PHILADELPHIA--JJ Redick scored 27 points to lift the Philadelphia 76ers past the visiting Miami Heat 104-91 to clinch the teams' first-round playoff series in five games Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Redick scored 20 or more points in consecutive playoff games for the first time in his career as the Sixers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2012.
Joel Embiid scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Ben Simmons had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Marco Belinelli chipped in with 11 points and Robert Covington had 10.
Kelly Olynyk led the Heat with 18 points, Tyler Johnson added 16 and Goran Dragic had 15. Justise Winslow scored 12 points and Dwyane Wade had 11.
MUNICH, Germany--Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane warned on Tuesday Bayern Munich are better than they were last season when the Spaniards beat them en route to the Champions League title.
Bayern, five-time European Cup winners, host 12-time champions Real in a mouth-watering semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
The Spaniards have won back-to-back titles but the treble-chasing Bavarians are in sensational form ever since manager Jupp Heynckes took over from Carlo Ancelotti in October. Bayern have already secured the Bundesliga title and have reached the German Cup final as well.
LIVERPOOL, England--Liverpool, inspired by two-goal Egyptian Mohamed Salah, took a big step towards the Champions League final with a 5-2 win over AS Roma in their semi-final, first leg at Anfield on Tuesday.
BOSTON--Al Horford scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the host Boston Celtics take a 3-2 series lead with a 92-87 win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota--James Harden scored a franchise playoff-record 22 points in the third quarter to ignite a sudden offensive eruption as the Houston Rockets seized control of their Western Conference first-round playoff series with a 119-100 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 on Monday in Minneapolis.
