Stephen Curry was delighted to be back in a big game for the Golden State Warriors, even if Wednesday's play-in defeat to the LeBron James-inspired Los Angeles Lakers was a painful one.
Curry led the game in scoring with 37 points, but an early Warriors advantage – 13 points by halftime – was wiped out by the opening stages of the fourth quarter.
It left Curry in a shootout with James which the reigning NBA Finals MVP won with a sublime 30-foot three-pointer over the Golden State point guard as the shot clock expired.
The Warriors could not respond, as Curry rued a third quarter in which his team had eight turnovers "that changed the dynamic of the game", as the Lakers also visited the foul line eight times – making all eight shots.
Victory takes LA through as the seventh seed in the West to a first-round series against the Phoenix Suns, while Golden State must now prepare for a one-off game against the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed.
"We'll be ready," Curry said. "Right now, it sucks. We played pretty well tonight.
"We've missed this type of environment, it was a lot of fun, high intensity, high, competitive level. I'm proud of everyone who stepped on the floor tonight, how they played.
"They made a run in the third quarter, we turned the ball over and it changed the game, but we still gave ourselves a chance to win.
"That's all we've worried about for the last 48 hours. Walking in the locker room, guys were upset, angry, frustrated we didn't get the job done.
"But we'll be ready for Friday, treating it like a regular season where you have to move on very quickly to a different team that we just beat, knowing they're going to come in with the same desperation we're going to have. It's the biggest game of the year."
A play-in debut was Curry's 113th postseason appearance but his first since the 2019 NBA Finals.
"It was awesome," he said. "I don't know how many fans were here, but the prep leading into the game, the film study, the walkthroughs, our practice, the level of focus and intensity, it was amazing.
"I was telling Jordan Bell on the bench in the middle of the third quarter: 'I miss this.'
"It's been almost two years since the Finals that we were here in a game that had those type of consequences. It's what you live for, it's what you work so hard for.
"It brings out the best in you in terms of your competitiveness and energy and all that. I love it, so we have to run it back Friday and hopefully all next week."
This was the first time Curry had played the Lakers in such a game, with LA failing to make a Finals series between their title wins in 2010 and 2020 as the Warriors played in five straight.
"It'd be nice if we could make it back here round two or whatever it shapes out to be," Curry said.
James is a familiar foe, however, with his Cleveland Cavaliers the opponent for Golden State in four of those years, winning in 2016.
His brilliant make – his second of the night from three-point land – came as no surprise to Curry.
"It was a great shot, a broken play, I snuck in thinking he was out of play," he said. "They found him, he got his balance just in time and knocked the shot down.
"That was a tough one because you don't really expect it to go in. You expect us to get the rebound, come down in transition and have a possession to take the lead.
"But everything changes when it goes in. All-time great players make great shots, that's what happens. It's no different tonight, but that's a tough one."
But Curry appeared to compare the shot to a three from James' former Cavs team-mate Kyrie Irving, who sunk the decisive effort in Game 7 five years ago.
"This one I was a little further away, so I don't feel too bad about it," Curry said.
The Warriors can ill afford to mull over James' heroics any longer, though, as they face a Grizzlies team they beat as recently as Sunday to reach the seven-eight game.
That victory concluded a 15-5 run to finish the regular season, so Curry, who called for Golden State to "just have fun with it" and "come out swinging", is confident they can recover swiftly.
"We've had to do it the last 20 games, so it's no different," he said.
"It is a win or go home scenario, but we've had high confidence, had a string of wins and then had a tough loss and had to bounce back. We've been there."
NBA: Nuggets close to Lakers sweep, Embiid has 50 as Sixers cut deficit
The Denver Nuggets are on the brink of sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers after opening up a 3-0 lead in the teams' first-round series on Thursday, registering their 11th straight win against them.
Aaron Gordon had a playoff career-high 29 points and added 15 rebounds, while Nikola Jokic was just short of a triple-double with 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists as Denver clinched a 112-105 win.
Having squandered a big lead in Game 2, the Lakers failed to respond at home as the Nuggets began the second half with a 24-10 run to pull away from their hosts. Los Angeles failed to get closer than eight points in the fourth.
LeBron James had 26 points, six rebounds and nine assists, while Anthony Davis had 33 points and 15 rebounds, but Los Angeles were let down by their shooting from the field.
They shot just 5 of 27 from the floor, missing with 15 of their first 16 3-point attempts.
Game 4 takes place at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, with the Lakers needing to become the first team in NBA history to rally from a 0-3 playoff deficit to keep James' 21st season alive.
A small group of home fans showed their displeasure with head coach Darvin Ham after the loss, staying behind to chant, "fire Darvin" as the rest of the crowd filtered out.
Embiid's half-century takes Knicks-Sixers to 2-1
Joel Embiid's huge 50-point haul breathed fresh life into the Philadelphia 76ers' series with the New York Knicks, bringing the Sixers back to 2-1 after two road losses to start the playoffs.
The 76ers triumphed 125-114 as Embiid became the first player in playoff history to score 50 points on fewer than 20 shots in a game, going 13 of 19 from the floor and making 19 of 21 free throws.
Philadelphia were three down at the half but produced a huge third quarter, Embiid dragging his team into a 98-85 lead with four 3s in that period.
