Jayson Tatum had 29 points and 12 rebounds, Jaylen Brown scored 21 and the Boston Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a 92-87 game seven win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday (NZ time)
Marcus Smart added 16 points and Kemba Walker 14 as the Celtics will move on to face the Miami Heat in their third conference finals appearance in the last four seasons. Game one of the series will take place Wednesday.
Fred VanVleet had 20 points to lead the Raptors, whose title defense came to an end after coming back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits in the series. Kyle Lowry had 16 points, and Pascal Siakam scored 13 with 11 rebounds.
Toronto turned the ball over 18 times, six coming in the fourth quarter. Still, the Raptors were within 89-87 with 1:21 remaining.
Siakam got a breakaway with a chance to tie, but Smart blocked him from behind, and Lowry fouled out on the other end with 35.4 seconds to go. Celtics rookie Grant Williams missed both free throw chances, but Tatum got fouled on the rebound and hit 1 of his 2 for a 90-87 lead.
VanVleet missed a potential game-tying three with 12 seconds left, and Walker made his free throws at the other end to ice the game.
Earlier, Jamal Murray scored 26 points and the Denver Nuggets used a fourth-quarter rally to stun the Los Angeles Clippers 111-105 in game five of their Western Conference semi-final series.
Nikola Jokic added 22 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for the Nuggets, who cut the Clippers' series advantage to 3-2. Paul Millsap added 17 points. Murray also had eight rebounds and seven assists.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 36 points and nine boards, while Paul George had 26 points, six rebounds and six assists. Marcus Morris Sr. chipped in 12 points and Patrick Beverley finished with 10.
Game six is Monday.
