Boston complete a 4-1 series win over Cleveland with a 113-98 win before Dallas beat Oklahoma City 104-92.
The Boston Celtics overpowered the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 to reach a third straight Eastern Conference finals as Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City moved to the brink of elimination after crashing 104-92 at home to Dallas.
Jayson Tatum’s 25 points helped the Celtics subdue an injury-hit Cavs lineup to complete a 4-1 win in the best-of-seven series in Boston on Wednesday.
The Eastern Conference top seeds will face either the Indiana Pacers or the New York Knicks for a place in the NBA Finals.
But while Boston continued their progress, Oklahoma City’s playoff campaign is hanging by a thread after their damaging defeat to Dallas.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic led from the front with a triple-double, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Mavs lead the series 3-2 and can clinch a place in the Western Conference finals with victory in Game 6 back in Dallas on Saturday.
“We just got one more to win out of two games, and that’s it,” Doncic said. “It’s 3-2, but that’s nothing. We’ve got to finish it and go with the same mentality.”
Doncic had been furious after the Mavs surrendered the initiative in a Game 4 loss in Texas on Sunday, but said a more relaxed approach had been the key to Wednesday’s commanding effort.
“Sometimes I forget that I love to play basketball, it’s the thing I do,” Doncic said. “My mental focus was just to go out there with a smile on my face and play basketball.”
Doncic was given offensive support from Derrick Jones Jr with 19 points, while three other players made double figures.
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