De’Aaron Fox scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the host San Antonio Spurs defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 114-95 on Tuesday to close out a 4-1 victory in the teams’ first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Victor Wembanyama racked up 17 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots as the second-seeded Spurs secured a berth in the conference semifinals vs. either the third-seeded Denver Nuggets or sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.
Julian Champagnie added 19 points for the Spurs, who are headed to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Fox dished out a game-high nine assists.
Deni Avdija put up 22 points for Portland, which was outshot from the floor 54.7% to 35.1%.
76ers 113, Celtics 97
Joel Embiid tossed in 33 points and added eight assists as visiting Philadelphia avoided elimination by beating Boston in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Tyrese Maxey added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers, who trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Philadelphia entered the fourth quarter down by one but outscored the Celtics 28-11 over the final 12 minutes.
Boston received 24 points and 16 rebounds from Jayson Tatum, and 22 points from Jaylen Brown. The Celtics shot 3-for-22 from the floor in the final period.
Knicks 126, Hawks 97
Jalen Brunson scored 39 points to lift host New York to a victory over Atlanta in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Knicks, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, got 17 points and 10 rebounds from OG Anunoby. New York held a decisive 48-27 edge on the boards.
Jalen Johnson recorded 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Hawks, while Dyson Daniels had 17 points. Atlanta was limited to four fastbreak points.
–Field Level Media
