The Phoenix Suns moved 3-2 ahead in their NBA first round playoffs series against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 115-85 victory but star guard Chris Paul went down after re-injuring his shoulder.
Devin Booker top scored for the Suns with 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the Suns move within one win of knocking out the reigning champions.
The Suns, however, will be sweating on Paul's fitness ahead of Game 6 after going down clutching his sore right shoulder, having played 23 minutes, with nine points and six assists.
Phoenix blew the game open with a remarkable 32-10 second quarter, opening up a 32-point half-time lead which the Lakers, who were without Anthony Davis, never threatened in the second half.
LeBron James top scored with 24 points including six three-pointers along with five rebounds and seven assists, while Andre Drummond had seven points and 13 rebounds.
The series returns to Los Angeles for Game 6, before the final match in Arizona if required.
Nugs win in double over-time, Nets progress
Nikola Jokic and Damian Lillard traded blows as the Denver Nuggets edged the Portland Trail Blazers 147-140 in a double over-time thriller.
Jokic finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while Michael Porter Jr had 26 points, including a clutch late three-pointer along with 12 rebounds and three assists.
Lillard remarkably scored 55 points for the defeated Blazers, along with six rebounds and 10 assists, although he may regret passing to CJ McCollum with nine seconds left at 143-140 down. McCollum mis-controlled and stepped out of play, forcing the decisive turnover.
In a back-and-forth encounter, McCollum had earlier drained a three-pointer to send the game into over-time.
The Brooklyn Nets finished the job in their first round series against the Boston Celtics with James Harden starring in a 123-109 win which completed a 4-1 victory.
Harden produced a triple-double, scoring 34 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nets.
Kyrie Irving added 25 points, while Kevin Durant contributed 24, including four three-pointers shooting at 66 per cent from beyond the arc.
The Nets will next face the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Wayward Tatum's radar off
Jayson Tatum was a lone hand for the Celtics, managing 32 points, although he shot poorly, albeit regularly under intense heat, at 12-from-27 from the field and 36.4 per cent from beyond the arc.
History-making haul in losing cause
Lillard's 55 points came in a losing cause, making history as the third most in a defeat in NBA playoffs history behind Michael Jordan's 63 against the Celtics in 1986 and Donovan Mitchell's 57 against the Nuggets in 2020. He also had a record 12 threes.
Tuesday's results
Brooklyn Nets 123-109 Boston Celtics
Denver Nuggets 147-140 (OT) Portland Trail Blazers
Phoenix Suns 115-85 Los Angeles Lakers
Hawks at Knicks
The New York Knicks will look to stay alive as their first round playoffs series returns to Madison Square Garden against the Atlanta Hawks trailing 3-1.
'Tough pill to swallow' for Curry as Kings dump Warriors out of In-Season Tournament
Stephen Curry described the Golden State Warriors' In-Season Tournament elimination as a 'tough pill to swallow' after their crushing 124-123 defeat to the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings avenged last season's playoff elimination at the hands of their rivals with a dramatic fightback win on Tuesday, with an off-balance Malik Monk hitting a fadeaway with seven seconds left to hand them a memorable victory.
That came after Golden State led by four with just 46 seconds remaining, and the Warriors wasted one last chance for victory after Monk's shot as Curry missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Warriors had needed a 12-point win to advance from West Group C and led by 24 points at one stage, and the last-gasp nature of their defeat – their first in three games against Sacramento this season – infuriated Curry.
"It's going to be tough to swallow just because we should have won that game," he said.
"We played well enough to win for 40 minutes, and knowing the stretch we've been on, we were really motivated.
"You get to the finish line and you end up losing. It's a tough pill to swallow, it's frustrating. We've all got to look ourselves in the mirror."
While the Warriors have now lost eight of their last 10 games and are 8-10 for the campaign, the Kings will host the New Orleans Pelicans next Monday in the last eight of the inaugural In-Season Tournament.
Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox, who matched Curry's game-high 29 points, said: "We want to win. Obviously, our fans want us to beat Golden State.
"A game this close, coming back from being down 24, you want to win regardless of if it's a tournament game or not.
"This league is a game of runs. You just try to win as many segments as you can to win the game.
