Cavaliers 98, Pacers 95

LeBron James hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, a crowning moment for another brilliant performance, to give Cleveland a victory over Indiana on Wednesday night in Game 5, putting the Cavaliers within one victory of advancing in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The game, the series, the season and perhaps Cleveland's future were in jeopardy.

LeBron James saved everything.

James dropped a 3-pointer at the buzzer, a crowning moment for another one of his brilliant performances, to give Cleveland a victory over Indiana on Wednesday night in Game 5, putting the Cavaliers within one victory of advancing in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Moments after blocking Victor Oladipo's possible go-ahead layup — a play the Pacers felt was goaltending — James caught the inbounds pass, took two dribbles and hit his winner over Thaddeus Young.

As Cleveland's sellout crowd exploded, James hugged rookie teammate Cedi Osman before jumping on the scorer's table to celebrate another of those moments that will define a career he dreamed of while growing up in Akron.

"As a kid you always have those 3, 2, 1 moments and that's what it kind of felt like," James said. "I felt like I was a kid all over again playing basketball at my house on makeshift hoops and my socks as a basketball."

James finished with 44 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and went 15 of 15 from the line.

"He does it at both ends every single night," Cavs forward Kevin Love said. "That's why he's the best player in the world."

Kyle Korver added 19 points and Cleveland's much-maligned defense tightened just in time as the Cavaliers seized their first lead in the first-round series after being down 1-0 and 2-1.

Cleveland can close out Indiana with a win Friday night in Indianapolis.

But while James' shot will long be remembered, the Pacers were stinging from his block they felt was illegal.

With the score tied at 95-all, Oladipo, who shot just 2 of 15, drove the left side and was at the rim when James swooped in for a block on a play reminiscent of his Game 7 block on Andre Iguodala in the 2016 NBA Finals.

However, Oladipo thought his shot hit the backboard first, and goaltending should have been called. TV replays showed the ball appear to hit the glass before James touched it.

"I got a step on him and I felt I even got grabbed," Oladipo said. "It hit the backboard and he blocked it. It was a goaltend. It's hard to even speak on it. That layup is huge."

James smiled when asked about the play.

"Of course I didn't think it was a goaltend," he said with a laugh. "I try to make plays like that all the time. He made a heck of a move, got me leaning right and he went left, and I just tried to use my recovery speed and get back up there and make a play on the ball."

Oladipo's shooting woes continued. He's only 12 of 50 from the field in the last three games. He scored 32 in the Pacers' Game 1 win, but the Cavs have been double-teaming him ever since.

The third quarter has been a major problem for Cleveland all season. The Cavs had tried everything to try and shake things up after halftime, even doing layup lines at the break in Game 4 like a high school squad.

Turns out, all it took was some defensive intensity.

Down by seven at half, the Cavs swarmed the Pacers in the third quarter, forcing five turnovers in the first six minutes and holding Indiana to one field goal over the first 6:52 while opening with a 19-3 run.

Cleveland outscored Indiana 32-17 in the third, when the Pacers shot just 5 for 16 (31 percent) and committed seven turnovers.

"We didn't do anything new," said guard Jose Calderon, who started his second game in place of George Hill. "We were just more aggressive."

Calderon provided a huge lift, making a pair of 3-pointers and contributing several other hustle plays in 20 minutes. The 36-year-old has done whatever Cleveland's needed.

"Jose has been steady for us all year," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. "G-Hill goes down and Jose comes in and makes plays. He's been that guy for us all year."

Raptors 108, Wizards 98

Toronto rode to a seldom-used lineup to move within a game of advancing in the NBA playoffs.

DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points, Kyle Lowry had 17 points and 10 assists, and the Raptors beat Washington in Game 5.

Toronto rebounded after losing Games 3 and 4 on the road to take a 3-2 series lead back to Washington for Game 6 on Friday night. The home team has won all five games in the series.

The only team in the NBA to avoid losing three straight at any point this season, the Raptors went 5-0 following back-to-back losses during the regular season and have not lost three straight since last year's second-round sweep against Cleveland. The last time Toronto lost three regular-season games in a row was from Feb. 8 to 14, 2017.

Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas had not played a single fourth-quarter minute in the series before getting the call down the stretch to play alongside Delon Wright, Lowry, DeRozan and C.J. Miles, a group that barely shared the floor this season.

"We're all capable of going it offensively and defensively and it showed tonight," DeRozan said. "Everybody stepped up and Delon stepped up big."

Raptors coach Dwane Casey acknowledged he was "searching" for the right lineup combination

"I thought Delon Wright did a good job down the stretch handling the ball," Casey said. "It gave us an opportunity for Kyle and DeMar to get off the ball a little bit more and I thought that was the difference."

Wright scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Valanciunas had 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Raptors improved to 5-0 in home Game 5s over the past five years.

"Delon Wright came in and made some big shots and big plays for them," Washington's John Wall said. "Whenever he gets over 10 or 15, nine times out of 10 they win the game. He's a big key to their team when they go small."

Wall had 26 points, and Bradley Beal added 20 for the Wizards. They went nearly four minutes without scoring down the stretch. Marcin Gortat had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington shot 8 for 24 in the fourth quarter, and Toronto had 15 rebounds in the final frame.

"We feel like we let one slip away," Wall said. "They made the biggest shots at the end of the game."

The Raptors won despite being out rebounded 50-35.

"They crushed us on rebounds," Lowry said.

Wall connected on 10 of 21 shots but missed all four of his attempts from 3-point range.

"He's a tough cover," Casey said. "He's one of the best in the league. I've said that he's a miniature LeBron when he has the ball coming at you because he's so strong and powerful."

Toronto trailed 87-82 after a three-point play by Kelly Oubre Jr. with 8:52 left but regained the lead with a 6-0 run over the next 1:20.

After Washington's Markieff Morris dunked with 4:06 left, Wright replied with a 3 and, after a missed shot by Wall, converted a layup off a pass from DeRozan to give the Raptors a 99-93 lead with 2:59 remaining.

Washington didn't score again until Beal's 3 with 16 seconds left.

"The ball became a little bit stagnant tonight down the stretch," Brooks said. "We need to get some more ball movement."

Rockets 122, Timberwolves 104

James Harden had another huge third quarter to propel Houston to their latest win, and coach Mike D'Antoni wants to know what's behind those scoring bursts.

"When you do talk to him about it, would you let me know, because I'm dying in the first half. My health is an issue," D'Antoni said with a laugh.

Clint Capela had 26 points and 15 rebounds, Harden added 24 points and the Rockets pulled away in the third quarter to get another lopsided win and eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves with a victory in Game 5 of the first-round series.

The top-seeded Rockets are headed to the second round for the second year in a row after taking care of the eighth-seeded Timberwolves. Minnesota was in the postseason for the first time since 2004.

Houston will await the winner of the Utah-Oklahoma City series, which the Jazz lead 3-2 after the Thunder rallied from a big deficit Wednesday night to avoid elimination.

After scoring 22 points in Houston's 50-point third quarter in a Game 4 blowout Monday night, Harden poured in half of Houston's 30 points in the third quarter Wednesday night to put the Rockets up for good. His 15 third-quarter points matched Minnesota's output in the frame, and he finished with 12 assists.

"I knew that Minnesota wasn't going to just go away," he said. "We had to do the right things to put them away."

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford added 20 points off the bench.

"It's a major jump from where we were two years ago," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We have to take all the things we learned this past season and make a commitment to continue to improve."

Paul and Harden both raved about the work of Capela, who throughout the series has outshined Towns, an All-Star this season and the top overall pick in 2015.

"He opens up everything for us because he's such a threat when he rolls to the rim," Paul said.

Towns believes the experience of his first trip to the postseason will help him moving forward.

"We hadn't been there in like 14 years, so it was experience that needed to be garnered and we wanted to take that next step," he said. "We came up short tonight but we're very confident in ourselves leading up to next year."

Andrew Wiggins scored the last four points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 85-74 entering the fourth quarter. The Rockets used a 7-2 spurt, highlighted by a 3 from Ryan Anderson, to start the fourth and make it 92-76 with 9 1/2 minutes left.