Tyrese Maxey supported Embiid with 25 points and seven assists, after the NBA admitted the officials missed a foul on him in the closing stages of the Sixers' controversial Game 2 loss.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 39 points and 13 assists while Josh Hart tacked on 20 points, but Donte DiVincenzo only had five after hitting the decisive 3-pointer in Game 2.
Cavs suffer worst playoff loss as Magic hit back
The Orlando Magic also hit back after losing the first two games of their first-round series, dealing the Cleveland Cavaliers the heaviest loss in their playoff history on Thursday.
Taking the series back to Kia Center after a pair of road losses, Orlando recorded a 121-83 win behind Paolo Banchero's 31 points, with Jalen Suggs adding 24 for the fifth seeds in the East.
Orlando led by as many as 43 points in the fourth quarter before ultimately settling for a 38-point margin. The Cavs' previous worst playoff loss was a 36-point defeat to the Washington Wizards in 2008.
Franz Wagner tacked on 16 points and eight assists for Orlando, who now have the chance to level the series at home in Game 4 on Sunday.
Cleveland had four players in double figures but none managed more than the 15 put up by both Jarrett Allen and Caris Levert, the visitors shooting a miserable 8 of 34 (23.5 per cent) from the floor.
Foden: De Bruyne the best in the Premier League
Phil Foden hailed Manchester City team-mate Kevin De Bruyne as the Premier League's best player after the pair both netted in the 4-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
De Bruyne opened the scoring in Thursday's contest at Amex Stadium before Foden took over with a couple of goals of his own before half-time.
Julian Alvarez rounded off the scoring just after the hour in a one-sided contest as an Erling Haaland-less City moved to within a point of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
Belgium international De Bruyne now has four goals and six assists in just 13 league appearances for City this season.
Speaking to Sky Sports News after the win over Brighton, Foden said: "I think when he is at it, he is the best player in the Premier League."
Foden's first goal came via a deflected free-kick that he himself won, although replays showed he slipped rather than being fouled.
The England international doubled his personal tally with a composed finish after Brighton were caught in possession at the back.
Asked about playing more centrally, Foden said: "I have always said that I see myself there. This year I have moved inside and it has helped me massively.
"I enjoy it in the middle. It's where I want to be. At the moment, I am just enjoying my football and playing with freedom."
De Bruyne had earlier opened the scoring with a brilliant opener - his first headed goal for City in the Premier League - as City made it 30 games unbeaten in normal time across all competitions.
Alvarez then went on to round off the scoring in a game that not only saw the reigning champions close the gap on Arsenal, but also narrow the goal difference margin to eight.
"It was a good game," De Bruyne said. "I think we played really good in the first half and every game is a lot of pressure. All we can do is prepare as we did today and win the game that is in front of us.
"We just want to win game-by-game and push for the title. We don't get ahead of ourselves. Now the next game is coming quickly. Try to recover and we go again."
Kyle Walker assisted the De Bruyne and Alvarez goals - the first time the defender has set up two goals in a single Premier League game in what was his 390th appearance in the competition.
Reflecting on his rare headed goal, De Bruyne said: "It doesn't happen too much. Kyle gave a good cross and I think the only way I could reach it is by jumping to it. I will take it but it's not something I am good at."
City have rather ominously won four Premier League games in a row and travel to strugglers Nottingham Forest next up at the weekend, knowing victory in their remaining five games will secure an unprecedented fourth straight title.
"I trust my team. All respect to Liverpool and Arsenal, they are amazing," De Bruyne added. "Arsenal are doing what they need to do and we are also needing to do it. Work hard and be humble enough to keep pushing."
'Let's make it mano a mano' – Adebayo using criticism as fuel as Heat level Celtics series
The Miami Heat are desperate to silence their doubters and are using outside criticism as fuel in their first-round playoff series against the Boston Heat, having levelled it up at 1-1.
That is according to forward Bam Adebayo, who had 21 points and was nine of 13 shooting in the Heat's 111-101 win at TD Garden on Wednesday.
Miami buried their hosts under a mountain of 3-pointers in Game 2, setting a franchise record for a postseason game by shooting 23 of 43 (53.5 per cent) from the field.
Speaking after the game, Adebayo said the way in which the Eastern Conference's eighth seeds have been written off by neutrals was spurring them on.
"We've been doubted a lot through our playoff runs, people saying we couldn't do a lot of stuff that we eventually did," Adebayo said.
"So for me and my team, why lose belief now? Our backs are against the wall. Everybody's against us. So just use that as fuel.
"Our guys believe we can win. So, let's make it mano a mano… a cage fight. Let's hoop!"
Caleb Martin joined Adebayo on 21 points with five 3s, being booed by the Boston crowd every time he touched the ball following his heavy collision with Jayson Tatum in Game 1.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. contributed 14 points with three 3s, Nikola Jovic added a trio of 3s and Haywood Highsmith came off the bench to sink three 3s.
Martin said Miami's new shoot-on-sight mentality was part of a plan drawn up by Erik Spoelstra, saying: "I think it was about realising that being passive hurts us.
"We'd just be playing into their gameplan. We're too good of a shooting team to hesitate from 3."
Spoelstra himself said the Heat had taken the decision to be more proactive after being sunk by Boston's 3-point shooting in Game 1.
"I understand the math of it," the Miami coach said. "We're not going to shoot 50 of them. That's not realistic."
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