Heat reaches Eastern semifinals, Morant’s game-winner gives Grizzlies 3-2 lead
WASHINGTON, April 26– Victor Oladipo and Bam Adebayo combined for 43 points to give the Miami Heat a 97-93 home victory on Tuesday over the Atlanta Hawks, and a berth in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Despite the absence of injured Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, Miami’s defense limited Hawks all-star guard Trae Young to only 11 points. Ja Morant’s last-second…
WASHINGTON, April 26 (Xinhua) — Victor Oladipo and Bam Adebayo combined for 43 points to give the Miami Heat a 97-93 home victory on Tuesday over the Atlanta Hawks, and a berth in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Despite the absence of injured Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, Miami’s defense limited Hawks all-star guard Trae Young to only 11 points.
After three quarters, the Heat led 75-64. DeAndre Hunter scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to pull the Hawks within two points in the final minute.
The Hawks had one final chance with 29 seconds left, but the Heat’s defense stopped Danilo Gallinari from shooting.
Oladipo scored 23 points, while Adebayo added 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Ja Morant’s last-second layup gave the Memphis Grizzlies a 111-109 home victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 3-2 lead.
The Timberwolves led the Grizzlies 55-53 at halftime and by as many as 13 points in the second half, but Morant scored nine straight points late in the fourth quarter to put the Grizzlies ahead by one.
Late in the game, Morant hit two free throws, and Anthony Edwards’ 3-pointer tied the game for the Timberwolves. Morant got away from Edwards with 3.7 seconds left and hit a game-winning layup from the low post.
Morant had 30 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, including 18 points in the fourth quarter. Desmond Bane added 25 points and Brandon Clarke contributed 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, while Edwards added 22 points.
The Phoenix Suns won 112-97 at home to take a 3-2 series lead over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Suns never trailed throughout the game. Mikal Bridges led the team with 31 points on 12-of-17 shooting (4-of-4 from 3-point range). He also had four blocks and one steal on defense.
DeAndre Ayton scored 19 points and Chris Paul added 22 points and 11 assists.
Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 22 points, while CJ McCollum added 21. Enditem
