PORTLAND, Ore. — Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge each scored 25 points, and the Trail Blazers staved off elimination with an 88-77 win over the Rockets on Tuesday night.
The Rockets, who have not advanced out of the first round of the playoffs in six tries since 1997, hold a 3-2 lead in the series going into Thursday night’s game in Houston.
Luis Scola led the Rockets with 21 points. Yao Ming had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Houston trailed until the fourth quarter, when Yao and Von Wafer hit consecutive jumpers to put the Rockets ahead 68-64. The Blazers tied it at 68, then Greg Oden made two free throws to give the Blazers back the lead.
Travis Outlaw and Roy padded it with two 3-pointers to make it 77-68 with 5:21 to go. After Roy hit a running jumper, Aaron Brooks made one of his own to close the Rockets to 80-75, but it was as close as Houston would manage.
Celtics 106, Bulls 104 (OT)
BOSTON — Paul Pierce made three consecutive jumpers in the final 77 seconds of overtime and Boston held on to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
“He was just doing what he was supposed to be doing: being the captain, being Paul Pierce, ‘the Truth,’ ” said Celtics forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who scored 21. “You’ve seen it a dozen times; I think since I’ve been here I’ve seen it a million times, so nothing surprised me.”
Ben Gordon scored 26 and Joakim Noah had 11 points and 17 rebounds for Chicago, but Brad Miller missed the potential game-tying free throws with two seconds left in overtime.
Magic 91, 76ers 78
ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight Howard had 24 points and a career playoff-high 24 rebounds, a dominating performance that helped give Orlando a 3-2 series lead.
The Associated Press
