Darvin Ham credited the Los Angeles Lakers' resolve after they fell to a 133-122 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers, praising his team for refusing to fold.
The Lakers fought back multiple times over the course of the game to ultimately force overtime at 120 apiece, before their hosts eked out victory at the Wells Fargo Center.
A 31-point haul for Anthony Davis, aided by 25 for Austin Reaves and 23 for LeBron James, was not enough for the Lakers to stave off a third consecutive defeat.
However, Ham was in a bullish mood when quizzed on his team's performance, saying there were plenty of positives to take away despite their stinging reverse.
"We can get better from this," he stated. "I told the team, as disappointed as I am that we didn't get the win, I still can have a good meal and sleep like a baby tonight because of the way we competed.
"We did not quit, we did not give up. There was a point in the game where we could've just folded our tent.
"But we kept scratching away, kept digging deep, kept making plays one stop after another one and put ourselves in a position to win the game."
Meanwhile, 76ers coach Doc Rivers said his side rallied well to seize victory after letting their initial lead slip on several occasions.
"We will take the win," he added. "Usually when you give up a lead like that, to gather yourself and play well in overtime is rare."
The Lakers will round off their road stretch against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, before heading home to face the Boston Celtics.
'I'll look back when I retire' – Brunson will not rest on his laurels after 47-point Game 4 haul
Jalen Brunson will not spend too long thinking about his 47-point haul in Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers as he looks towards the second round of the playoffs.
The New York Knicks took a 3-1 lead in their first-round series thanks to a 97-92 victory on Sunday.
Brunson inspired the Knicks with a stunning 47-point performance, while he also chipped in with 10 assists.
But with the Knicks just one win away from progressing, Brunson is not resting on his laurels.
"I'll look back when I retire," Brunson said.
"Seriously. It's great right now, it helped us get a win.
"But it's not going to do anything for us going forward."
Brunson's haul was a franchise record, as he surpassed Bernard King (46) for the most points scored in a playoff game for the Knicks.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said: "I think we learned that throughout the course of the season. Jalen has played at such an incredibly high level all season long, and we can play off that.
"We have a little bit of everything. And the rebounding has been terrific. Everyone questioned the rebounding with Josh [Hart] at the power forward. We've been the best rebounding team all year. Everyone questioned Jalen being a leader.
"We have a lot to prove. It takes four to win a series, that's what we have to focus on."
The Sixers are staring down the barrel of an early exit, but Joel Embiid, who finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds, does not believe the pressure is on Philadelphia.
"One at a time," said Embiid. "We know we're good enough. We didn't make shots, so we just got to keep trusting ourselves.
"We got no pressure. We're the seven seed, down 3-1, a lot of guys are hurt.
"I don't know why we would feel the pressure. So we should just go out there and go out and play our best basketball and one at a time, win one, come back home, win another one and then Game 7 over there. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Yeah. No pressure."
Doncic says he's letting Irving down as Mavs slip to 2-2 in Clippers series
Luka Doncic believes he has let Kyrie Irving down in the first four games of the Dallas Mavericks' first-round series with the Los Angeles Clippers, which is level at 2-2 after they dropped Game 4.
Doncic had a triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at American Airlines Center on Sunday, but he shot just 10-of-24 from the floor while struggling with a knee issue as the Mavs lost 116-111.
It looked like being a far more resounding defeat when the Clippers went 31 points up midway through the second quarter, but Irving scored all 40 of his points after that to drag Dallas back into it.
However, Paul George and James Harden enjoyed big fourth quarters to deny the Mavs a third straight win and leave the series in the balance ahead of Game 5 in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
After the defeat, Doncic said he had given his fellow Mavs star too much to do, saying: "I've just got to help him more.
"I feel like I'm letting him down, so I've got to be there. I've got to help him more. He's given everything that he has, and he's been amazing for us the whole series."
Doncic has averaged 29 points through the series but has shot just 38.6 per cent from the floor and made 26.5 per cent of his 3-point attempts, while he was exploited on the defensive side on Sunday as George and Harden each had 33 points.
The MVP finalist, however, is refusing to use the soreness in his right knee as an excuse, saying: "It's hurting, obviously.
"But it shouldn't be an excuse, man. I just came out and was a little sloppy, so I've got to be way better than that."
