LOS ANGELES -- Tim Duncan scored 12 of his 21 points in the second half, andDeAndre Jordan was called for basket interference with 4.3 seconds left as theSan Antonio Spurs moved to the brink of the second round with a 111-107 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points for the defending NBA champion Spurs, who took a 3-2 series lead with their second straight victory at Staples Center.
San Antonio's lead dwindled to one point in the final minute after the Clippers made a desperate 7-1 run, but Blake Griffin missed a leaping leaner with five seconds left. Jordan tipped it in but touched the ball inside the cylinder, a ruling upheld on video review.
Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio.
San Antonio survived another nail-biting game in this spectacular series with a tenacious fourth-quarter effort. The champs took a seven-point lead and hung on after the Clippers cut the lead to one point on Matt Barnes' free throws with 30.8 seconds left.
Danny Green missed a jumper to give one last chance to the Clippers with 6.9 seconds left. After Jordan's disallowed tip, which was greeted with resigned acceptance by the crowd, Green hit one free throw with 4.1 seconds left.
He missed the second, but Leonard grabbed the rebound to seal the champions' latest escape.
Griffin had 30 points and 14 rebounds but missed two free throws with 39 seconds to play. Los Angeles missed 16 free throws overall while getting pushed to the brink of elimination.
This entertaining series grinded to a crawl in a lengthy third quarter featuring 35 combined free throws, but it picked up again in a thrilling fourth.
Jordan had 21 points and 14 rebounds while the Spurs intentionally fouled him eight times in the middle quarters, resuming their hack-happy assault on the Clippers' poor-shooting center in the middle quarters.
San Antonio made a 10-4 surge in the final minutes aided by a technical foul onChris Paul, who had 19 points and 10 assists.
Boris Diaw capped the surge with a desperate fling at the basket to beat the shot clock with 2:52 to play, celebrating the improbable basket with a Gallic shrug.
Griffin blamed his last-minute turnover for the Clippers' tight loss in Game 2, and he missed two free throws in the final minute of Game 4.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers hoped his team would respond better to its second victory than its first in a series filled with serious momentum shifts. Los Angeles won the opener comfortably but then lost two straight in an overtime thriller and a blowout.
Los Angeles responded with a gritty Game 4 in San Antonio, evening the series that was widely expected to be the best in the NBA's opening playoff round. The teams combined for 111 regular-season victories but were stuck in a first-round matchup thanks to the Western Conference seeding system.
The series' fever pitch extended right into Game 5 in front of a success-hungry crowd waving red towels. Griffin paced the Clippers to an early 14-point lead, but San Antonio erased it and jumped ahead in a five-minute stretch of the first half.
Griffin was locked in from the opening tip, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds in the first half. Los Angeles' defense also performed splendidly, forcing 10 Spurs turnovers, but San Antonio kept it close with superior bench play.
Manu Ginobili scored 14 points, Patty Mills added 13 and Diaw had 10 off the bench.
The Spurs also intentionally fouled Jordan three times late in the first half, resuming the divisive strategy that even Spurs coach Gregg Popovich claims he uses reluctantly. Jordan, a dismal free throw shooter, missed four of six before Rivers pulled him out.
The third quarter largely was a grim march to the line for both teams, starting with five intentional fouls committed against Jordan before Rivers pulled him again. The Spurs shot 18 free throws of their own in the third, but the teams were tied headed to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Spurs: San Antonio has won 11 of its 14 best-of-seven series when tied 2-2. ... The Spurs' bench outscored the Clippers' reserves 48-17.
Clippers: Rivers barely dipped into his bench, using only three reserves. Spencer Hawes and Hedo Turkoglu never got into the game. ... J.J. Redick fouled out with 13 points.
James Harden, Rockets finish off Mavs for first playoff series win since 2009
HOUSTON -- James Harden's message was simple and clear after the Houston Rockets' first playoff series victory since 2009.
"It's just the beginning," the bearded superstar said. "We've got bigger goals than this."
Harden scored 28 points, Terrence Jones had 10 of his 15 in the fourth quarter, and the Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 103-94 on Tuesday night to get out of the first round and exorcise any bad feelings that lingered from last year's opening-round loss to Portland.
Houston won the Western Conference series 4-1 to advance to face the winner of the Clippers-Spurs series in the second round.
"We've worked extremely hard through a lot of adversity through the season," said Dwight Howard, who missed half the season with injuries. "To make it to the next round is big, but the job is not complete."
The Rockets bounced back from a lackluster performance in a 121-109 loss in Game 4 to head to the West semifinals for the first time since Yao Ming starred for Houston.
Howard had 18 points and 19 rebounds to help the Rockets dominate inside and Josh Smithscored 20 points. The Mavericks couldn't get going from long-range, going just 5 of 26 on 3-pointers.
Monta Ellis led Dallas with 25 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 22.
"It just felt like every time we were right there we didn't get enough breaks to really make it a game," Nowitzki said.
The Mavericks didn't lead after early in the first quarter, but a 7-0 run, capped by a basket by J.J. Barea, got them within three with about 5 minutes remaining. Then Jones took over, making a three-point play followed by a corner 3 to push it to 94-85.
Dallas scored the next four points before Harden swished a 3-pointer under heavy pressure to make it 97-89 with 2 1/2 minutes left.
Harden grabbed a steal soon after that and made a no-look pass to Jones, who dunked it, eliciting chants of "MVP! MVP!" from the crowd.
Houston's next basket came when Harden tossed a long pass to Jones for another slam to make it 101-91 with less than a minute left.
Al-Farouq Aminu and Barea were the unlikely stars that helped the Mavericks avoid elimination in Game 4. Aminu had 14 points before fouling out in the fourth, but Barea was largely ineffective, finishing with six points and three turnovers. Nowitzki led Dallas with 14 rebounds, but Tyson Chandler had just six.
"We dug ourselves in a hole by falling down 0-3," Chandler said. "It was an uphill battle from there."
Howard struggled offensively early in the fourth quarter and had missed two straight shots when he provided a defensive highlight by blocking a shot by Barea into the stands.
Ellis made the first five points of the third quarter to get the Mavericks within one, but Houston had a 16-4 run that extended the lead to 75-61 with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.
Dallas used the Hack-A-Howard tactic to try and slow Houston down in the third quarter, fouling him intentionally four times. Howard made half of the free throws, but the Mavericks couldn't make many plays on the other end.
Smith and Harden carried the Rockets early, scoring 16 points apiece in the first half. Nowitzki got off to a terrible start, going 2 of 11 before halftime and the Mavericks made just 1 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half.
The Mavericks started intentionally fouling Smith late in the half and he made two of four free throws. But the second miss worked out for the Rockets anyway, when Clint Capela grabbed a rebound and dished it to Harden, who made a 3-pointer to leave Houston up 56-50 at halftime.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Dallas fell to 10-10 all-time in the first round. ... Barea received a flagrant 1 foul when he hit Jason Terry near the neck with about 5 minutes left in the second quarter. ... Aminu fouled out with about 2 minutes left. ... Richard Jefferson missed the game with back spasms.
Rockets: Former Rockets Hakeem Olajuwon and Tracy McGrady sat courtside, as did Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. ... Howard received an offensive foul for pushing Nowitzki late in the second quarter and technical for jawing after the play.
QUOTABLE
Harden on the performance of Jones: "Struggling, struggling, struggling, but in that fourth quarter he ... basically won us the game. He did a great job."
