Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Los Angeles Lakers, fueled by 29 points from LeBron James, beat the Houston Rockets 112-108 in an overtime thriller on Friday to take a 3-0 stranglehold in their NBA playoff series. James, the 41-year-old superstar playing in his 19th post-season, came up with a steal and a game-tying three-pointer with 13.6 seconds left in regulation. He couldn’t 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 an 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’s 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.
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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 less 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 contributed 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.
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