The Spurs exited a timeout huddle late in the fourth quarter Wednesday, behind by three points and 1.7 seconds away from an early vacation, facing a thought that could have been unsettling if they to let it be.
The game, the series, and their season had been placed in the hands of an undrafted rookie. Gary Neal drained a tough 3-pointer from the top of the arc to force overtime, where Tony Parker took over to lift the Spurs to a 110-103 victory in Game 5 that sent their first-round round series with Memphis back to the banks of the Mississippi.
“I once hit a buzzer-beater to win a state championship in high school,” Neal said. “This feels a little bigger.”
San Antonio Express
Kevin Durant matched his best playoff performance with 41 points, including the final nine for Oklahoma City, and the Thunder closed out their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets with a 100-97 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
The Thunder overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 4 minutes, and Durant provided all the offense down the stretch to send the Oklahoma City franchise to its first playoff series win since it was still in Seattle in 2005.
Durant put the Thunder ahead to stay on two free throws with 46 seconds left. Serge Ibaka then swatted Nene’s dunk attempt for his ninth block of the game.
The Oklahoman
Bring on Boston. Since the first game of the season, it’s the playoff series everyone has wanted. Finally, it’s here. Finally, the warmup round is over.
The Heat advanced to play Boston in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 97-91 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday. Game 5 of this first-round series was no work of art for Miami but it matters little. The Heat dispatched the East’s seventh-seeded team with relative ease and finished 7-1 against Philadelphia this season.
“It’s a good step for the franchise,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of advancing past the first round. “It’s been awhile.”
Miami Herald
