Pacers defeat Magic, clinch series

After years of losing and players finding trouble, the Indiana Pacers finally gave their fans something to really cheer about. Danny Granger scored 25 points to help the Pacers defeat the Orlando Magic, 105-87, Tuesday night and clinch their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series, 4-1. "I'm just so happy for our fans," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.

"They've endured a lot those years when we struggled. To finally see us come back and have a winning team again and somebody that has a chance to do something special this year. That's what they deserve. Pacers basketball is back."

The Pacers will play the Knicks or the Heat in the second round. Miami leads that series 3-1, and as the final minutes ticked away, fans began chanting, "Beat the Heat."

Indiana put together its first series win since 2005 and its first clincher on its home court since the first round of the 2000 playoffs.

Hawks 87, Celtics 86: Al Horford scored 19 points in his first start since January, and host Atlanta held on in a thrilling Game 5. The Celtics lead the series 3-2 heading back to Boston for Game 6 Thursday. If the Hawks can steal one on the road, the deciding game would be Saturday in Atlanta. "I wanted to bring that energy to the team," Horford said. Boston had a chance to clinch the series when Rajon Rondo stole Josh Smith's inbounds pass with 10 seconds remaining and raced down the court, looking for the winner. But he got hemmed in along the sideline and Smith knocked away a desperation pass, the ball rolling away as time ran out.

Nuggets 102, Lakers 99: Andre Miller scored 24 points, including two free throws with 12.8 seconds left, as the visiting Nuggets withstood Kobe Bryant's late scoring barrage in a 43-point performance and avoided elimination. Down 3-2, the Nuggets will host Game 6 tomorrow.

Bulls 77, 76ers 69: Luol Deng had 24 points and Carlos Boozer had 19 with 13 rebounds as host Chicago survived for a Game 6. The Bulls were playing without Joakim Noah, who is out of the lineup for the second straight game because of a sprained left ankle. The Bulls lost star guard Derrick Rose to a torn ACL in his left knee late in the series-opening victory. -- AP