INDIANA 89, PHILADELPHIA 86 --------------------------- PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Once again, the Indiana Pacers showed their experience while the Philadelphia 76ers showed their age. The Pacers did not panic during an awful fourth quarter and made all the key plays down the stretch in an 89-86 victory over the 76ers that completed a four-game sweep of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Reggie Miller scored 23 points, including a running banker that gave the Pacers the lead for good with 1:31 to play. After missing 13 straight shots deep into the final period, Indiana turned the tables and held Philadelphia without a basket for the last 3:17. It was a familiar formula for the Pacers, who in all four games built big early leads, weathered comebacks by the pesky 76ers and relied on their huge advantage in postseason experience to put away the wins. The first best-of-seven series sweep in NBA franchise history made Indiana the first team since the 1993 Chicago Bulls to go undefeated through the first two rounds. The Pacers returned to the conference finals for the fourth time in six years and await the winner of the series between Atlanta and New York. Allen Iverson scored 25 points and Matt Geiger added 23 and 13 rebounds for the 76ers, who were swept in a best-of-seven series for the first time in franchise history, ending a sweet season in bitter fashion. Led by Iverson and former Pacers coach Larry Brown, the Sixers made the playoffs for the first time since 1991 and upset the Orlando Magic in the first round. Brown termed the series "a nightmare" because of his acrimonious departure from the Pacers in 1997 and he was right as his young team did not have enough maturity to deal with Indiana. NEW YORK 90, ATLANTA 78 ----------------------- NEW YORK (Ticker) -- This is how well things are going for the New York Knicks: Chris Dudley scored 10 points -- in the fourth quarter. Dudley covered for an ineffective Patrick Ewing by scoring 10 of his 14 points in the fourth period and the Knicks used another strong effort by their bench for a 90-78 victory over the Atlanta Hawks and a commanding lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. A defensive specialist who scored only eight points in the first seven playoff contests, the 6-11 Dudley had his best game of the season. His fourth-quarter total matched his best game in two years with New York, with half those points coming in a decisive 10-0 spurt. Dudley grabbed 12 rebounds and helped limit Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo to seven points as he was part of another strong defensive performance. The 7-2 Mutombo grabbed 16 rebounds but made just 2-of-7 shots. After allowing Steve Smith to score 17 points in the first half, the Knicks held him scoreless in the second half. Atlanta had only 11 points in the third quarter and was stuck in the 70s for the second straight game. Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell scored 17 points apiece for the eighth-seeded Knicks, who hold a 3-0 series lead and can advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1994 with another win at home on Monday. Since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984, no No. 8 seed team has won two playoff series. Houston bounced back from a poor Game Two and is averaging 17.7 points per game in the series. Sprewell was unable to match his 31-point explosions in each of the first two games but still is averaging a team-leading 26.3 points off the bench. The Knicks also got another boost from reserve forward Marcus Camby. With the ailing Ewing just 2-of-12 from the field, Camby scored 15 points and blocked three shots, teaming with Dudley to provide frontcourt force. In the series, New York's bench has outscored Atlanta's, 130-76, including 46-22 today. SAN ANTONIO 118, LA LAKERS 107 ------------------------------ INGLEWOOD, California (Ticker) -- Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs gave Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers a harsh lesson in heart and determination. Duncan had 33 points and 14 rebounds as the Spurs completed a rousing four-game sweep of the Western Conference semifinals with a 118-107 victory. The 7-foot Duncan continued to stake his claim as the NBA's best player. With a desire to close out the series, he shot 11-of-14 from both the field and the line and continued to make his teammates better, despite little help from foul-plagued fellow "Twin Tower" David Robinson. Jaren Jackson had another big game off the bench, scoring 20 points. Avery Johnson added 19 and 10 assists. Benefiting from the double-teams on Duncan, both consistently made open outside shots as they did in Game Three. Jerome Kersey added nine points in the final period after not playing in the first three quarters. The Spurs shot 60 percent (36-of-60) from the field and made 39-of-54 free throws as they never trailed and posted the highest total of the 1999 playoffs. O'Neal said he would not "mail in" this game and had 36 points and 14 rebounds. He shot 12-of-23 from the field and the line. Nevertheless, he was swept out of the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. In elimination games, O'Neal is 1-6 in his career. The sweep capped a turbulent season for the Lakers, who endured the firing of coach Del Harris; pursued, signed and later waived flaky forward Dennis Rodman; traded for Glen Rice; and never really developed any chemistry. O'Neal, Rice and Kobe Bryant, the team's three stars, combined for one basket in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Spurs took control for good. PORTLAND 81, UTAH 75 -------------------- PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- The Utah Jazz have the experience when it comes to pulling out crucial playoff games. Tonight, the Portland Trail Blazers looked like the postseason veterans down the stretch. Isaiah Rider scored seven of his 24 points in the final 30 seconds as the Trail Blazers pushed the two-time defending Western Conference champions to the brink of elimination with an 81-75 victory. Utah fell into a 3-1 deficit in this semifinal series with Portland, which can clinch its first trip to the conference finals since 1992 when it visits the Delta Center on Tuesday for Game Five. The Jazz had a golden opportunity to even this series on the road, but failed to take advantage of a questionable call and committed a pair of turnovers in the final minute. With Utah down 72-70, John Stockton drove the lane and Greg Anthony stepped in front to take the charge with 49 seconds left. Rider blew past Adam Keefe and floated a lay-in over Shandon Anderson with 30 seconds remaining to give the Blazers a 74-70 lead. Malone, who was virtually invisible for much of the game, answered with a jumper from the top of the key. But Portland made its free throws down the stretch, including a pair by Jim Jackson with 21 seconds remaining. Stockton came back and slid around Jackson for a layup, with Jackson getting called for a foul despite replays showing no contact. Stockton sank the free throw to make it 76-75, but Portland got the in-bounds pass to Rider, an 82 percent free throw shooter in the postseason. Rider stepped to the line with 14.7 seconds left and made both attempts. Bryon Russell looked for Stockton on the ensuing in-bounds play but his pass ended up in the hands of Rasheed Wallace. He got the ball back to Rider, who made Blazers fans nervous by missing his first free throw before hitting the second to make it a two-possession game with 8.6 seconds left. Stockton then forced a 3-pointer that was well off the mark and Rider sealed the victory with two free throws. Rider made 10-of-12 free throws and the Blazers sank 33-of-42 overall, compared to a 16-of-26 effort by the Jazz. The team that has gone to the line more has won each game of the series. Malone managed just seven points through the first 40 minutes before finishing with 17. He also added 11 rebounds, but Arvydas Sabonis grabbed a playoff career-high 15 boards and led the bigger Blazers to a 44-34 edge on the glass. Russell scored 17 points and Stockton had 16 and 10 assists for the Jazz, who faced a 2-1 deficit against Sacramento in the opening round. This time, they will have to win three straight games facing elimination to get back to the conference finals.  