Durant had 34 points and 14 rebounds while playing all of regulation for the first time all season, and the Thunder claimed a spot in the NBA finals by beating the San Antonio Spurs 107-99 on Wednesday night.

Russell Westbrook added 25 points for the Thunder, who trailed Game 6 of the Western Conference finals by 18 in the first half and erased a 15-point halftime deficit before pulling ahead to stay in the fourth.

Tony Parker had 29 points and 12 assists for San Antonio, but only eight of the points and two assists came in the second half.

The Thunder outscored the Spurs 59-36 after falling behind 63-48 at halftime and getting a challenge from Brooks that he said had ''nothing to do'' with committing eight turnovers against only six assists while allowing San Antonio to shoot 9 for 15 on 3-pointers.

Game 1 of the NBA finals will be Tuesday night in Oklahoma City against either Boston or Miami. The Celtics lead that series 3-2 and can earn a trip to the finals with a win at home in Game 6 on Thursday night.

Celtics beat the Heat 94-90, leads 3-2

Kevin Garnett finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 19 - including a huge 3-pointer over LeBron James' outstretched arm with 52.9 seconds left - and the Celtics beat the Heat 94-90 on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the East finals that now shift to Boston for Game 6 on Thursday night.

James finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, though he went 8 minutes without scoring in the final quarter. Dwyane Wade scored 27 for the Heat, who got no more than nine from anyone else.

Pierce's 3 put Boston up 90-86. Miami got within two points twice, and argued that it should have had a steal with 8.8 seconds left. Instead, a foul was called on Udonis Haslem, Garnett made two free throws, and the Celtics knew they had just stolen one on Miami's home floor.

Now all they need is one home win of their own to clinch a trip to either Oklahoma City or San Antonio for Game 1 of the NBA finals. The title series starts June 12.

The Celtics were down by 13 points in the second quarter, then down nine in the third, and answered both times - prevailing on a night where they shot just 41 percent, and got outrebounded 49-39.

Allen and Mickael Pietrus scored 13 apiece for the Celtics, who got 10 from Brandon Bass. Pietrus hit two huge 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for Boston, which remained perfect with this core when facing maybe the most pivotal situation a best-of-seven can offer - a Game 5 with a series tied 2-2.

Pierce, Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen are now 9-0 in that scenario.

NBA Western Conference finals and Eastern Conference finals are both at 2-2

Celtics beat Heat in OT, tie East finals at 2-2, Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists, and scored the final three points of the Celtics' 93-91 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday night that evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.

Getting a huge break when LeBron James fouled out for the first time since joined the Heat, the Celtics recovered after blowing an 18-point lead in regulation and moved two games away from a third trip to the NBA finals in five years.

Garnett added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, while Paul Pierce scored 23 points before fouling out. Ray Allen finished with 16 points.

James had 29 points and Wade scored 20 after another dismal start for the Heat, who host Game 5 on Tuesday.

In the West, Game 5 is Monday night in San Antonio. Oklahoma City needs at least one road win to advance, and Thunder coach Scott Brooks said Sunday there's no time like the present.

Since James Harden joined Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in 2009, the Thunder had been 2-8 against San Antonio heading into this series. Now they return to Texas with a chance to hand the Spurs three straight losses for the first time all season.

Spurs players didn't meet with reporters Sunday. Coach Gregg Popovich, back at Spurs headquarters trying to solve his team's first skid since April 9-11, said their attitude hasn't changed from when they were winning 20 straight games.

Also not likely to change much are the defensive looks the Spurs threw at the Thunder in a 109-103 loss on Saturday. That's because, as far as Popovich is concerned, there is little to plan for when three typically unheralded offensive players shoot a combined 22 of 25 for 49 points.

That's what Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison did in Game 4, giving the Thunder a rare dose of balance on a team that leaned on its Big Three for nearly 70 percent of its scoring before this series. Ibaka was especially unstoppable, going 11 for 11 and finishing just one basket shy of the most perfect-shooting playoff game in NBA history.

NBA West and East Finals are Set!

The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder have simply rolled through this postseason. There's the 18-game winning streak that has the Spurs flirting with history. Seventeen combined playoff games and just one loss. The Thunder sending home the last two NBA champions, and no other playoff teams besides these two that can boast a series sweep.

