Bucks 91 Hawks 87
At Atlanta, Brandon Jennings scored 25 points and Milwaukee used a late 14-0 run to beat the Hawks and move within one win of a first-round upset.
The Bucks’ third straight win over third-seeded Atlanta gives them a 3-2 lead and a chance to wrap up the series at home in Game 6 on Friday night.
With centre Andrew Bogut out after taking a gruesome fall late in the regular season, the 20-year-old Jennings has stepped up for Milwaukee.
Kurt Thomas, at 37 one of the league’s oldest players, may have come up with the biggest play of the game for the Bucks when he took a charge from Joe Johnson with 2:15 remaining, the Atlanta star’s sixth foul.
The Hawks appeared to be in control leading 82-73 after Josh Smith’s long jumper with 4:10 remaining. But Milwaukee scored the next 14 points, and Jennings wrapped it up by making two free throws with 9 seconds remaining.
Al Horford had 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks, while Jamal Crawford was 4-of-18 from the field and finished with 11 points.
Nuggets 116 Jazz 102
At Denver, Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 11 rebounds, J.R. Smith made four big three-pointers among his 17 points, and Chauncey Billups had 21 points for the Nuggets, who avoided elimination.
The Nuggets, trying to become the first team in four years to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs, sent the series back to Salt Lake City for Game 6 on Friday night despite losing centre Nene to a sprained left knee in the first half.
Denver won a game in which it was facing elimination for the first time since the 1994 Western Conference semifinals against Utah. The Nuggets had lost eight straight elimination games, six since Anthony joined the team in 2003.
Deron Williams had points and 10 assists for Utah, while Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 16 boards.
Nene sprained his left knee with five minutes left in the first half. He had two points, one rebound and four assists. The Nuggets said he would be re-evaluated Thursday.