Knicks, Pacers, Grizzlies, & OKC enter 2nd round

Carmelo Anthony made a pullup jumper and then sank his first 3-pointer in 20 tries to help the New York Knicks foiled Boston's rally as they beat the Celtics, 88-80, in Game 6 to win a playoff series for the first time since 2000. Anthony scored 21 points and the Knicks held on after blowing most of a 26-point lead to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.




George Hill and David West each scored 21 points as the Indiana Pacers withstood a furious Atlanta comeback in the 4th quarter to beat the Hawks, 81-73, to close out the opening-round playoff series four games to two. After snapping a 13-game losing streak in Atlanta dating back to December 2006, #3 Indiana will head off to New York to take on the 2nd-seed Knicks in the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The opener is this Sunday at Madison Square Garden.




Mike Conley and Zach Randolph scored 23 points each as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Los Angeles Clippers, 118-105, to take the first-round series 4-2. The Grizzlies had never won four straight postseason games before this series. They became only the 10th team in NBA history to win four straight after trailing 0-2 - the first to win the next four all by double digits.




Kevin Durant scored 27 points and Kevin Martin added 25 to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 103-94 victory over the Houston Rockets that would send them to the second round for the third straight season. The top-seed Thunder will host the 5th-seed Memphis Grizzlies this Sunday afternoon in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.