The matchup of Russell Westbrook vs Tony Parker is very interesting.

 Sunday, May 27, 2012

Game 1:
Oklahoma City 47-19 (Road: 21-12)    8:30pm ET
San Antonio 50-16 (Home: 28-5)

Heat-Celtics in East finals

It's a rematch: Miami and Boston will meet in the playoffs again, this time with a spot in the NBA finals at stake.

Boston's 85-75 win in Game 7 over Philadelphia on Saturday night earned the Celtics a trip to Miami, where the reigning East champion Heat will host Game 1 of this year's conference title series Monday night.

Boston took the regular-season series from Miami 3-1, though the last of those meetings was in the final game of the season and came on a night where LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all sat out for Miami, while Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen got the evening off for Boston.

The lineups will look more normal Monday, though Bosh will remain sidelined because of a strained lower abdominal muscle.

It'll be a quick turnaround for Boston, with Game 1 in Miami starting about 46 hours after Game 7 against the 76ers ended. The Heat finished off their East semifinal series against Indiana on Thursday night, took Friday off and held a light practice Saturday - focusing on themselves and not starting to work in details either the Celtics or the 76ers.

New Big 3 vs Old Big 3 + Rondo

Game 1: May 28 8:30pm EDT @MIA (TV: ESPN)

Rondo leads Celtics to 85-75 Game 7 win over 76ers

Rajon Rondo leads the Celtics with 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds in Game 7 against the 76ers to to an 85-75 victory and into an Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Miami Heat.

The Celtics will open the third round of the NBA playoffs in Miami on Monday night.

Bouncing back from his worst game of the playoffs and snapping out of a 32-minute slump in which he had just two assists and five points - Rondo scored nine straight Boston points after Paul Pierce fouled out to help the Celtics turn a three-point edge into a double-digit lead.

Rondo had 11 points in the fourth quarter, including his first 3-pointer in five games, made all four of his free throws down the stretch and grabbed his 10th rebound in the final minute - chucking it over his head and into the frontcourt to help the Celtics dribble down the clock.

Andre Iguodala scored 18 points, and Holiday and Elton Brand had 15 apiece for the 76ers, who eliminated the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round but couldn't do the same with the Celtics.

Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, and Ray Allen hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers after missing his first five attempts.

The Celtics will now face the actual NBA MVP LeBron James along with Dwyane Wade and the rest of the Heat. Miami advanced to the conference finals by eliminating the Indiana Pacers in six games.

Miami beat Boston in five games in the conference semifinals last year. In 2010, the Celtics eliminated the Heat in the first round and then knocked James and the Cavaliers out in the second - his final game with Cleveland before defecting to Miami.

This will be an interesting matchup!

Boston Celtics 101-85 win over Philadelphia

In the East, Brandon Bass scored 27 points to spark the Boston Celtics to a 101-85 win over Philadelphia and move within one victory of a place in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Bass found his shooting touch in the third quarter, where he scored 18 points to net a playoff career high and help the Celtics pull away from the 76ers.

"When you're on a team with a point guard like Rajon Rondo, the ball just happens to find you," Bass said. "We have to come out (in Game Six) with the same defensive approach."

The Game Five win gave Boston a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series.

Kevin Garnett added 20, while Rajon Rondo tallied 13 points and 14 assists for Boston, who trailed early but outscored the 76ers 54-35 in the final two quarters.

Elton Brand lead Philadelphia with 19 points. Game Six is tomorrow in Philadelphia.

Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 106-90

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers with a 106-90 rout that sent them to their second consecutive NBA Western Conference finals.

Westbrook scored 28 points, Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds. While Kobe Bryant scored 42 points for the Lakers.

After getting eliminated by Los Angeles in 2010 and Dallas in 2011 before both of those teams went on to win it all, the Thunder knocked both out on their way to the West finals for the second straight year.

They'll face the top-seeded Spurs in the West finals on Sunday night in San Antonio.

After Westbrook's pair of three-point plays fueled a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push their lead to 93-77.

James Harden added 17 points as Oklahoma City's bench outscored the Lakers' 35-5. The Thunder also had a 30-6 edge in fast-break scoring. The Lakers were outrebounded 51-35 and had only three offensive rebounds, two from Gasol and none from Bynum.