PHILADELPHIA: The Boston Celtics swept the New York Knicks out of the NBA playoffs Sunday, but the Philadelphia 76ers denied Miami a seamless move into the Eastern Conference second round. Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Rajon Rondo added 21 points and 12 assists for the Celtics, whose victory at New York's Madison Square Garden made them the first team to reach the second round of the post-season. Ray Allen and reserve Glen Davis each added 14 points for the Celtics, who saw a 23-point lead trimmed to four in the fourth quarter but stretched the margin again thanks largely to Garnett, who scored 20 of his points in the second half. “Everybody understood what was at stake. Give a team some confidence, even in a 3-0 series to win a game, you never know what can happen,” Boston's Paul Pierce said. Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds for New York. Amare Stoudemire, who has been hindered by back spasms but opted to play after some improvement, finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Knicks were making their first playoff appearance since 2004, when they were also swept in the first round. Lou Williams and Evan Turner each scored 17 points and sparked a game-ending 10-point run that gave Philadelphia an 86-82 victory over the Heat. The 76ers denied Miami a sweep of the series, but the Heat still lead the series three games to one and can advance to the second round with a home victory in game five Wednesday. LeBron James scored a game-high 31 points for Miami while Dwyane Wade added 22 and Chris Bosh contributed 12, but the Heat's superstars fell silent after seizing a 82-76 lead with barely 90 seconds remaining. Turner, a 22-year-old rookie, started Philadelphia's 10-0 run while Williams and Jrue Holiday each sank 3-pointers before Turner added two clinching free throws to seal Miami's fate. James sank two free throws to give the Heat a 78-76 lead and Bosh blocked two 76er shots on their next possession. Elton Brand answered for Philadelphia with a block at the other end but missed after another Bosh block, giving the 76ers eight misses in a row, three of them on shots swatted away by Bosh. James sank a long jumper over Andre Igoudala, who added 16 points for the 76ers, to give Miami a four-point edge and Wade tipped in a James miss to make it an 82-76 lead. Turner answered for the 76ers for their first basket in five minutes and 20-year-old Holiday sank a 3-pointer to cut their deficit to 82-81. After a Wade miss, Williams sank the pivotal 3-pointer for the 76ers with 8.1 seconds remaining, giving him eight points in the fourth quarter and boosting the 76ers ahead to stay. Elsewhere in the East, the Hawks defeated the Orlando Magic 88-85 in Atlanta to take a 3-1 lead in their series. Jamal Crawford scored 25 points for Atlanta and Joe Johnson drained four key foul shots in the last 20 seconds to put the Hawks in position to claim the series on Tuesday in Orlando. The Magic had a chance to tie it in the waning seconds, but Atlanta's Al Horford knocked the ball away from Hedo Turkoglu as he tried to set up for a potential game-tying three-pointer. Turkoglu retrieved the ball and heaved an awkward shot that missed. – Agence France
