NBA:Pacers Take Hawks To Game 7 In NBA Playoffs series

  THE Indiana Pacers rallied from a five-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Atlanta 95-88 and stay alive in the NBA playoffs.

The Pacers, the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, knotted the best-of-seven first-round series at three games apiece, giving themselves a chance to triumph on their home court in game seven on Saturday.
“We had to get this game to get back to our building,” said Pacers forward David West, who scored half of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.
West finished with 11 rebounds and six assists. His driving jump shot with 46.5 seconds left broke an 85-85 deadlock and ignited an 8-0 scoring run that let the Pacers seize control of the contest.
Paul George scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Lance Stephenson added 21 points and nine rebounds in the season-saving victory.
Nine of George's points came in the fourth quarter, in which Indiana outscored Atlanta 31-21.
Atlanta received 29 points from Jeff Teague and a monster 16-point, 18-rebound effort out of Paul Millsap.
But the Hawks couldn't find the same success from three-point range that they displayed in Monday's 107-97 victory.
In game five, the Hawks connected on 15-of-27 attempts from beyond the arc, but went just nine-of-35 three-point attempts as they failed to close out the series.
“We didn't play our best on either end,” said Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer.
“That's the challenge going forward.”
The Hawks are trying to become just the sixth bottom seed to topple a top seed in the opening round.
Although the Pacers will have the advantage of home court in the winner-take-all showdown, they have never advanced in 10 prior tries when they trailed in a series 3-2.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS VS LA CLIPPERS
 

*Curry

The Golden State Warriors staved off elimination, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 100-99 in Game 6 at Oracle Arena.
Stephen Curry scored a game-high 24 points and added nine assists, and Draymond Green notched yet another playoff double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Jamal Crawford led the Clippers with 19 points and Matt Barnes had 18. Blake Griffin had 17 points and nine rebounds but shot only 8 of 24 from the field before fouling out.
DeAndre Jordan added nine points and 19 rebounds to go along with four blocks as he continued to control the paint.
A limping Chris Paul played through a right hamstring injury that hampered him throughout the game and limited him to nine points. Darren Collison added 12 points playing in his place. Jamal Crawford hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 96-92 with under two minutes remaining, and Barnes got the Clippers even closer with a layup.
J.J. Redick hit a three-pointer to cut the Warriors’ lead to 93-89, but then missed on his next try. The Warriors capitalized in a big way as Andre Iguodala was fouled by Griffin while making a 3-pointer. Iguodala missed the free throw attempt, but the Warriors led 96-89.
David Lee fouled out with 9:44 left as Griffin completed a 3-point play. Lee finished his night with eight points and nine rebounds.
Marreese Speights checked into the game and responded with a three-point play of his own, giving the Warriors an 83-77 lead. An ensuing Klay Thompson basket gave the Warriors an eight-point advantage.
The Warriors entered the fourth quarter with a 70-67 lead after controlling the third, with Green hitting a three-pointer to give them a 63-59 lead and helping challenge Griffin on defense. Griffin entered the fourth having gone five for 20 from the field.
Green had five steals and 10 rebounds entering the fourth. Green even passed to Lee for an alley-oop as he continued to start as part of the Warriors’ small lineup that ended up playing a major role.
The Warriors suffered a big blow in the second quarter when Jermaine O’Neal had to be helped off the court after suffering a right knee sprain on a collision with Glen Davis, who was going for a rebound.
O’Neal, the 35-year-old, 18-year veteran, had his knee buckle after Davis barreled into him and sent him crashing to the floor. The Warriors lost their backup center for the rest of the game, and it didn’t help them that Speights committed four first-half fouls while Lee was whistled for three personals.
The pace of the game slowed as 31 fouls were assessed between the two teams, with the Warriors trailing 51-48 at halftime having made only 10 of 18 of their free throw attempts.
Curry scored 14 of the Warriors’ first 21 points in the first quarter when he went 6 for 12 from the field to help the team crawl back from an early nine-point deficit.
Curry had 18 points by halftime, and Thompson scored two without making a single field goal. Thompson missed his first six shots before making a three-pointer in the third.
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