NBA playoffs: Pacers bounce Wizards, Thunder eliminate Clippers

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

THE STAGE IS SET: The NBA conference finals are all lined up: Pacers vs. Heat in the East and Thunder vs. Spurs in the West. Just like I predicted! (Ignore the three out of eight first round series I missed, please.)

Durant was impressive, getting to the three-point line with ease and taking advantage of midrange jumpers when the Clippers defense came out on him. Griffin fouled out with 2:27 remaining, and despite losing its big man Los Angeles made it a game in the final minute. Durant proved to be too much, and the Thunder closed the game on free throws.

For Oklahoma City, Durant scored 39 points on 12-of-23 shooting, adding 16 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Westbrook scored 19 points, with 12 assists, three rebounds and two steals. Reggie Jackson provided a spark off the bench with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, totaling three assists, two rebounds and a steal.

Oklahoma City has needed Ibaka in this series, where he has shot no worse than 40 percent from the field in any game. He is also averaging 6.2 rebounds per-game in the series with Los Angeles.

The Lakers have a slew of courtside celebrities! The Clippers have, uh, Billy Crystal and formerly Frankie Muniz. However, the Lakers aren’t in the playoffs and the Clippers are, so that means the purple-and-gold squad’s No. 1 famous supporter ended up jumping ship. (Lakers and Clippers are types of ship.)

That said, just because he’s there doesn’t mean he’s going to be friendly to his newfound fellow fans:

Washington opened the second quarter by going on a run, but their offense quickly stagnated. The Wizards briefly took the lead after a run in the middle of the fourth quarter, but West took over. The Pacers big man hit long jumper after long jumper, widening the lead back to double digits.

The Pacers have played better on the road in this series, so perhaps they’ll bounce back after the wretched Game 5. However, the Wizards have some confidence back and are due for a home victory, so it will likely take a big-time performance by Indiana to get out of the series on Thursday.

Game time: 8 p.m. ET

Westbrook was a monster in the victory, scoring 38 points and carrying the Thunder while Durant struggled for much of the night. Durant had 27 points, but he shot just 6-of-22.

It could be tough for the Clippers to bounce back after such a demoralizing loss, but teams have done it before in these playoffs, and in this series no less. If the pattern of this series continues, there will be another wild finish and a Game 7 back in Oklahoma City.