Kyrie Irving got off to a winning start as the Dallas Mavericks fought out a 110-104 win at the home of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Fresh from his trade from the Brooklyn Nets, Irving shot a team-high 24 points on debut for Dallas.
The Mavs were without Luka Doncic, but the addition of Irving to their ranks meant they had sufficient firepower to overcome the Clippers and rise to fourth in the Western Conference.
Tim Hardaway Jr. weighed in with 19 points, six assists and five rebounds, and his three-pointer with 26.8 seconds remaining effectively slammed the door shut on the prospect of a late Clippers fightback.
It meant Norman Powell's 24-point game off the bench for the Clippers came in vain.
Celtics sink Sixers but suffer Brown blow
Behind 19-of-35 shooting from three-point range, the injury-hit Boston Celtics had too much for the Philadelphia 76ers, with the Eastern Conference leaders scoring a 106-99 win.
Despite Joel Embiid scoring a game-high 28 points and James Harden weighing in with a 26-point game and 11 assists, the 76ers were sunk by a Boston side who had six players in double figures, led by Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon who both hit 19 points.
Worryingly, Jaylen Brown suffered what the Celtics described as a "facial contusion" when banging into team-mate Jayson Tatum as both went after a rebound in the closing stages of the second quarter.
It forced Brown out of the game and could see him sidelined for an extended spell, with reports claiming he suffered a fracture. That came as a fresh blow to a Celtics side who came into the game without starters Marcus Smart, Al Horford, and Robert Williams.
Brown's injury meant he and Tatum combined for only 16 points. Tatum managed just 12 points but added nine assists and eight rebounds.
It ended the double act's streak of 55 straight regular-season games combining for 40 or more points in games played together. That was the longest streak by a pair of team-mates in the NBA since a 60-game run from the 76ers' Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Greer from 1965 to 1966.
Lillard heroics see Blazers blunt Warriors
Damian Lillard's triple-double helped the Portland Trail Blazers see off the Golden State Warriors, who were again without the injured Stephen Curry.
In Curry's continuing absence, Jordan Poole weighed in with 38 points and Klay Thompson collected a 31-point haul, but reigning NBA champions Golden State went down 125-122 at Moda Center.
Lillard finished with 33 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a game that was locked at 95-95 heading to the fourth quarter.
NBA: Lakers avoid sweep to Nuggets; Celtics take 2-1 lead on Heat and Thunder go up 3-0
LeBron James scored 30 points and Anthony Davis added 25 and 23 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers avoided a sweep with a 119-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday in their Western Conference first-round series.
D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves each added 21 points to help the Lakers end an 11-game losing streak to the Nuggets, a stretch that included seven consecutive playoff losses.
The Lakers, who notched their first win over the Nuggets since December 2022, will try to stave off elimination again in Game 5 back in Denver on Monday.
Nikola Jokić had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists for his 18th career playoff triple-double and second in this series.
Michael Porter Jr. added 27 points and 11 rebounds for the defending NBA champion Nuggets.
Los Angeles pushed its lead to 106-87 with six minutes remaining, but Denver whittled it down to six on Jokic’s three-point play with 1:25 to play. Reaves, though, hit a short jumper and added four free throws to seal the win.
Celtics roll over Heat
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led a balanced attack with 22 points apiece and the Boston Celtics led wire-to-wire in a 104-84 rout of the Miami Heat to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Game 4 is Monday in Miami, where the Celtics are 9-2 in their last 11 games and 6-1 in their last seven in the postseason.
Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points and Derrick White had 16 for top-seeded Boston, which reclaimed the home-court edge that it lost when Miami won Game 2.
The Celtics continued their bounce-back trend, improving to 15-4 in the games immediately following a loss this season with an average margin of victory in those games of 12.2 points.
Bam Adebayo scored 20 points and Nikola Jovic added 15 for the Heat, who are still without starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier due to injuries.
Thunder push Pelicans to brink of sweep
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder knocked down 17 3-pointers in a 106-85 win over the New Orleans Pelicans for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.
Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey each scored 21 points and combined to go 7 for 11 from long range to help the top-seeded Thunder move a win away from the franchise’s first postseason sweep since eliminating Dallas in 2011-12.
Oklahoma City can complete the sweep in New Orleans in Game 4 on Monday night. No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit.
Brandon Ingram scored 19 points and CJ McCollum added 16 for the Pelicans, who continued to struggle offensively without injured star Zion Williamson. They were 9 for 32 from 3-point range and turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 23 Thunder points.
The Thunder took control with a 14-0 run in the second quarter for a 54-39 lead. They led 60-46 at halftime and maintained at least a 10-point advantage the rest of the way.
Doncic hails 'team player' Washington after Westbrook confrontation
Luka Doncic saluted "team player" P.J. Washington following his confrontation with Russell Westbrook during the Dallas Mavericks' victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Mavericks prevailed 101-90 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series, with Doncic falling just shy of a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Although, it was a feisty affair at the American Airlines Center, where Washington and Westbrook were both ejected after an altercation following the latter's foul and shove on Doncic.
The five-time NBA All-Star was grateful for Washington's support and intervention, paying tribute to his team-mate.
"The things he does, he's a team player," Doncic said. "He helps all of us. I'm just really happy we've got him on our team.
"I'm used to [getting subjected to extra physicality. I just try to stay calm and keep playing basketball."
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was also pleased by the togetherness demonstrated by his players with emotions running high.
"We're all competing for each inch to try to win," he said. "This series is going to be more mental as it goes on, just because of the physicality.
"It's very physical, but the mental aspect of this series, we have to be sharp and we have to understand what's taking place. I thought the guys did a great job of protecting one another."
Durant urges Suns to use fans' frustration as 'fuel' towards playoff recovery
Kevin Durant has urged the Phoenix Suns to use their supporters' frustrations as 'fuel' to reduce their first-round series arrears against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Suns fell 3-0 behind in the series as they went down 126-109 in Game 3 at Footprint Center, where Anthony Edwards led the way for the Timberwolves with 36 points.
No team has overturned a 3-0 deficit in NBA playoff history, and the home fans' disappointment in their side's performance was evident with many heading for the exits long before the contest's conclusion.
Durant, who finished with 25 points, empathises with the supporters.
"They expect so much out of us, and they pay their hard-earned money, and they deserve to react how they want to react," he said. "It's on us as players to use it as fuel, and hopefully it ignites us for the next game [on Sunday]."
The Suns have now lost five successive playoff games - the joint-longest streak in their history - and face the prospect of getting swept for the first time in a quarter of a century.
"I've never been swept a day in my life," guard Bradley Beal said. "I'll be damned if that happens."
Head coach Frank Vogel added: "There's no quit in our group. This group does not want the season to come to an end. We want this really bad, so it is disappointing. It is frustrating.
"We're all very invested in this, and we're all pouring everything we have to bring these fans a team they could be proud of, and we feel like we can still do that, but we haven't played well enough in this series."
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