-Atlanta stun Pacers with three point barrage
(The Sports Xchange) -The Atlanta Hawks made a franchise-best 15 3-pointers as they moved within one win of stunning the top-seeded Indiana Pacers 107-97 in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. The Hawks lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, and they can clinch the series by winning Game 6 on Thursday night at Phillips Arena in Atlanta.
Atlanta is trying to be the first No. 8 seed to win a playoff series since the Philadelphia 76ers knocked out the Chicago Bulls in 2012.
Mike Scott hit a playoff-career-high five 3-pointers and guard Kyle Korver also hit five while Shelvin Mack led Atlanta with 20 points.
The Hawks led by 21 points at halftime, and were never seriously theatened in the second half.
Indiana forward Paul George scored a game-high 26 points and had a game-high 12 rebounds. Struggling Pacers center Roy Hibbert was on the bench less than six minutes into the game. He did return to the lineup in the second quarter, but finished with zero points and zero rebounds.
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Heat 109, Bobcats 98
LeBron James scored 31 points and four of his teammates scored in double figures as the Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Bobcats to complete a four-game sweep of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
The Heat trailed at halftime but outscored the Bobcats 32-17 in the third quarter, closing the period with an 11-2 run. They never let the Bobcats get closer than seven in the fourth quarter.
The Heat, seeded second in the East, advance to take on the winner of the Toronto-Brooklyn series in the conference semifinals.
The Bobcats played without center Al Jefferson, their leading scorer and rebounder. Jefferson suffered a strained plantar fascia in his left foot in Game One and had been hobbled throughout the series.
Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 29 points. For the Bobcats name, it was the final game in franchise history. The team will become the Hornets next season. The Bobcats never won a playoff game in their 10-year history, getting swept in both of their playoff appearances.