Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday on Saturday combined to post one of the greatest duo performances in NBA history, as the New Orleans Pelicans beat Portland 131-123 to sweep the Trail Blazers from the playoffs.
Davis delivered a franchise playoff-record 47 points and Holiday tallied 41 to equal the NBA record for most points by a pair of teammates in a single playoff game.
“We put the ball in these guys’ hands and they delivered for us,” Pelicans point guard Rajon Rondo said.
Photo: AP
The 88 points allows them to join John Havlicek and Jo Jo White in the 1973 post-season and it beat Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s best total together by one point.
The pair scored 28 of the Pelicans’ final 29 points. Holiday nailed a pull-up jumper that gave the Pelicans a six-point lead with 40 seconds remaining.
Rondo added 16 assists and Davis also had 11 rebounds and three blocks for New Orleans.
The Pelicans’ sweep of the Trail Blazers moves them into the second round for only the second time since the NBA returned to the city 16 years ago.
76ERS 106, HEAT 102
Australian Ben Simmons became the first rookie since 1980 with a triple double in a playoff game, helping spark the Philadelphia 76ers over the Miami Heat 106-102.
Simmons scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and passed off 10 assists, while J.J. Redick had 24 points to lead seven double-digit scorers for the Sixers, who seized a 3-1 edge over the Heat in their opening round series.
Simmons became the first rookie since Magic Johnson to manage a triple double in a playoff game and at 21 is the third-youngest to accomplish the feat after Johnson and LeBron James.
In the second period, after Philadelphia’s Robert Covington inflicted a hard foul upon Miami’s Goran Dragic, the Heat’s James Johnson took issue and shoved Covington, which prompted Simmons to confront James Johnson as coaches and players entered to contain the melee.
Joel Embiid added 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for the 76ers in his second game back after an orbital bone fracture around his left eye.
Dwyane Wade came off the Miami bench to score a game-high 25 points, but the Heat face elimination in Game 5 tomorrow in Philadelphia.
In Saturday’s other games, it was:
‧ T’wolves 121, Rockets 105
‧ Jazz 115, Thunder 102
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