James Harden, Nets finish off Celtics to advance

James Harden totaled 34 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Brooklyn Nets pulled away in the fourth quarter and closed out their Eastern Conference first-round series with a 123-109 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night in New York.

The second-seeded Nets won the series four games to one and advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2014. Brooklyn will face the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the second round.

Harden made 10 of 17 shots and posted his fourth career postseason triple-double and 11th by a Net. The other 10 were achieved by Hall of Famer Jason Kidd. Harden also posted the first 30-point triple-double in Nets history and joined Dallas guard Luka Doncic as the second player to get a 30-point triple-double in this year's postseason.

Kyrie Irving added 25 points and Kevin Durant had 24 as the Nets shot 51.2 percent and made 15 of 32 3-point tries. Jayson Tatum, who scored 90 points in the two games in Boston, led the Celtics with 32 points. Tatum shot 12 of 27 from the field as the Celtics sank 11 of 40 3-point tries.