INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers will force LeBron James to go the distance to remain unbeaten in first-round series.
Behind Victor Oladipo’s 28 points and first career postseason triple-double, the Pacers sent the series back to Cleveland and pushed the defending Eastern Conference champions to the brink of an early exit and a possible summer of unrest with a 121-87 rout on Friday night.
“I just went out there and played. I did everything with confidence. I just played read and react,” Oladipo said. “This game is over. It means absolutely nothing right now.”
If he can play that way one more time, the Pacers could reach the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2014.
History does not bode well for the Pacers. James is 12-0 all-time in first-round series and home teams have a major advantage in Game 7.
But the Pacers have defied the odds all season and this series has been no exception.
Their Game 1 victory, in Cleveland, ended James’ record-setting, 21-game winning streak in the first round.
In Game 6, Indiana handed the Cavs their first loss in a closeout game in 14 tries dating to 2009 and ended James’ 11-game winning streak in closeout games.
It wasn’t even close.
While James finished with 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds, coach Tyronn Lue opted to keep four of his five starters including James on the bench for the entire fourth quarter because Cleveland trailed by 25.
“They just took it to us (in the third),” James said. “They made shots. We missed shots. We didn’t counter what they were doing defensively or offensively and it just turned the game wide open.”
Indiana did it by playing old-school postseason basketball — hard, aggressive and relentless.
It showed.
Kevin Love hurt his left wrist on a hard fall midway through the second quarter and wound up scoring just seven points while shooting 3 of 10 from the field. Lue provided no injury update after the game.
James took a shot, too, cutting the side of his left eye when he ran into Thaddeus Young’s elbow on a drive late in the first half. No foul was called. James continued to play with a large bandage and needed stitches after the game to close the gash.
“I thought they really played fast and tried to attack us early,” Lue said. “I don’t even remember (what happened to start the second half). I really don’t. It happened so quickly.”
JAZZ 96, THUNDER 91
SALT LAKE CITY — Donovan Mitchell scored 38 points and Utah held off Oklahoma City in Game 6 to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
Russell Westbrook had 46 points for the Thunder and Steven Adams added 19 points and 16 rebounds.
The rookie and the MVP went back and forth in the second half, with Mitchell and the Jazz moving on to face the top-seeded Houston Rockets in a series that starts Sunday.
Derrick Favors scored 13 points and Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz, who lost starting point guard Ricky Rubio to a left hamstring injury in the first quarter.
RAPTORS 102,
WIZARDS 92
WASHINGTON — Toronto overcame a halftime deficit in a road playoff game for the first time in 24 tries, using 24 points from Kyle Lowry and a tremendous effort from its finally whole second unit to beat Washington in Game 6 and end the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Toronto trailed by as many as 12 points in the first quarter and was down 53-50 at the end of the second. The Raptors’ first lead did not come until the third quarter, and they were back down by five points entering the final period.
But with star guards Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, who had a personal series-low 16 points, resting to begin the fourth, reserves led by point guard Fred VanVleet turned around the game. Bothered by a bad right shoulder, VanVleet had played a total of three minutes in the series until Friday, but he was just what Toronto needed in this game, with five points, four assists and four rebounds
John Wall had 23 points and eight assists in Game 6. Bradley Beal led Washington with 32 points. But the Wizards’ run of eight home playoff wins in a row came to a close.
