Heat & Spurs sweep; Celtics survive; Warriors up 3-1

The Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks, 97-90, in overtime to avoid a first-round sweep in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 29 points, Jeff Green added 26, and Jason Terry finished with 18. Game 5 will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City this Wednesday night.




Ray Allen had another big game against his old team, finishing with 16 points, as the Miami Heat swept their way to the Eastern Conference semifinals with an 88-77 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. Miami awaits the winner of the Brooklyn-Chicago series, which is currently led by the Bulls with a 3-1 series lead.




Tony Parker scored 23 points as the San Antonio Spurs completed their first-round sweep of the injury-plagued Los Angeles Lakers with a 103-82 victory. Tim Duncan had 11 points and six rebounds for the second-seeded Spurs, who will face the winner of the Denver-Golden State series in the second round.




Stephen Curry shook off the soreness in his ankle to score 22 of his 31 points in the 3rd quarter to lead the Golden State Warriors past the Denver Nuggets, 115-101, for a commanding 3-1 series lead. The 6th-seeded Warriors will look to close out the Nuggets in Game 5 this Tuesday night in Denver.