HOUSTON -- James Harden scored 28 points, Terrence Jones had 10 of his 15 in the fourth quarter, and the Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 103-94 on Tuesday night for their first playoff series victory since 2009.
Houston won the Western Conference series 4-1 to advance to face the winner of the Clippers-Spurs series in the second round.
The Rockets bounced back from a lackluster performance in a 121-109 loss in Game 4 to head to the West semifinals for the first time since Yao Ming starred for Houston.
Dwight Howard had 18 points and 19 rebounds to help the Rockets dominate inside and Josh Smith scored 20 points. The Mavericks couldn't get going from long-range, going just 5 of 26 on 3-pointers (see full recap).
Late call helps Spurs edge Clippers
LOS ANGELES -- Tim Duncan scored 12 of his 21 points in the second half, and DeAndre Jordan was called for basket interference with 4.3 seconds left as the San Antonio Spurs moved to the brink of the second round with a 111-107 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points for the defending NBA champion Spurs, who took a 3-2 series lead with their second straight victory at Staples Center.
San Antonio's lead dwindled to one point in the final minute after the Clippers made a desperate 7-1 run, but Blake Griffin missed a leaping leaner with five seconds left. Jordan tipped it in, but touched the ball inside the cylinder, a ruling upheld on video review.
NBA
Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio (see full recap).