NBA Playoff Capsules

Apr 30, 2016 - 5:53 AM PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Damian Lillard scored 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers advanced to the Western Conference semifinals by holding off the resilient Los Angeles Clippers 106-103 on Friday night to claim the first-round playoff series 4-2.

Portland will open the series against the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

CJ McCollum added 20 points for the Blazers, who became the first team to overcome a 2-0 deficit since Memphis came back against the Clippers in the first round in 2013.

Jamal Crawford had 32 points and Austin Rivers added 21 points and eight assists despite having 11 stitches above his left eye from a collision in the first quarter. But the Clippers could not recover from injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in Game 4 of the series.

HEAT 97, HORNETS 90

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Dwyane Wade scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Miami forced its first-round series against Charlotte to a seventh game.

Luol Deng was 9 of 14 from the field and finished with 21 points, while Goran Dragic added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Heat, who will host Game 7 on Sunday.

The Heat overcame a playoff career-high 37 points from Kemba Walker to hand the Hornets only their 11th loss of the season at home. Al Jefferson had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Cody Zeller had 12 points off the bench for Charlotte.

With Miami leading by two, Wade hit his first 3-pointer of 2016 with 46 seconds left and added an 18-foot turnaround jump shot over Courtney Lee to help seal the win.

PACERS 101, RAPTORS 83

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Paul George scored 21 points, Myles Turner added 15 and Indiana beat Toronto to force a Game 7 of their series.

That will be played Sunday in Toronto, and the winner will advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Indiana scored 18 straight points in the second half to pull away from the second-seeded Raptors, who haven't won a postseason series since the first round in 2001.

DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph each had 15 points for the Raptors.

Kyle Lowry (4 for 14) and DeMar DeRozan (3 for 13) struggled again, and now the Raptors will head home and hear again about their troubled playoff problems: a Game 7 loss at home to Brooklyn in 2014, Washington's four-game sweep last season and no series wins in a seven-game series.






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