Wizards holds off Celtics; Warriors beats Jazz for 2-0 lead

John Wall scored 24 points, Isaiah Thomas was held to 13 and the Washington Wizards held on for a 116-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in a technical foul-filled Game 3 on Thursday night to cut its series deficit to 2-1.

Published : May 05, 2017 12:29 IST

Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) drives on Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (13), from Poland during the second half in Game 3 of a second-round NBA playoff series basketball game on Thursday.

John Wall scored 24 points, Isaiah Thomas was held to 13 and the Washington Wizards held on for a 116-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in a technical foul-filled Game 3 on Thursday night to cut its series deficit to 2-1.

The Wizards used a 22-0 first-quarter run to take a 34-12 lead as Thomas and the Celtics kept missing shots and turning the ball over. The game was already a blowout in the second when Washington’s Kelly Oubre Jr. was ejected for charging and knocking over Kelly Olynyk after the Boston big man was called for an illegal screen.

There were eight technical fouls and three ejections total.

Otto Porter and Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points apiece for Washington, which improved to 4-0 at home in the playoffs. Washington’s 119 first-quarter points is an NBA record for the first three games of a series.

Warriors 115, Jazz 104

Draymond Green showed Quin Snyder his hot hand and range up close, knocking down five 3-pointers and scoring 21 points before a brief knee scare late in Golden State’s victory over Utah that gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

Kevin Durant added 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Stephen Curry had 23 points, seven assists and played smothering defense as Golden State stayed unblemished through six playoff games.

Gordon Hayward overcame a poor Game 1 and slow start in this one to score 33 points, and Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 16 rebounds before fouling out for a Jazz team missing injured point guard George Hill. He was ruled out earlier in the day because of a sore left big toe.

Game 3 is Saturday night in Salt Lake City.