LOS ANGELES; The Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics became the latest teams to book their places in the second round of the NBA playoffs on Tuesday as the Detroit Pistons thwarted the New York Knicks to keep their postseason hopes alive.
In Indianapolis, the Pacers battled back from a 20-point deficit and then rallied again in overtime to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 119-118 and seal a 4-1 victory in their NBA Eastern Conference duel.
The reigning NBA champion Celtics had an easier time of it as they overpowered the Orlando Magic with a series-clinching 120-89 victory at Boston’s TD Garden.
The Knicks, leading their series 3-1, missed the chance to join Boston and Indiana in the second round after losing 106-103 to Detroit at Madison Square Garden.
The Pacers advanced to an Eastern Conference semifinal series with top seeds Cleveland after pulling off a remarkable overtime Houdini act.
The Pacers trailed 118-111 with 40 seconds remaining but launched an 8-0 run that culminated with Tyrese Haliburton’s driving layup to clinch victory with 1.3 seconds left on the clock.
A late blunder by Milwaukee’s Gary Trent Jr — who fumbled a wide open pass to turn over possession and set up Haliburton’s winning layup — proved pivotal.
“Both teams literally left every single ounce of everything they had out there, including timeouts — nobody had anything left,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
“But you know, fortune favors the bold — and our guys were bold in the last three quarters and we’re very grateful and thankful to be moving on.”
Asked what his message to his players had been after they had fallen 20 points behind early on, Carlisle replied: “Hit somebody.”
Haliburton led Indiana’s scoring with 26 points, five rebounds and nine assists while Myles Turner added 21 points. Aaron Nesmith finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Trent Jr. led the scorers for Milwaukee with 33 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 30 in the absence of the injured Damian Lillard, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Sunday’s game four loss.
Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said turnovers and poor execution in the closing stages cost his team victory.
“These games will kill you,” Rivers said. “Execution down the stretch is something you have to have, and we have to own that. We failed in that department tonight. But give them credit — they hung in there.”
In Boston, Jayson Tatum’s 35-point display and 23 points from Jaylen Brown helped the Celtics close out their series against Orlando.
The Celtics trailed 49-47 after a sluggish first-half display but erupted on a 35-9 run in the third quarter to take the game away from the Magic.
“We didn’t really like the way we played in the first half,” Tatum said. “But it’s tough to put a team away. We just stuck with it.
“But we’re champions and we can win in multiple different ways, with multiple different lineups. The Magic forced us to play in a different way, but we adapted and figured it out.”
The Celtics will face the winner of the series between New York and Detroit in the other Eastern Conference semifinal.
The Pistons ensured their postseason campaign will last at least one more game after downing the Knicks in New York. The Knicks lead the best-of-seven series 3-2.
In a game that saw the lead change hands 18 times, the Pistons held on for the win after the Knicks closed to 104-103 with seven seconds remaining.
Cade Cunningham led Detroit’s scoring with 24 points with Ausar Thompson adding 22.
