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The Los Angeles Lakers, fuelled by 29 points from LeBron James, beat the Houston Rockets 112-108 in an overtime thriller to take a 3-0 stranglehold in their NBA playoff series.
James, the 41-year-old superstar playing in his 19th postseason, came up with a steal and a game-tying three-pointer with 13.6 seconds left in regulation on Friday.
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He could not get a potential game-winner to drop at the buzzer, but added a steal and a block in a frantic overtime as the Lakers pushed the Rockets to the brink of elimination in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.
No NBA team has come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series.
“Just trying to seize the opportunity,” James, who added 13 rebounds, six assists and three steals, told broadcaster Prime. “My guys trust me to try to make plays and I’m blessed to be able to do it.”
The Lakers will have a chance to close out the series in Houston on Sunday. It is not a position many expected them to be in with league-leading scorer Luka Doncic sidelined by a hamstring strain and key offensive contributor Austin Reaves out with an oblique injury.
The young Rockets, with veteran star Kevin Durant sidelined by a sprained ankle, were led by Alperen Sengun’s 33 points and 16 rebounds.
They rallied from an early 15-point deficit and led by six with fewer than 30 seconds left in regulation.
But their mistakes caught up with them. A Houston turnover was followed by a foul on Marcus Smart as he attempted a three-pointer.
Smart made all three free throws to cut the Lakers’ deficit to 101-98 and set the stage for James’s game-tying basket.
Sengun missed a potential go-ahead basket before James was off-target from beyond the arc and they went to overtime, Smart scoring eight of his 21 points in the extra session as the Lakers pulled away.
Celtics hold off 76ers
Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 25 points apiece to lead the Celtics to a hard-fought 108-100 victory over the 76ers in Philadelphia and a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series.
The Sixers had grabbed game two in Boston to knot the series at one game apiece.
In a game that neither team led by more than 10 points, the Celtics took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Tyrese Maxey’s three-pointer briefly put the Sixers up 85-84 with 8:42 remaining, and Philadelphia were within one when Tatum drilled a three-pointer that pushed Boston’s lead to 100-96 with 1:57 left to play.
Payton Pritchard added another three-pointer with the shot-clock winding down before Tatum – who missed most of the season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in last year’s playoffs – drained a dagger trey that sealed it for Boston.
“We just were resilient,” Tatum told broadcaster Prime. “We stuck with it. It’s a game of runs – good team and just, you’ve got to answer.”
Maxey scored 31 points to lead the Sixers. Paul George added 18 and rookie VJ Edgecombe added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Sixers star Joel Embiid, still recovering from an emergency appendectomy earlier this month, was ruled out shortly before the game.
“He’s just not ready,” said Sixers coach Nick Nurse, whose team will try to even the series when they host game four on Sunday.
Tatum, right, dribbles the ball against Vj Edgecombe at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia [Mitchell Leff/Getty Images via AFP]Spurs beat Trail Blazers without Wembanyama
Stephon Castle had 33 points and the San Antonio Spurs overcame the absence of Victor Wembanyama to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-108 on Friday night for a 2-1 series lead.
Dylan Harper added 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who trailed by 15 points in the third quarter. Game 4 of the first-round series will be on Sunday at the Moda Center.
Before the game, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson announced that Wembanyama would not play while he continues to recover from a concussion he sustained in Game 2 on Tuesday night.
Jrue Holiday had 29 points for the Trail Blazers, who were making their first home playoff appearance since 2021, but could not ultimately take advantage of Wembanyama’s absence.
Portland led 82-67 in the third quarter but the Spurs clawed back with a 21-5 run to take an 88-87 lead into the final period. Castle’s step-back jumper and a pair of free throws gave the Spurs a 105-95 lead midway through the fourth and the Trail Blazers collapsed.
Wembanyama – the league’s first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and one of three finalists for the Most Valuable Player award – went down in the second quarter of the Spurs’ 106-103 Game 2 loss in San Antonio.
Johnson would not elaborate on Wembanyama’s condition, only to say he was progressing. He averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and a league-best 3.1 blocks per game this season. His status for Sunday’s game was not known.
Luke Kornet started against the Trail Blazers as Wembanyama watched from the bench, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Portland went on a 15-2 run in the first half to go up 50-43 and led 65-59 at the break after Jerami Grant’s 3-pointer.
In the final moments of the half, Fox was handed an offensive foul when he charged towards the basket and elbowed Deni Avdija in the face. Johnson challenged the call and it was overturned to a defensive foul on Avdija, who had chipped a tooth but kept playing.
