Klay Thompson felt the Golden State Warriors "had to win" as they produced an impressive second-half comeback to defeat the Chicago Bulls.
The Warriors rallied for a 140-131 win at United Center, erasing a 13-point halftime deficit with a strong turnaround.
Thompson scored 30 points and there were 27 from Stephen Curry, although 15 of those points came in the fourth quarter as he overcame a slow start.
Golden State improved to 18-20 after Thompson drained seven 3-pointers, with Curry hitting six from deep.
The Warriors dominated the third quarter 48-20 and led by 15 entering the fourth after Chicago had raced ahead in the first half, when they scored a season-high 72 points.
It was a key win with further road games against the Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz up next for the Warriors.
"This was a game we felt we had to win, especially with the upcoming road trip," Thompson said, per NBC Sports Bay Area.
"When our spirit is right, things tend to go our way. Those last two games, we just felt like they were anomalies of the season.
"We have been fighting so hard, with so many close battles lost. We were not discouraged. We know that it is a long season with ebbs and flows.
"Even though we got beat probably a combined 100 [points], we responded."
Curry finished just 8 of 24 from the field, but did have nine assists, while Jonathan Kuminga added 24 points from the bench as Golden State won despite being without Moses Moody, Chris Paul, Gary Payton II and Draymond Green.
Green is working on his conditioning after his recent suspension.
"I can't wait until Draymond is back," added Thompson. "We are not the Warriors without him.
"Hopefully within these next couple of games, maybe Memphis or Utah would be great. I think he makes the biggest impact defensively."
The Bulls fell to 18-22 despite a game-high 39 points from DeMar DeRozan, while Zach LaVine and Coby White scored 25 points each.
"They did a great job adjusting, coming out and changing up the game plan," DeRozan said about Warriors' turnaround.
"You can never count them out no matter how big of a lead we have."
The Warriors are 12th in the Western Conference as they fight to reach the playoff positions in the standings.
"It is nice to win a game like that where I know individually I can shoot the ball better but we won a game collectively," Curry said.
"We have a standard that we want to live up to for ourselves.
"We are not going to win every game, but you just want to play better and I think we did that."
Coach Steve Kerr was impressed with the response after the Warriors were booed in the big home losses against the Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans this week.
He said: "The whole group, the whole team, was just committed to 'Let's go out and win'.
"I'm very proud of them. They have taken a lot of heat; we have all taken a lot of heat this past week. Deservedly so. But this is what you do as a pro. A lot of these guys are champions. You have got to respond, and they did.
"We got off track emotionally and spiritually the last couple of games. Our fans could feel it. We got booed for the first time since I've been here, 10 years.
"And, as I said, both nights we deserved it because our energy and our competitive spirit were not there. We found that again."
NBA: Celtics, Mavericks take 2-1 leads in conference semifinals
Jayson Tatum had 33 points and 12 rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 28 points as the Boston Celtics rode a bounce-back performance for a 106-93 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
After losing Game 2 at home by 24, the top-seeded Celtics looked more like themselves on Cleveland’s home court.
Tatum opened the second half with a three-point play to ignite a 14-0 run that gave Boston a 71-48 lead.
The Cavaliers got the deficit down to nine three times in the fourth quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Payton Pritchard and Derrick White midway through the period ended any hope of a comeback.
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points for Cleveland, but aggravated a left knee injury in the fourth quarter and was laboured. With Boston up 13 with 1:19 left, he left the court and walked directly to the locker room.
Evan Mobley added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had won their first four home playoff games. They haven’t won consecutive postseason contests since taking the first two against Orlando in the first round.
Cleveland was again without starting center Jarrett Allen, who missed his sixth straight game with a painful rib injury.
Boston center Kristaps Porzingis missed his fourth consecutive game with a calf strain.
Mavericks take 2-1 lead on Thunder
Kyrie Irving hit a running left-hander in the lane in the final minute and scored 22 points as the Dallas Mavericks held on for a 105-101 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Luka Dončić also had 22 points to go with 15 rebounds and P.J. Washington added 27 points, two shy of his playoff high from the previous game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 31 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks as the top-seeded Thunder lost their second straight after opening 5-0 in the playoffs.
