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.
