawks opted to rest four players, including two All-Stars, but were still strong enough to defeat the Miami Heat 93-91 on Saturday.

Coach Mike Budenholzer benched All-Star point guard Jeff Teague, starting small forward DeMarre Carroll, All-Star center Al Horford and reserve power forward Pero Antic.

Still, Paul Millsap scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth and the Hawks (47-12), who have the best record in the Eastern Conference, won their fourth straight game.

Center Hassan Whiteside had 14 points and an equal career-best 24 rebounds for Miami (25-33), who also got 22 points from guard Dwyane Wade.

- - -

Wizards 99, Pistons 95

John Wall scored 22 points and Nene had 21 as the Washington Wizards snapped a six-game losing streak with a victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Marcin Gortat had 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Wizards (34-26), who had lost five in a row following the All-Star break and 11-of-13 since Jan. 28.

Fortified with the return of guard Bradley Beal (right leg stress reaction) and forward Paul Pierce to the starting lineup, Washington dominated the first half and led by 68-47 but the Pistons rallied to move ahead in the fourth.

The Wizards prevailed down the stretch to hand the Pistons (23-36) a third straight loss.

- - -

Grizzlies 101, Timberwolves 97

Marc Gasol led all scorers with 27 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, as the Memphis Grizzlies rallied to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and win for the first time in three games.

Mike Conley added 11 points for Memphis (42-16), which trailed by five with just over eight minutes to play before silencing the sellout crowd.

Andrew Wiggins scored 25 points for Minnesota, which has now lost two in a row. It was the 19th game with 20 points or more for the rookie from Kansas.

Kevin Garnett received his second technical foul in the third quarter and was ejected.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Hawks take 2-1 lead over Pacers

ATLANTA - Jeff Teague tallied 22 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the top seeded Indiana Pacers 98-85 Thursday to grab a 2-1 lead in their opening round playoff series.

Kyle Korver finished with 20 points, DeMarre Carroll netted 18 and Paul Millsap recorded a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double in the National Basketball League victory. Korver shot four-of-seven from three-point range.

Teague, who also torched the Pacers for 28 points in game one of the best-of-seven series, had a playoff career high 10 assists on Thursday.

Game four will be in Atlanta on Saturday.

Atlanta now owns a 14-2 home record against the Pacers since the start of the 2007-08 season.

Lance Stephenson paced Indiana with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Paul George added 12 points with 14 rebounds in the loss in front of a crowd of 18,124 at Philips Arena.

Luis Scola finished with 17 points off the bench and David West tallied 16 points with seven rebounds and five assists for Indiana.

Indiana beat the Hawks in six games in the first round of the playoffs last season.

But they have not got off to a good start in this postseason.

According to Yahoo Sports, Indiana's Evan Turner and Stephenson had a fistfight at practice on Friday prior to game one of the series.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com