Miami put heat on Celtics, Thunder level series

(Reuters) - The Miami Heat piled the pressure on bruised and battered Boston by taking a 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series with a 102-91 victory on Tuesday.

Quicker and more athletic than the veteran Celtics, who were hampered by a series of nagging injuries, the Heat again met the challenge of the defending Eastern Conference champions and have a commanding lead in the best-of-seven second-round series with Game Three set for Saturday in Boston.

In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder slowed the inside force of the Memphis Grizzlies in a 111-102 victory that leveled their series 1-1.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and the Thunder held red-hot Zach Randolph to 2-for-13 shooting as Oklahoma City bounced back from their series-opening loss to the giant-killing Grizzlies.

In Miami, LeBron James took his turn to carry the load with 24 of his game-high 35 points coming in the second half, while Game One standout Dwyane Wade added 28.

"This is a great team we're going against right now," James told reporters. "We're playing as hard as we can defensively and just trying to wear them down throughout the course of the game."

"They made a run but we stuck to our principles and finally wore them down."

With the game tied 80-80 midway through the fourth, the Heat exploded with a 14-0 burst to put the contest out of reach.

Boston's Paul Pierce, who was ejected from the contentious series-opener with two technical fouls in the fourth quarter, returned from a strained left foot but the injury forced him off the court briefly in the first quarter.

Ray Allen also played with a bruised chest following a collision with James in the third.

Rajon Rondo led the way with 20 points and 12 assists for Boston who trailed by five points after both the second and third quarters.

The Celtics will have to regroup at home if they are to take down Miami's "Big Three," who were brought together in the off-season to challenge Boston's supremacy.

Chris Bosh, the Heat's final member of the triumvirate, finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Having allowed 34 points from Memphis's Zach Randolph in Game One, the Thunder restricted him to just 15 points, as they charged to a 28-17 lead after the first quarter and stretched it to 97-76 in the fourth.

Russell Westbrook had 24 points and James Harden put in 21 for the Thunder.

Mike Conley led the way with 24 points for Memphis who will host Game Three on Saturday.

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Boston roll on, Sixers cool off Heat

(Reuters) - The Boston Celtics swept aside the New York Knicks to move ominously into the second round of the playoffs after a 101-89 victory on Sunday.

Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo recorded 21 points and 12 assists and the veteran Celtics completed their 4-0 best-of-seven rout over the Knicks.

Meanwhile, the second seed Miami Heat had their series advantage cut to 3-1, while the Atlanta Hawks took a 3-1 series lead over Orlando and the New Orleans Hornets leveled their match-up at 2-2 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Having reached the NBA Finals in two of the last three seasons, Boston produced a business-like win as they nearly led from start to finish.

The revamped Knicks, who signed All Star Amar'e Stoudemire in the off-season and traded for All Star Carmelo Anthony at mid-season, suffered a disappointing exit from the playoffs.

"They're going to be good," Boston coach Doc Rivers said of the Knicks. "They're just going to be able to keep building. As long as everyone stays patient with them, it will work out."

Anthony finished with 32 points and nine rebounds and New York got 19 and 12 rebounds from Stoudemire who was limited in the series by back spasms that nagged him since Game Two.

Knicks starting point guard Chauncey Billups also injured his knee in Game Two and was sidelined for the rest of the series.

Miami attempted to punch its ticket to the second round but was stalled by Philadelphia 76ers who pulled off a gritty 86-82 win to avoid a first round sweep.

Philadelphia's Lou Williams had 17 and made the go-ahead three-pointer with eight seconds for the winning margin while LeBron James scored 31 and Dwyane Wade had 22 for the Heat.

Game Five is Wednesday in Miami.

In New Orleans, Jarrett Jack made a clutch jumper to put the home team up four with nine seconds left, and Chris Paul had a triple-double of 27 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds as the Hornets outlasted the Lakers in a 93-88 win.

Kobe Bryant, who exchanged words with Paul throughout the testy affair, shook off a slow start and a sore ankle to finish with 17 points and eight assists.

