The Boston Celtics on Wednesday overpowered the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 to reach a third straight Eastern Conference Finals as Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City moved to the brink of elimination after crashing 104-92 at home to Dallas.
In Boston, Jayson Tatum’s 25 points helped the Celtics subdue an injury-hit Cavs lineup to complete a 4-1 win in the best-of-seven series.
The Eastern Conference No. 1 seeds will face either the Indiana Pacers or the New York Knicks for a place in the NBA Finals.
Photo: AFP
However, while Boston continued their progress, Oklahoma City’s playoff campaign is hanging by a thread after their damaging defeat to Dallas.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic led from the front with a triple-double, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. The Mavs lead the series 3-2 and can clinch a place in the Western Conference Finals with victory in game six back in Dallas tomorrow.
“We just got one more to win out of two games, and that’s it,” Doncic said. “It’s 3-2, but that’s nothing. We’ve got to finish it and go with the same mentality.”
Photo: AFP
Doncic had been furious after the Mavs surrendered the initiative in a game-four loss in Texas on Sunday, but said a more relaxed approach had been the key to Wednesday’s commanding effort.
“Sometimes I forget that I love to play basketball, it’s the thing I do,” Doncic said. “My mental focus was just to go out there with a smile on my face and play basketball.”
Doncic was given offensive support from Derrick Jones Jr with 19 points while three other players made double figures.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder scorers with 30 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Earlier, Cleveland’s hopes of clawing their way back into their series with Boston were rocked before the game after confirmation that three of their top six players — Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert — were out with injury.
However, Cleveland shrugged off that setback to produce a battling performance that saw them get within three points of the Celtics midway through the fourth quarter.
Evan Mobley was superb for Cleveland, pouring in a game-high 33 points while Marcus Morris Sr added 25 off the bench.
However, Boston stitched together a decisive 13-2 run — crowned by a three-pointer from Tatum — that left them ahead by 14 points at 101-87.
Tatum, who also added 10 rebounds and nine assists, said Boston had prepared for a dogfight despite Cleveland’s injury-stricken lineup.
“Anybody who’s played in this league understands what happens when somebody’s best players are out,” Tatum said. “The rest of the guys have more freedom, they play with a different level of confidence and they play different.”
“Our mindset coming into this game was, ‘However long it takes, that’s how long it takes.’ We didn’t expect to win the game in the first or second quarter. We grinded it out,” he added.
Boston have lost in the Eastern Conference Finals in four of five appearances since the 2016-2017 season.
“Each year presents different challenges,” Tatum said. “Myself and the rest of the crew have been to the conference finals something like four or five times.”
“We’re battle-tested. We know what it takes. We just have to put the individual things aside and try and get over that hump,” he added
Tatum was one of six Boston players to finish in double figures on Wednesday, with Al Horford adding 22 points and Derrick White 18. Jrue Holiday finished with 13 points while Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard had 11 apiece.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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