The Boston Celtics crushed the Miami Heat 118-84 to complete an emphatic 4-1 series victory and book their place in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The postseason top seeds, who were upset by Miami in last year's Eastern Conference finals, avenged that loss in spectacular fashion at their TD Garden home.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 25 points apiece to lead Boston, who barely noticed the absence of Kristaps Porzingis.
Coach Joe Mazzulla said the Celtics had not been thinking about last year's series loss to Miami.
"I don't really worry about what happened last year," Mazzulla said. "At the end of the day I liked how we approached the series. We wake up tomorrow and we've got to do it all over again versus another team."
He praised Boston for showing "consistent physicality" against Miami.
Boston will now face either the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers or fifth seeds Orlando in the conference semi-finals. Cleveland lead that series 3-2.
Elsewhere, Luka Doncic had 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks thrashed the Los Angeles Clippers 123-93 on the road to take a 3-2 series lead.
Dallas, who can clinch the series with victory in Game Six back home tomorrow (HK time), led by 20 points after the third quarter and piled on in the fourth to open up a 32-point advantage at one stage.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac led the Clippers with 15 points each, while James Harden added just seven.
"We didn't play our best game," Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
Derrick White goes around Delon Wright, aided by Jayson Tatum. REUTERS
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