Los Angeles stayed close but never led in the second half and will try to regain control of the series in Game Five on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Atlanta led Orlando by as much as 16 in the second quarter, but still had to hold on late to fend off the Magic in an 88-85 win.

Orlando forward Hedo Turkoglu missed a three-pointer attempt at the buzzer to seal his team's fate as the Magic wasted Dwight Howard's dominance of 29 points and 17 rebounds.

Jamal Crawford had 25 points off the bench to lead the Hawks who will try to close the series in Game Five on Tuesday.

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Celtics beat Knicks; Mavs and Magic also win

(Reuters) - The Boston Celtics overcame an inspired performance from Carmelo Anthony to beat the New York Knicks and take a 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series on Tuesday, while Orlando and Dallas also grabbed victories.

Orlando's Dwight Howard, who scored 46 points in a Game One loss to the Hawks, poured in 33 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the Magic beat Atlanta 88-82 to even their series at 1-1.

In Dallas, the Mavericks got 21 points off the bench from Peja Stojakovic to compliment 33 from Dirk Nowitzki as the home team held off the Portland Trail Blazers 101-89 to take a 2-0 series lead with Game Three set for Thursday in Portland.

With New York's Chauncey Billups out due to a sore knee and Amare Stoudemire sitting out the second half because of back spasms, Anthony stepped up and matched a career playoff high with 42 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.

However, Anthony's outstanding individual effort was not enough as the Celtics hung on for a 96-93 win.

After back-to-back heart-breaking losses, the Knicks head home to the 'Big Apple' for Games Three and Four on Friday and Sunday, needing at least one win to avoid being swept from the first round.

The Knicks clawed their way back to a 93-92 lead with 19 seconds to play before Kevin Garnett dropped the go-ahead basket with 13 seconds left on the clock. He followed that up with a big defensive play at the other end of the court, diving on a loose ball with just four seconds left.

Rajon Rondo paced the Celtics with 30 points.

"We have so many weapons," Rondo told reporters. "Kevin wanted the ball and I told him to be ready and he came through for us on both ends of the floor."

Orlando avoided falling behind 2-0 in their series with the help of a 10-1 run to close the third quarter that gave the Magic a 65-54 cushion.

Jameer Nelson had 13 points for the Magic while Hedo Turkoglu had 10.

Jamal Crawford had 25 points coming off the bench to lead the Hawks and Josh Smith had 17.

Portland were looking to return home with the series tied 1-1, but Nowitzki led the Mavs to a 28-17 fourth-quarter advantage to fend off the visitors.

Stojakovic, who was released by the Toronto Raptors before the Mavericks signed him in January, drained five three-pointers and was a point short of his season-high.

LaMarcus Aldridge paced the Blazers with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

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Rondo gets aggressive as Celtics take 2-0 lead over Knicks

(Reuters) - Rajon Rondo is the smallest of the Boston Celtics starting lineup but the guard proved his mettle Tuesday as Boston inched past the New York Knicks.

The fifth-year pro scored 30 points, a career post-season high, in Boston's 96-93 win, and backed it up with four rebounds and seven assists against a Knicks team depleted by injuries.

Boston's win gave them a 2-0 lead in the Eastern conference best of seven series. The action switches to New York's Madison Square Garden Friday.

Rondo, prince of the assist, rarely stars on the Celtics' well-rounded roster, where forwards Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett often steal the scoring show and Ray Allen regularly hits laser-like three-pointers.

"That's a hard job, that point guard job," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers of Rondo. "When they're playing you to drive, they're trying to force you to shoot, and your most effective way is penetration through trees. It's hard."

At age 25, versus an average age of 33 for the rest of Boston's starters Tuesday, Rondo brings fresh legs to the team. Even so, going up against "trees" takes its toll.

"I got tired in the first quarter," said Rondo. "I was trying to push the pace and I got a little winded. After that, my wind was fine."

Fourteen of Rondo's points came in the first period. "I thought Rondo was aggressive," said Boston's Garnett. "He and Paul (Pierce) had it going very early. I thought he got into a nice rhythm."

