Golden State’s Stephen Curry put in a match-winning performance as the Warriors became the first team to reach the second round of the NBA playoffs by beating New Orleans 109-98 on Saturday, completing a 4-0 series sweep.
Memphis moved to the brink of also progressing to the last eight by defeating Portland and taking a 3-0 lead. Elsewhere, Milwaukee staved off elimination by beating Chicago and Brooklyn beat Atlanta to cut the series deficit to 2-1.
Wait for their opponentsGolden State’s Curry had 39 points, eight rebounds and nine assists while Klay Thompson added 25 points for the Warriors, the NBA’s top overall seed, who will wait to host Game 1 of their second-round series against the winner of the Portland-Memphis matchup.
Draymond Green added 22 points and 10 rebounds for Golden State, which led 67-54 at halftime and widened the gap to as many as 24 points in the second half before the Pelicans briefly cut the deficit to single digits in the final minutes.
Anthony Davis had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans and Eric Gordon had 29 points.
Bayless’ layup at buzzer gives 92-90 victoryMilwaukee avoided a sweep and stayed alive against Chicago by edging the Bulls 92-90.
With 1.3 seconds left, Jared Dudley threw a high-arcing pass toward the basket from side court. Jerryd Bayless caught the ball and quickly threw up the layup for the game-winning basket.
Bulls guard Derrick Rose walked away in frustration after trying to guard Bayless. The Bucks won their first playoff game in five years.
Jimmy Butler had a playoff career-high 33 points for the Bulls. Rose finished with 14 points, while Pau Gasol had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
O.J. Mayo finished with 18 points, including a 3-pointer with 1-42 left, for the Bucks while Dudley had 13 points and five assists and Bayless had 10 points.
Memphis take 3-0 leadMemphis won 115-109 at Portland to move within one win of a berth in the last eight.
Marc Gasol had 25 points, Courtney Lee had 20 points and Mike Conley added 14 before leaving the game late in the third quarter with a facial injury. Memphis was already thin at point guard with reserve Beno Udrih sidelined with a sprained ankle.
Zach Randolph had 16 points and the Grizzlies won their seventh straight against Portland.
Nets win Game 3Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Thaddeus Young added 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Nets beat Atlanta 91-83 to cut the Hawks’ series lead.
The Nets seized control with an 18-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters after the Hawks grabbed their first lead since the opening basket, then went on to beat the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed for the first time in seven meetings this season.
Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 points for the eighth-seeded Nets, who can tie the series with another victory on Monday in Game 4.
DeMarre Carroll scored a playoff career-high 22 points for the Hawks, who were denied what would have been only their second 3-0 lead since moving to Atlanta in 1968. Paul Millsap added 18 points and 17 rebounds.
