Clippers end Jazz season; Sixers, Hawks reach Game 7

LOS ANGELES – Terance Mann poured in a career-high 39 points as the Los Angeles Clippers advanced to their first NBA semifinals in franchise history, rallying to beat the top-seeded Utah Jazz 131-119 on Friday.

The fourth-seeded Clippers won their four straight match after losing the first two in Salt Lake City to take the Eastern Conference series in six games.

They stormed back in the second half on Friday after being down by 25 points in the third quarter to reach the league’s final four, ending years of playoff frustration including a string of NBA quarterfinal exits.

The 24-year-old Mann was electric in just his second career playoff start, shooting 15-of-21 from the field and draining seven of 10 three pointers in front of a crowd of 17,100 at Staples Center arena in downtown Los Angeles.

“I just trust my work,” said Mann. “Everybody was telling me to shoot the ball and that is what I did.”

They next face the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday.

Second-year player Mann got plenty of help from the veterans on the team. Paul George scored 28 points and added nine rebounds and seven assists for the Clippers, who won despite missing their top player Kawhi Leonard.

“It feels great,” said George. “They wrote us off when Kawhi went down.

Elsewhere, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers played with more urgency, using a collective offensive effort to come from behind and force a Game 7 in their second-round NBA playoff series.

Tobias Harris and Seth Curry each scored 24 points and Embiid tallied 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Sixers overcame a double-digit first-half deficit to beat the upstart Atlanta Hawks 104-99. Curry also had six threes.

“You saw the fight and grit of a whole group,” said Harris.

Game 7 will be Sunday at the home arena of the top-seeded 76ers.