Rivers said the coaches had talked about Rondo attacking the basket for lay-ups. "It was good to see he can do that, that he's going to do that. That was great."

Still, Boston got a break Tuesday, Rivers said.

"We won the game. That's all we get out of this ... my guys played hard, but I thought they were lucky to win. (New York) had no Stoudemire, no Billups."

Knicks starting guard Chauncey Billups was out with a strained left knee. Amar'e Stoudemire suffered back spasms after a mistimed dunk during warmups. The forward played just 17 minutes for four points.

"I could hardly move," said Stoudemire, still in too much pain to sit during the post-game press conference.

With his teammates down, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, a four-time NBA All Star, stepped up to score a season high 42 points and 17 rebounds.

The Celtics briefly held a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but Anthony reeled Boston in time and again in a game featuring 22 lead changes.

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Celtics rally for spirited victory over Knicks

NEW YORK (AP) – Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics scored the final 10 points for a spirited 96-86 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday night.

With blood flowing and bodies flying, the Celtics showed the Knicks they will be tough to beat next month if this was in fact a preview of a first-round playoff series.

Paul Pierce scored 21 points and Ray Allen had 15 for Boston despite a poor shooting night and a nasty cut on his head that briefly forced him from the game.

Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points for the Knicks, but neither he nor Amare Stoudemire had a field goal in the fourth quarter. Chauncey Billups had 21 and Stoudemire finished with 16.

Boston (50-19) matched its victory total from last season after coming into play tied with Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference, seizing control in the final minutes with its trademark tough defense the sensational all-court play of Rondo, who made the tiebreaking basket with 3:10 left.

The Knicks lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell to 7-9 since acquiring Anthony last month, and as with Miami's occasional struggles this season, has created concerns about how long it takes a team to figure things out when it has put superstars together.

"Hopefully two, three years," joked Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who has his reasons for that wish.

The longtime Atlantic Division rivals could be headed toward a meeting in the first round of the playoffs. New York entered in seventh place in the East, a half-game behind Philadelphia.

This one started to resemble a playoff scrap in the second quarter. Boston's Troy Murphy had to come out of the game with a bloody nose, and Glen Davis crashed to the court after Anthony caught him in the head with an elbow after grabbing a rebound.

Then Allen had to leave briefly in the third quarter after his head was bloodied by Jared Jeffries' elbow while going for a rebound. Allen wiped blood from his head on the court with a towel, not far from where his mother was seated next to Spike Lee in the front row of courtside seats.

The Celtics took the hits and kept coming, trimming New York's lead to 69-63 on Glen Davis' layup at the third-quarter buzzer. They were down nine after Billups' four-point play with 7:26 remaining but stormed back with 13 straight points, going ahead 86-82 on Garnett's jumper with 4:20 to go.

The Knicks tied it, and after Rondo's layup with 3:10 put Boston back ahead, Anthony was cut above the eye after colliding with Rondo trying to steal and inbounds pass. Rondo came up with it as Anthony fell to the court, then found Davis for a layup and a 90-86 edge with 2 1/2 minutes left.

Pierce knocked down a jumper for a six-point lead, and Allen put it away with a dunk to make it 94-86 with 40 seconds to go. He closed it out with two free throws.

A day after the Knicks managed nine points in the first quarter at Milwaukee, their worst opening period since scoring a franchise-low five on Nov. 21, 1956, against Fort Wayne, Stoudemire had nine by himself after 12 minutes Monday as New York built a 25-22 lead.

The Knicks scored the first seven of the second, capped by consecutive baskets by Ronny Turiaf, to open a double-digit cushion. It grew to 45-30 on Billups' 3-pointer with 3:41 remaining in the half, and the Knicks took a 51-37 advantage to the locker room.

Notes: The teams meet again in Boston on April 13 in the regular-season finale. ... Shaquille O'Neal worked out on a stationary bike before the game, though it's still unknown when he will return from a sore right leg that's sidelined him since Feb. 1. ... The Knicks started Turiaf at center, the third straight game they had a different starter at that position

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