A basket by Derrick Rose got Minnesota within 14 later in the fourth when Houston went on a 10-4 run to push the lead to 108-88 with less than five minutes to go.

The Wolves got consecutive 3s by Jamal Crawford and Wiggins to cut the lead after that, but the Rockets scored the next five points to end that run and cruise to the victory.

The Rockets opened the second half with a 10-2 run to erase a halftime deficit and take a 65-61 lead with about nine minutes left in the third. Paul, who finished with 12 points and nine assists, had four points in that stretch and Harden and P.J. Tucker added 3-pointers.

Minnesota scored the next five points to go back on top, but Harden scored five quick points after that to leave the Rockets ahead 70-66. Harden, who had just five points at halftime, hit a 3 before throwing down a one-handed dunk over Taj Gibson that prompted Minnesota Thibodeau to call a timeout.

The timeout didn't do anything to slow Harden and the Rockets, and he added another 3 on Houston's first possession after the timeout.

Towns added a basket after that before Houston scored the next eight points to extend the lead to 81-68 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.

Things got a little testy after that when Crawford pushed Paul to the court and stood over him jawing. Paul got to his feet and got in his face, but the two were quickly separated and Crawford was given an offensive foul and a technical.

Minnesota’s Jimmy Butler had eight points before sitting out the fourth because of a sore knee and Wiggins finished with 14. Jeff Teague added 17 points and had seven assists.

Eric Gordon scored 19 for Houston and Tucker finished with a playoff career-high 15 points.

The Rockets made a series-high 18 3-pointers on Wednesday night. They've made at least 15 3-pointers in their last four games, which is tied with Cleveland in 2016 for the longest streak in NBA playoff history. Last season Houston made 15 or more 3-pointers in just three of their 11 playoff games.

Thunder 107, Jazz 99

Russell Westbrook unleashed the same fury he had in Game 4, just a little more efficiently this time.

Westbrook was controlled, and he was too much for Utah. Silent and serious, the reigning league MVP scored 33 of his 45 points in the second half, and Oklahoma City rallied from 25 points down to fight off elimination and beat the Jazz in Game 5.

"It was win or go home," Westbrook said. "Regardless of what is going on in the game, you have to give yourself a chance to win, and I thought our guys did a good job of that tonight. They did an amazing job of sticking together."

Westbrook got sidetracked during Monday's Game 4 by a one-on-one matchup with Ricky Rubio. He was in foul trouble for much of Oklahoma City's loss and was later fined $10,000 and assessed a technical for an altercation late in that game.

With Oklahoma City trailing 3-1 in the series, he focused up in Game 5 and helped keep the season alive. He made 5 of 16 shots in the first half, then 12 of 23 in the second.

Westbrook also had 15 rebounds and seven assists. Paul George added 34 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who forced a Game 6 in Salt Lake City on Friday.

"We stopped playing defense," Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell said. "We stopped getting back. Our offense got stagnant. They made adjustments and we didn't make the right adjustments back. We will watch the film and figure out what went wrong, but from my analysis right after the game, we just stopped getting back in transition and they just fed off of that."

Jae Crowder scored a career playoff-high 27 points, Mitchell had 23 and Joe Ingles added 16 for the Jazz, who still have a 3-2 lead in the series.

They realize it probably should already be over.

"We need to do a better job," Rubio said. "Of course, you have to give them credit. They made a lot of shots. They took their pride and forced a Game 6. But we are going home, and we've got to be strong and be confident."

Oklahoma City took advantage after Utah's post players, Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors, got into foul trouble. Both finished with five fouls, and Oklahoma City was able to get to the basket consistently for the first time in the series.

Gobert's absence, in particular, caused problems.

"It's a different feeling when you don't have big fella back there," Mitchell said. "It's hard that we put all the pressure on him. We have had success but eventually it's not going to work, and we have to play better defense as guards ourselves."

Utah opened the second half on an 8-1 run to go up 64-42, and Crowder's 3-pointer made it 71-46 with 8:34 left in the third quarter.

