Spurs, Jazz close in on second round berths

LOS ANGELES, USA – The San Antonio Spurs, seeded second in the West behind the Golden State Warriors, seized a 3-2 lead in their series against the Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday, April 25 (Wednesday in Manila) with a 116-103 victory at home.

Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points, Patty Mills added 20 and Tony Parker chipped in 16 as the Spurs bounced back from a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Grizzlies in game 4.

Reserve point guard Mills made 5 3-pointers, 4 of them in the fourth quarter en route to his career-high playoff scoring total.

The effort from Australia’s Mills helped thwart a Grizzlies rally. Memphis trailed by 18 with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter, but a 17-3 scoring run saw them pull within 4 points with 9 minutes to play.

“We made shots, that’s what we didn’t do the last game,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, whose team will try to wrap up the series in game 6 on Thursday in Memphis.

The Utah Jazz are also closing in on a second-round berth after a 96-92 victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles.

Gordon Hayward scored 27 points and pulled down 8 rebounds for the Jazz, who took a 3-2 series lead with game 6 in Salt Lake City on Friday.

Rodney Hood scored 16 points and Joe Johnson produced 9 of his 14 in the fourth quarter for Utah, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds from French big man Rudy Gobert.

Chris Paul scored 28 points for the Clippers, who played their second game without standout scorer Blake Griffin, who will miss the rest of the playoffs with a right big toe injury.

The winners of the series will face the Warriors, who swept the Portland Trail Blazers in 4 games. – Rappler.com