Portland Trail Blazers' Robin Lopez scores against the Houston Rockets' Omer Asik, James Harden (13) and Dwight Howard (12) during the second half of game six of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series game in Portland, Ore., Friday May 2. The Trail Blazers won the series 4-2 in a 99-98 win. (AP Photo)
PORTLAND, May 3 (AP): Portland's Damian Lillard hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Trail Blazers a stunning 99-98 win over Houston on Friday, clinching a 4-2 win in their playoff series and a place in the NBA Western Conference semifinals for the first time 14 years.
On a dramatic day in the playoffs, Dallas staged a fourth-quarter comeback to overrun Texan rival San Antonio and square their series at 3-3, while Brooklyn also won at home against Toronto to force a Game 7 in their series.
Portland, making its first playoff appearance since 2011, had been eliminated in the first round in its last six trips, and had not advanced to the second round since 2000.
Dwight Howard's layup and foul shot put the Rockets up 96-94 but Nicolas Batum's fadeaway jump shot tied it again with 39.9 seconds left.
Chandler Parsons scored on a reverse layup with 0.9 seconds left to give Houston the lead but there was just enough time for Lillard to hit a 3 that will go down in Blazers folklore.
Portland will face the winner of the series between San Antonio and Dallas, and that remains up for grabs after the Mavericks pulled off an equally dramatic 113-111 comeback win over the Spurs.
Monta Ellis scored 12 of his 29 points to lead a fourth-quarter surge. It was an unlikely comeback by the eighth-seeded Mavericks, as San Antonio had won every time this season when leading after three quarters in a road game.
Dirk Nowitzki added 22 for Dallas, who will travel to San Antonio for the decider on Sunday with the knowledge that the last time they went there for a Game 7 they won, in 2006.
Tony Parker scored 22 to lead the heavily favored Spurs, who won all four games against Dallas during the regular season and had been expected to quickly dispatch their state rival.
Brooklyn had a relatively comfortable 97-83 home win over Toronto, with Deron Williams shaking off a second-half injury to score 23 points.
Despite appearing to hurt his left foot or ankle early in the third quarter, Williams dominated his matchup with Kyle Lowry and helped the Nets put it away with a 3-pointer with 1:13 left that made it 92-79.
Game 7 is Sunday in Toronto, with the winner advancing to face defending champion Miami.
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 for the Raptors, who have never won a postseason series that went seven games, and have not won any playoff series for 13 years.
Nets down Raptors to force seventh-game showdown
NEW YORK, May 3 (AFP): Deron Williams scored 23 points and shook off an ankle sprain to lead the Brooklyn Nets over Toronto Raptors 97-83 Friday and keep their NBA playoff hopes alive. Williams, who scored 11 points after twisting his left ankle early in the third quarter, added five rebounds and four assists to help the Nets level their best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series at 3-3 and force a decisive seventh game Sunday at Toronto.
NEW YORK, May 3 (AFP): Deron Williams scored 23 points and shook off an ankle sprain to lead the Brooklyn Nets over Toronto Raptors 97-83 Friday and keep their NBA playoff hopes alive. Williams, who scored 11 points after twisting his left ankle early in the third quarter, added five rebounds and four assists to help the Nets level their best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series at 3-3 and force a decisive seventh game Sunday at Toronto.
"It'll be a little more sore when the adrenaline wears off, but it will be ready on Sunday," Williams said of his ankle. The Nets led by as many as 26 points in the third and took a 79-59 margin into the fourth quarter, but Brooklyn was mindful of what happened in game five at Toronto, where the Raptors led by 22 entering the final period only to have the Nets move ahead in the late going only to lose. Toronto made a 14-2 run to pull within 86-76 with 5:02 to play in game six but the Raptors came no closer.
"We did a good job putting them away," Williams said. "We knew they were going to make a run. They are a great team. It was a tough battle all the way through.
"They were persistent and we got up 20. Sometimes when you get up 20 you get complacent. We had to fight to finish it out."
The Nets reached a seventh game last year before losing in the first round to Chicago, then traded with Boston for stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in building a roster worth $193 million.
Whether that pays off with a deeper playoff run will be decided Sunday against a club whose payroll is about $68 million.
Brooklyn's Joe Johnson scored 17 points while Garnett added 13 points and five rebounds, and Pierce contributed 12 points and six rebounds.
Toronto's DeMar DeRozan netted a game-high 28 points while Kyle Lowry, who had 36 points in the Raptors' game six win, had only 11 points Friday on 4-of-16 shooting. The Raptors seek their first playoff series triumph since 2001 while the Nets try to rally and win a series for the first time in five tries after falling behind 3-2.