The Clippers announced Kawhi Leonard is out indefinitely due to right knee inflammation ahead of Game 4 but Dallas failed to take advantage of his absence, leaving Los Angeles in buoyant mood with home-court advantage back on their side.
"We dug ourselves in a hole," Irving said. "There's no time to complain about it or look to each other for any excuses. It was just time to get it going.
"We fell short, but this is a consistent thing in this series so far where Kawhi doesn't play and we're just dealing with a barrage of James Harden and Paul George getting off."
NBA: Edwards scores 40 as Timberwolves complete sweep of Suns
For the first time in two decades, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won a playoff series.
The Timberwolves are the NBA's first team to advance to the conference semifinals after defeating the Phoenix Suns 122-116 on Sunday to complete a first-round sweep.
Minnesota reached the Western Conference second round for the first time since 2004 by recording the first play-off sweep in franchise history.
Anthony Edwards led the way with 40 points, and had a thunderous dunk with just over 2 minutes remaining to help kickstart the Timberwolves' celebrations.
Edwards had a quiet first half before erupting after half-time, scoring 31 points in the final two quarters. He hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and had 16 points in the final period to help third-seeded Minnesota pull away.
He finished with seven 3-pointers, and also added nine rebounds and six assists, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 10 boards.
The Timberwolves played the final 1:41 without their coach after Mike Conley collided with Chris Finch on the sidelines.
Finch went down hard, appearing to injure his right knee, and had to be helped to the locker room.
Minnesota, who will face the winner of the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers series, prevailed despite a 49-point performance from Devin Booker.
Booker was 13 of 21 from the field and made 20 of 21 free throws, while Kevin Durant added 33 points on 12-of-17 shooting.
The rest of the Suns combined for 34 points on 36.1 per cent shooting, as Phoenix suffered their first playoff sweep since 1999.
Brunson's historic performance leads Knicks over 76ers
Jalen Brunson is in the record books and the New York Knicks are one win away from a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Brunson scored a playoff career-high 47 points - the most ever by a Knicks player in a post-season game - in a 97-92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Brunson made two free throws with five seconds remaining to seal the win and surpass the franchise record of 46 points scored by Bernard King in 1984.
With the victory in Philadelphia, the second-seeded Knicks grabbed a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.
New York have the opportunity to eliminate the 76ers in Game 5 back home at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
Brunson, who added a game-high 10 assists, struggled with his shot in the first two games of the series in New York, but found his touch in Philadelphia.
After totalling 46 points on 29.1 per cent shooting in Games 1 and 2, Brunson had 39 points on Thursday, followed by his record-setting performance in Game 4 while shooting 50.8 per cent.
OG Anunoby added 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks, while Josh Hart played a big role despite missing all seven of his field-goal attempts by grabbing 17 rebounds.
Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Tyrese Maxey scored 23.
Philadelphia were undone by their struggles from long range, shooting 27.3 per cent on 3-pointers (9 of 33) after making 48.4 per cent of their shots from beyond the arc in their Game 3 win.
Clippers hang on after blowing lead of 31 to even up Mavs series
The Los Angeles Clippers emerged with a 116-111 victory over the Mavericks in Dallas to even up their first-round series at 2-2.
The fourth-seeded Clippers looked like they would roll to an easy win, as they led by 31 points midway through the second quarter, but the Mavericks came storming back to set up a thrilling final few minutes.
After Kyrie Irving hit an off-balanced layup with 2:15 remaining to put Dallas ahead 105-104 - the Mavs' first lead since they were up 8-7 less than five minutes into the game - Paul George responded with an incredible fadeaway 3-pointer from the corner and James Harden followed with a driving floating jump shot to put Los Angeles back up by four points.
George and Harden each finished with 33 points, and between them scored all the Clippers' final 18 points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter.
Irving had 40 points on 14-of-25 shooting and Luka Doncic had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in his fourth career play-off triple-double, but was clearly bothered by a sore right knee and misfired on eight of his nine 3-point attempts.
Before the game, the Clippers announced Kawhi Leonard is out indefinitely due to right knee inflammation.
With the Game 4 win, however, Los Angeles improved to 2-0 in this series in games without the two-time NBA Finals MVP.
In this series, each team has won once on their opponents' court. Game 5 is Wednesday in Los Angeles.
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