Parker and Spurs hold off Warriors to enter West finals

OAKLAND, California: The San Antonio Spurs booked a return trip to the NBA Western Conference finals on Thursday, holding off the Golden State Warriors 94-82 to win their second-round playoff series.
San Antonio’s Tony Parker endured a difficult night of 3-of-13 shooting, but two of those baskets were crucial three-pointers in the final four minutes to help the Spurs fend off the determined young Warriors team.
The Spurs won the best-of-seven series four games to two and will face the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference finals for a place in the league’s championship series.
San Antonio will host the Grizzlies in game one on Sunday. Two years ago, the Grizzlies shocked the Spurs in the first round. The Spurs returned to the Western Conference finals last season, but fell to Oklahoma City.
Tim Duncan scored 19 points to lead the Spurs. Parker and Manu Ginobili both struggled with their shooting but combined for 19 assists.
Ginobili scored five points on 1-of-6 shooting — his only basket of the night a driving layup to stretch the Spurs lead back to five points after Golden State’s Klay Thompson had drained a three-pointer to trim the deficit to three points with 10 minutes remaining.
Back-to-back jump shots by Thompson and Stephen Curry cut the Warriors’ deficit to 77-75 with 4:52 to play.
A Spurs turnover then gave Golden State a chance to tie, but Curry was off-target with two attempts.
A three-pointer by Parker saw the Spurs regain some breathing room.
Kawhi Leonard also made a big three-pointer for San Antonio in the waning minutes, while Golden State’s Thompson and Curry both saw three-point attempts rattle around the rim and fail to fall.
Parker, meanwhile, drained another three-pointer to put the Spurs up 88-79 with 1:15 to play.
Leonard finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who got 14 points from Tiago Splitter and 11 from Danny Green.
Curry led the Warriors with 22 points on 10-of-25 shooting but only scored six points in the second half.
Jarrett Jack added 15 points for the Warriors, who were without forward Harrison Barnes in the fourth quarter after his frightening fall near the end of the first half.
Barnes came down hard on his right side, his head hitting the court. He needed six stitches in a cut over his right eye, returned to the game in the third quarter but then departed complaining of a headache.
“Sometimes one of the best statements you can make is fighting,” said Warriors coach Mark Jackson. “Guys battled. Guys gave me everything they had. And we fought. I could not be prouder of any group.”
KNICKS 85, PACERS 75: Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points to help the New York Knicks stay alive in the Eastern Conference semifinals with an 85-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 on Thursday night.
Reserves J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland each had 13 points for the Knicks, who trail 3-2 and will need a victory Saturday in Indiana to force a seventh game back here Monday. They are trying to become the ninth NBA team to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a series.
Anthony, who didn’t make a basket in the fourth quarter of either game in Indiana, made a jumper midway through the fourth quarter after Indiana closed within four points. He followed with two free throws, Raymond Felton made a layup, and the Knicks were never in jeopardy again.
Paul George had 23 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Pacers, who played without point guard George Hill because of a concussion and committed 19 turnovers.