Washington booked their place in the next round of the NBA playoffs with a victory on Tuesday, while Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers moved to the brink of doing the same by taking 3-2 series leads.
Washington won 75-69 at Chicago in a dour defensive encounter to complete a 4-1 series victory. It is only the third time since the 1970s that the Wizards have gone beyond the first round of the playoffs.
Memphis and Oklahoma City went to overtime for the fourth straight game in the series, with the Grizzlies pulling out a 100-99 road win that put them within one win of reaching the last eight.
Photo: EPA
Washington’s John Wall finished with 24 points, while Nene scored 20 in the Wizards’ low-scoring win at Chicago.
Bradley Beal scored 17 points for Washington, who look like extending their stay in the playoffs in what is the team’s first postseason appearance for six years.
The Wizards turned a halftime tie into a nine-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and hung on.
Chicago’s comeback chances took a big hit early in the final quarter when Taj Gibson suffered a game-ending ankle injury with his team trailing by six points.
Wall and Nene, back from a one-game suspension, both had seven rebounds. Marcin Gortat had two points and 13 rebounds.
Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 21 points. David Lee and Andre Iguodala scored 18 apiece, while Stephen Curry had a mediocre game with 17 points, including four three-pointers.
Memphis prevailed in a thrilling finish at Oklahoma City to move to the verge of what would be a surprise series victory.
Oklahoma City called a timeout with the score at 100-99 and with 2.9 seconds remaining. Kevin Durant missed a long three-point attempt and teammate Serge Ibaka tipped the ball in on the rebound. The shot was reviewed and it was determined that it was released after the buzzer, ending the game.
Mike Miller scored 21 points, while Zach Randolph added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who are scheduled to host Game 6 today.
Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who trailed by 20 points in the third quarter, but trimmed their deficit to six by the start of the fourth quarter and finally took a 79-78 lead.
Consecutive baskets by Mike Conley put the Grizzlies up 87-82 with just under 4 minutes to play.
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