Game 4 is Monday night in Dallas.
Chet Holmgren had 13 points and four of the Thunder’s 11 blocks, but Oklahoma City was outrebounded 16-5 on the offensive glass and outscored 16-9 in second-chance points.
Irving bounced back from scoring nine points in Game 2 with 14 points in the second half alone, including six consecutive Dallas points in the fourth quarter that helped the Mavs to their biggest lead of the final period at nine.
Oklahoma City decided to foul Dereck Lively II intentionally in the fourth quarter, and he missed three of the first four free throws before he hit the next four in a row to put Dallas up 100-95 with 3:06 left.
After Gilgeous-Alexander made two free throws, Irving’s basket restored the Mavericks’ five-point lead.
NBA: Nuggets end Timberwolves' perfect postseason with rout, Pacers edge Knicks
Nikola Jokić had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists and Jamal Murray bounced back with 24 points as the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 117-90 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points and Aaron Gordon had 13 for the Nuggets, who cruised to an easy win on the road after dropping the first two games at home.
They are the 30th team in the history of the NBA playoffs to lose the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series. Five of them have rallied to win, most recently the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in 2021.
Game 4 is Sunday in Minneapolis.
Murray totalled just 25 points on 9-of-32 shooting over the first two games but was 11 of 21 in this one.
Denver shot 14 of 29 from 3-point range with Gordon and Porter combining to hit 7 of 9.
Anthony Edwards was held in check with 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 for a Wolves team that suffered its first loss in seven playoff games.
Minnesota shot 10 of 33 from long range and fell behind by as many as 34 points down the stretch.
Pacers rally to cut deficit to 2-1
Andrew Nembhard drilled a 31-foot, tiebreaking 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and Tyrese Haliburton had 35 points with six 3-pointers as the Indiana Pacers rallied for a 111-106 win over the banged-up New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday in Indianapolis. New York held a nine-point lead with 9:45 remaining but was unable to hold the lead with star guard Jalen Brunson slowed by a right foot injury.
Nembhard scored all five of his points in the final minute, connecting on a long 3 as the shot clock expired to give the Pacers a 109-106 lead.
Brunson missed a potential tying 3 with 14 seconds left and finished with 26 points on 10-of-26 shooting.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 35 points and was 7 for 11 on 3s, while Alec Burks, who came in having played just 1 minute in the playoffs, scored 14 points in 21 minutes for the Knicks, who played without starting forward OG Anunoby.
It’s unclear whether Anunoby can recover from his injured left hamstring to play Sunday.,
Haliburton triggered Indiana’s comeback in the fourth quarter. He completed a three-point play and then made back-to-back layups to make it 98-96. After Brunson made a free throw, Pascal Siakam tied the score with a three-point play.
The teams traded the lead four more times, with Brunson’s 3 tying it at 106 with 42 seconds remaining.
Budenholzer agrees to five-year contract to coach Suns
The Phoenix Suns are making Mike Budenholzer their next head coach with the sides agreeing to a five-year contract, according to reports.
A formal announcement is expected to come Saturday.
Budenholzer, 54, last coached the Milwaukee Bucks before he was let go after they were upset by the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2022-23 season.
He led the Bucks to the 2020-21 NBA title in his third season with the team and began his coaching career with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013-14, compiling a 213-197 record in five seasons.
Budenholzer is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, winning with Atlanta in 2014-15 and 2018-19 with Milwaukee.
He replaces Frank Vogel, who was fired on Thursday after one season with the Suns. Phoenix went 49-33 in the regular season but was swept in the opening round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Vogel was unable to fulfil lofty expectations after injuries limited the number of games the star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal could play together. His dismissal came after reports surfaced that Vogel had lost the locker room and Durant was unhappy with his role in the offense.
Budenholzer becomes the third Suns’ coach in three years under new owner Mat Ishbia, who inherited Monty Williams as the team’s leader when he took over the franchise in February 2023.
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