"We want to get to Vegas and be one of the first teams to advance to the final four of the In-Season Tournament."
'Heaven' for Giannis as Lillard and Middleton help Bucks overcome Heat
Giannis Antetokounmpo said playing with Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton was "like heaven" after the trio combined to guide the Milwaukee Bucks to the quarterfinals of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
The Bucks moved to 13-5 for the season and 4-0 in East Group B for the In-Season Tournament with Tuesday's 131-124 win over the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center.
Milwaukee found themselves down 118-115 with three minutes and 25 seconds to play, but they finished on a 16-6 run to tee up a home game in the last eight, with Antetokounmpo leading the way with 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
The two-time MVP was ably supported by Lillard, who posted 32 points and nine assists, and Middleton, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
After the game, Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin revealed Antetokounmpo had suggested feeding the ball to Middleton more often, and the star forward said doing so made Milwaukee less predictable.
"It's great, for me it's like heaven when you have two guys that can create their own shots, and I don't have to make something happen," Antetokounmpo said.
"It's great. My whole career it's been that way, and now also we have Khris and Dame that can do that. It makes the game easier for everybody.
"Them breaking down the defenses is great, but if they can't, they can give the ball to me and I'll spread it to the corners or play one-on-one.
"Offensively, I think guys got to the spots and were able to execute, a few pick and rolls with Dame as the ball handler, a few pick and rolls with Khris as the ball handler… it was great.
"I think it helps the flow of our offense when it doesn't always have to be Dame and Giannis, then we can play from there.
"I feel like that's where we are, all playing as a team, the energy is better, everybody has more touches of the ball, I think we can be more effective that way."
The Heat were made to pay for the absence of Jimmy Butler, who missed the game with an ankle sprain after averaging 37.6 points as Miami eliminated Milwaukee from the playoffs last season.
Bam Adebayo scored 31 points for Miami, with Kyle Lowry adding 21 and Josh Richardson contributing 20, and head coach Erik Spoelstra was broadly pleased with their display, despite the result.
"I felt like we played a very good basketball game," Spoelstra said. "A very good offensive game, in particular."
Now 10-8 for the campaign and eliminated from the In-Season Tournament, Miami will look to halt their three-game losing streak when they face the Indiana Pacers in a home double-header later this week.
Mavs coach Kidd storms out of press conference after reporter spat
Jason Kidd claimed Luka Doncic is "taken for granted" before he walked out of his press conference following the Dallas Mavericks' win over the Houston Rockets.
The Mavericks, whose owner Mark Cuban is reportedly close to selling a major stake in the franchise, beat the Rockets 121-115 on Tuesday to prevent Houston from advancing in the NBA's in-season tournament.
Doncic, who played just three days after sustaining a thumb sprain, had 41 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, playing a key role at both ends of the court.
"Sometimes we take him for granted, and we shouldn't," said Kidd. "He's about winning, too. It just happens that he's a walking triple-double.
"Tonight, he had some great looks, but I think he's not looked upon, or you guys haven't really talked about his defense. He's competing defensively. He's taking the challenge.
"But again, when you're that good, someone has to pick at something. Unfortunately, you guys don't see the game totally all the time but he's competing defensively.
"For him to get on the floor, it just shows that he's all about winning, too."
Defiance was a theme of Kidd's post-game news conference, as the coach lashed out at reporters for being overly critical of the time it has taken Kyrie Irving and Doncic to form a formidable partnership.
"Maybe it's the things that you guys thought should have happened day one. It takes time – failing is alright, it's not a bad thing to fail for a pro athlete, as you can learn and get better from it," he said.
"Those two are the best in the world and we feel very comfortable with those two having the ball. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't – and we learn from it.
"Write some positive s***. It's alright to write positive stuff, people will read positive s***. You don't have to be negative, the world's already negative enough. Let's see some positive stuff on positive people who are doing their job on a nightly basis."
Irving finished with 27 points, with 22 of those coming in the second half.
"Yeah, he can go off [at] anytime," Doncic said of Irving.
"There were a couple of insane layups, which isn't insane for us because we see it all the time. But his play has been amazing, and his leadership has been amazing. We are just happy to have him on our team."
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