Westbrook made back-to-back 3-pointers, then after a 3-point play by George, Westbrook made a jumper and a layup to cut Utah's lead to 73-60 and bring energy back into the arena.

Gobert picked up his fifth foul with 3:46 left in the third quarter. Westbrook's 3-pointer tied the game at 78 heading into the fourth quarter. He scored 20 points in the third.

Westbrook scored immediately at the start of the fourth to finally put the Thunder in front. Back-to-back 3s by Westbrook and Alex Abrines put Oklahoma City up 96-91, and a jumper by Westbrook with 1:24 left put Oklahoma City up 107-99.

"We just never quit," George said. "We never quit. I can't pinpoint one thing we did wrong. We just never got down on ourselves, regardless of the lead they built and the shots they were making. We could surge back, and we did."

Mitchell was fouled on a 3-pointer with 11.1 seconds left in the first half. Before Mitchell shot his free throws, Thunder coach Billy Donovan was called for a technical. Mitchell made all four free throws, and Utah led 56-41 at the break.

Rubio finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Jazz.

Westbrook had only scored 36 points in the second half of the first four games combined before unleashing 33 in Game 5.

"Just staying aggressive," Westbrook said. "Just trying to pick my spots, the same shots I've been getting. I've just got to concentrate on making them."

Carmelo Anthony scored just seven points on 2-for-6 shooting and played just 26 minutes for the Thunder. When he subbed out in the third quarter, Oklahoma City trailed 71-53. By the time he subbed back in, the Thunder led 88-87.

Budenholzer out as coach of Atlanta Hawks

Mike Budenholzer wanted to coach elsewhere. The Atlanta Hawks finally agreed it's a good idea.

The Hawks and Budenholzer mutually agreed to part ways Wednesday in a move announced by the team in a three-sentence statement.

The decision was not totally unexpected as Budenholzer was granted permission to interview with other teams even though he is under contract with the Hawks for two more seasons.

According to multiple reports, Budenholzer interviewed with the Phoenix Suns for their vacant coaching position last week before withdrawing his name from consideration. Budenholzer now may be a top candidate to coach the New York Knicks.

Budenholzer was 213-192 in the regular season and 17-22 in the playoffs in five seasons with Atlanta. The Hawks were an Eastern Conference-worst 24-58 this season.

The Hawks' free-fall from a franchise-record 60 wins only three years ago to the bottom of the conference this season was startling. The team's streak of 10 straight playoff seasons ended, but Budenholzer still carried the respect needed to earn interest from other teams looking for a coach.

Even this season, when the Hawks tied with Dallas for the NBA's third-worst record, they were rarely blown out. They lost 21 games by fewer than 10 points, with only seven losses by 20 or more points.

Always passionate on the bench, at times to the point of earning rebukes from officials, Budenholzer showed no sign of giving up on the team.

"I love what I do," Budenholzer said on April 11, one day after the end of the disappointing regular season. "I love this team. I'm focused on what we just did and how we can get better going forward."

Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who played for the Spurs when Budenholzer was Gregg Popovich's longtime assistant, said last month he has borrowed from Budenholzer's strategy.

"I didn't really pick his brain, but I definitely picked his playbook," Kerr said. "I really did. Some of that is through Pop. They ran a lot of the San Antonio stuff when they got here to Atlanta. That's the derivative. ... He's taken a lot of that San Antonio stuff and expanded on it and I've definitely stolen some stuff from him."

Budenholzer was named NBA coach of the year for the 2014-15 season, when he led the Hawks to their first 60-win season, a division title and their first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals.

He was promoted to president of basketball operations but then gave up that title when Travis Schlenk was hired as general manager in 2017. The loss of power may have been the first step in Budenholzer's exit.

The Hawks' inability to retain such top players as Al Horford and Paul Milsap led to the team's rapid decline. The Hawks fell to the bottom of the conference while leaning heavily on rookie center John Collins, second-year forward Taurean Prince and point guard Dennis Schroder.

The Hawks have scheduled a news conference with Schlenk for Thursday.

Schlenk declined an interview request from The Associated Press.