NBA ROUNDUP : Rivers’ Shooting Ousts Pacers

The New York Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 109-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night at Indianapolis as Doc Rivers made three three-point shots in overtime.

The Knicks, who won the best-of-five series, 3-1, will play the Charlotte Hornets in the opening game of the conference semifinals at New York on Sunday. The Pacers are 0-6 in postseason series.

New York overcame a 33-point effort by Reggie Miller, who had 126 points in the four games.

The Pacers, who led by as many as 14 points in the early going, never were ahead in overtime. Patrick Ewing, who had 28 points, put the Knicks ahead to stay, 96-94, after missing the potential winning shot in the closing seconds of regulation.

Detlef Schrempf’s free throw made it 96-95, but Ewing responded with another basket.

Rivers, who had 21 points and 11 assists, gave the Knicks a 101-97 lead with his first overtime three-pointer. After Schrempf turned the ball over with a bad pass, Rivers made another three-pointer to put New York ahead, 104-97, with 1:16 remaining.

His final three-pointer gave New York a 107-98 lead with 44 seconds to play.

Rivers tied the score, 89-89, with a three-pointer with 2:48 to play in regulation. He then made a jumper to give the Knicks a 91-89 edge.

Seattle 93, Utah 80--The SuperSonics, with Eddie Johnson scoring 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, regained home-court advantage by beating the Jazz at Salt Lake City and tying their playoff series, 2-2.

The SuperSonics outscored the Jazz, 23-16, in the fourth quarter after taking a 70-64 lead into the final 12 minutes.

The decisive game will be Saturday at Seattle.

Shawn Kemp and Derrick McKey scored 16 points each for the SuperSonics. Karl Malone scored 21 points and Jeff Malone 14 for the Jazz, who stole home-court advantage in the series by winning Game 2 at Seattle