Thunder And Pacers Win Openers – NBA Roundup

UNDATED (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers have opened their respective NBA conference semifinal series with victories.

Kevin Durant scored 35 points and hit a pair of jumpers in the final minute to lift the Thunder to a 93-91 win over the Grizzlies. Kevin Martin added 25 points for the Thunder, who trailed by nine entering the fourth quarter and closed on a 6-1 run over the final 68 seconds. Martin hit a three-pointer and converted a three-point play during a 9-2 spurt to open the final period.

The Grizzlies had a chance to force overtime after Quincy Poindexter was fouled during a three-point attempt with 1.6 seconds left, but he missed the first and intentionally missed the second before Durant swatted away Marc Gasol's (gah-SAHLZ') attempt at the buzzer.

Gasol had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, while teammate Zach Randolph finished with 18 points and 10 boards.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

The Pacers were 102-95 winners over the Knicks in New York as David West scored 20 points and Paul George added 19. D.J. Augustin (AW'-guhs-teen) had 16 points and helped Indiana build a 16-point lead while Carmelo Anthony was on the bench in foul trouble during the third quarter.

The Pacers were able to coast to victory after outscoring the Knicks 59-38 across the middle two quarters.

Anthony finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds but shot just 10-for-28 from the field. J.R. Smith was also off the mark, missing 11 of his 15 shots and contributing 17 points.

MIAMI (AP) — Miami Heat forward LeBron James is the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second straight year and fourth time in his career.

James joins Bill Russell as the only players to win the award four times in five years, He and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only players to twice win the award in consecutive seasons.

James fell one vote shy of being a unanimous choice, taking 120 of 121 first-place votes. Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony grabbed the other but finished third in the balloting, behind Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City.

NEW YORK (AP) — Veteran NBA coach P.J. Carlesimo (kar-LIS'-eh-mo) took over as interim coach of the Brooklyn Nets in December and led the team to a record of 49-33 and a spot in the playoffs. That wasn't enough to keep the job as general manager Billy King says Carlesimo will not return as coach. The Nets were eliminated from post season play in Game 7 of their first round series with Chicago.