Three games happened last night during the NBA Playoffs. We have video highlights and a quick recap for all three games. Check them out below. Recaps courtesy of Sports Illustrated.
Indiana Pacers 101 – Atlanta Hawks 85
Paul George scored 27 points and George Hill had all 15 of his points in the second half, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 101-85 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
The Pacers and Hawks are tied at a game apiece heading into Game 3 in Atlanta on Thursday.
George was especially effective even though he spent much of the night defending Hawks point guard Jeff Teague, who had 14 points. Paul Millsap finished with 19 for Atlanta.
The first 24 minutes looked like an exact duplicate of Game 1, but the Pacers pulled away with a 31-13 third quarter.
Top-seeded Indiana took its first lead since the first quarter on Lance Stephenson‘s tiebreaking three-point play with 7:58 left. The Pacers then put the game away with a 25-2 run that stretched into the fourth quarter.
David West got it started with a bank shot that made it 70-65 with 3:20 left. George made a 3 to make it 79-65 heading into the fourth, and the Pacers scored the first eight points of the final period.
Lou Williams stopped Atlanta’s scoring drought with a jumper with 9:03 left, making it 87-67. But the Pacers coasted from there.
The series now shifts to Atlanta, where the Pacers have won only two times since December 2006 – though one of those wins allowed Indiana to close out last year’s first-round series 4-2.
Tuesday’s win at least gave the Pacers a brief respite from the constant questions that have dogged them throughout their late-season swoon. TNT commentator Charles Barkley even questioned the Pacers’ toughness on Sunday.
But Indiana tightened up in Game 2 and got back to playing the kind of basketball that it did during the first half of the season.
With the two Georges and Stephenson leading the way in the second half, the offense rolled. And the Pacers finally figured out how to defend Atlanta’s spread offense, too.
After allowing 11 3-pointers in the opener and eight more in the first half Tuesday, the Pacers gave up just two over the final 24 minutes of Game 2.
The combination allowed Indiana to salvage a sorely needed split of the opening two games – despite chasing the Hawks for most of the first half.
The Pacers appeared to be in trouble when they trailed 26-21 after the first quarter and fell into an 11-point hole in the second. They closed to 52-48 at the break and carried the momentum over into their strong second half.
Hill’s 7-foot runner with 8:34 left in the third tied it at 59. Stephenson’s three-point play 36 seconds later gave Indiana the lead and George’s buzzer-beating 3 capped an 11-0 quarter-ending run. George celebrated by slowly walking to the corner of the court and yelling to the crowd, right in front of the Hawks bench.
Reserve Luis Scola added 20 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers.
Toronto Raptors 100 – Brooklyn Nets 95
DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 14 rebounds for his second straight playoff double-double and the Toronto Raptors beat the Brooklyn Nets 100-95 on Tuesday night, evening their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.
Amir Johnson scored 16 points and Kyle Lowry had 14 as the Raptors rebounded from a 94-87 loss in Game 1. Patrick Patterson had 12 points and Greivis Vasquez finished with 11.
Joe Johnson scored 18 points, Deron Williams had 15 and Mirza Teletovic 14 for the Nets, who will host Game 3 on Friday night.
Hampered by foul trouble throughout the game, Brooklyn’s Paul Pierce went 2 for 11 from the field, including 0 for 6 from 3-point range. He finished with seven points.
Kevin Garnett scored 13 points and Shaun Livingston had 12 for the Nets, who led 66-64 heading into the fourth and couldn’t take advantage of 21 Toronto turnovers.
A 3 by Alan Anderson gave Brooklyn a five-point edge, but Toronto responded with six straight points to lead 70-69 at 9:54.
The lead changed five more times before Lowry converted a layup, and then made a pair of free throws to put the Raptors up 81-78 at 6:02.
Pierce converted a three-point play on his first field goal of the game to tie it at 83 with 3:48 left, but back-to-back jumpers by DeRozan on either side of a missed shot by Pierce gave the Raptors an 89-85 lead with 2:11 remaining.
Garnett cut the deficit in half with a pair of free throws, but Lowry scored a driving layup, and then forced a steal that led to a Patterson foul shot that gave Toronto a five-point edge. Pierce answered with another three-point play, and the Nets trailed 92-90 with 59 seconds remaining.
A turnover by DeRozan gave possession back to Brooklyn, but Pierce missed a 3 and the Raptors grabbed the rebound. DeRozan was fouled and made both with 20 seconds left, giving the Raptors a 94-90 lead.
Joe Johnson made a layup but Amir Johnson replied with a thunderous dunk, delighting the crowd of 20,382. Pierce missed again, DeRozan grabbed the rebound and sealed it with four free throws in the final 12 seconds.
Brooklyn jumped out to an 8-1 lead, but lost momentum when Pierce picked up his second foul at 8:01 and headed to the bench. The Nets missed nine straight shots and went scoreless for almost five minutes as Toronto used a 20-6 run to take a 21-14 lead on Patterson’s 3 at 1:39 of the first. Two free throws by Williams and a 3 from Teletovic helped Brooklyn cut it to 21-19 after 12 minutes.
Pierce returned in the second, but his only point came from the free-throw line as the Nets continued to struggle with their shooting. After hitting seven of 19 field-goal attempts in the first quarter, Brooklyn made eight of 21 attempts in the second. DeRozan scored seven points for the Raptors, who led 45-39 at halftime.
Washington Wizards 101 – Chicago Bulls 99 (OT)
Bradley Beal came on strong late in regulation to finish with 26 points, Nene scored six of his 17 in overtime and the Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 101-99 Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.
Washington rallied from 10 down in the fourth quarter after blowing a 17-point first-quarter lead.
Nene scored the first six points in overtime after being held in check by Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah in regulation, and the Wizards hung on after Kirk Hinrich failed to convert at the foul line in the closing seconds.
Noah had just hit two free throws when Beal missed a jumper with 18 seconds left. Jimmy Butler got the rebound and Chicago called time.
Hinrich, a 76-percent free throw shooter this season, had a chance to tie it after getting fouled by Nene on a drive with 2.4 seconds left. But his first attempt hit the rim. He deliberately missed the second, and Trevor Ariza grabbed the rebound to seal the win for Washington.
D.J. Augustin led Chicago with 25 points. Taj Gibson had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Noah added 20 points and 12 boards, but the Bulls will have to dig themselves out of a huge hole after dropping two at home.
John Wall had 16 points and seven assists for Washington.
The Bulls appeared to be in good shape up 87-77 five minutes into the fourth and were still leading 91-85 when Beal, quiet in the second half, shot the Wizards back into the game.
He nailed a 3-pointer that made it 91-88 and added a floater to make it a one-point game. Then, with a chance to put Washington ahead, he hit 1 of 2 free throws with 52.9 seconds left to tie it at 91.
Both teams had opportunities to win it in the closing seconds but couldn’t convert.
Augustin threw up an air ball, setting off a scramble that led to a jump ball between Gibson and Nene. Beal controlled the tip, but after a timeout, he missed an 18-footer along the baseline as time expired.
The Bulls were trailing 64-61 with just under six minutes left in the third when they went on an 8-1 run for their first lead of the game.
Mike Dunleavy Jr. put them ahead 65-64 with a jumper, and he capped that spurt with a layup that made it a four-point game with about four minutes left in the quarter.
The Bulls were leading 87-77 after a driving layup by Noah and two free throws by Butler with 6:59 left regulation.