The Brooklyn Nets are listing Ben Simmons as out for Game 4 against the Boston Celtics.
Simmons has yet to play a game this season, with a back injury keeping him on the sideline since being traded to Brooklyn at the deadline.
Indications had been that the three-time All-Star was trending towards his Nets debut in Game 4 of the series, but the inevitability of the outcome may be leading to some extra caution.
The Nets trail the series 3-0, a deficit no NBA team has come back from in the seven-game series format.
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant believes "thinking too much" is partly to blame for his struggles in the NBA playoffs against the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics extended their series lead in the Eastern Conference first round to 3-0 after a 109-103 victory at Barclays Center, and Durant was again unable to do much about it.
Despite averaging 29.9 points per game during the regular season, Durant is averaging just 22.0 in three postseason games and only scored 16 in his latest outing on Saturday.
Bruce Brown was the highest scorer for the Nets with 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, but he and Durant contributed to 10 of the team's 18 turnovers.
"I was just thinking too much to be honest, this whole series," Durant said after the game. "Like how I approach the game. We got another game to play, another opportunity, and I'm looking forward to that.
"I feel like the first two games I was trying to be too aggressive. A team that's loading up on me, that's trying to take me out of all my actions."
A starring role from Jayson Tatum was the difference for Boston as the 24-year-old scored 39 points, with six assists and five rebounds, while Robert Williams returned from injury to play 15 minutes and help stifle Durant and Kyrie Irving, who himself also managed just 16 points.
"Every team I've been on, you're just trying to figure out the best way to play," Durant added. "When you got good team-mates around you as well, you're trying to figure out, I try to figure out how I can be the best version of myself and also not getting in my teammates' way.
"Sometimes I think too much about it. Sometimes I need to go out there and just [have] no thoughts in my head and just play.
"I feel like I prepared myself the right way. It's a matter of the small decisions in the game that may not go in my favour. I thought I found my teammates better than I did the last two games. I just need to score more."
The Nets must win Game 4, which takes place at Barclays Center on Monday, to keep the series alive.
The Boston Celtics inched closer to sweeping the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, claiming a 3-0 series lead with a 109-103 victory at the Barclays Center.
Jayson Tatum notched up 39 points on 13-of-29 shooting, six assists, five rebounds and six steals in the win for the Celtics, who continued to lock down Kevin Durant.
Though Durant shot 54.5 per cent from the floor, moving him to 17-of-52 for the series, he did it on 11 shots on Saturday as the flexible and intense Celtics defensive scheme continued to force the ball out of his hands. Kyrie Irving also went six-of-17 from the floor.
Bruce Brown was the highest scorer for the Nets with 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, but he and Durant contributed to 10 of the team's 20 turnovers, from which Boston scored 25 points.
The Celtics led for the whole of the second half and whenever the Nets would threaten with a scoring run, managed to make timely buckets and secure a big road win.
Gobert gets up for Jazz win
Luka Doncic's return from injury was not enough for the Dallas Mavericks as the Utah Jazz evened up their series at 2-2, earning a 100-99 win.
Rudy Gobert gave Utah the lead with an alley-oop dunk with 11 seconds remaining in Game 4, before Spencer Dinwiddie missed a three-ball at the buzzer for the Mavs.
While Doncic had 30 points in his first game back from a strained calf, Dallas were kept to just 18 points in the fourth quarter, shooting six-of-18 from the floor.
Siakam sizzles as Raptors avoid sweep
Pascal Siakam scored 15 of his of 34 points in the fourth quarter as the Toronto Raptors avoided a series sweep, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 110-102.
Despite a 19-point deficit in points off turnovers, Toronto continually managed to penetrate and get on the break, holding a combined 25-point advantage for points in the paint and fast-break points.
Nursing an injured thumb, Joel Embiid shot seven-of-16 from the floor for his 21 points to go with eight rebounds, but also coughed up five turnovers.
Timberwolves level series with Grizzlies
Karl-Anthony Towns bounced back from a disappointing Game 3 to help the Minnesota Timberwolves even their playoff series with the Memphis Grizzlies, winning 119-118.
After going missing in Game 3, taking only four shots as the Grizzlies overcame a 26-point deficit, Towns was more assertive from the outset, adding 13 rebounds to 33 points.
Anthony Edwards' fingerprints were all over the game however, coming up with 24 points on seven-of-14 shooting, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks.
Luka Doncic will return for the Dallas Mavericks for Game 4 of their NBA playoffs series against the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Mavs point guard Doncic missed the first three games of the Western Conference first-round series with a left calf strain.
However, the organisation confirmed on Saturday that Doncic is available for Game 4 at Vivint Arena.
Dallas lead Utah 2-1 in the series despite being without their star man, with Jalen Brunson stepping up with 96 points in the three clashes so far.
The return of Doncic will still undoubtedly be a big boost for the Mavs, who have not progressed beyond this stage of the playoffs since they won the 2011 championship.
The Slovenian has been one of the most impressive players in the league this season, averaging 28.4 points per game in his 65 regular season appearances, as well as 8.7 assists and 9.1 rebounds.
It was a doubly painful night on Friday for Miami Heat point guard Kyle Lowry, limping out of Game 3 against the Atlanta Hawks with a hamstring injury, before seeing the Hawks win it late on.
Lowry pulled up in the third quarter of the 111-110 defeat for the Eastern Conference's number one seeds at State Farm Arena.
The Hawks win brought the series margin back to 2-1, but it required some late-game heroics from Trae Young to get the job done.
Trailing by one point with 12 seconds to go, Atlanta did not call a timeout, which enabled Young to put his side up by one with less than five seconds on the clock.
Not hiding his feelings post-game, Lowry told ESPN: "I'm pissed the f*** off," before referring to himself as the X-Men character "Wolverine," famous for his ability to heal quickly.
The 36-year-old suffered the injury with around two minutes left in the third quarter and with Miami leading by 13 points, before Atlanta produced a fine comeback to steal it at the death.
"All I know right now is it's a hamstring," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But I do not know the severity of it and we'll find out more tomorrow."
Lowry made just two of seven field goal attempts on the night, and two of six from beyond the arc, as well as registering four rebounds and five assists before his game came to a premature end.
Heat team-mate Jimmy Butler added: "I know we love that guy as our point guard. If he's with us, yippee-ki-yay. If he's not, somebody has got to step in and do his job.
"It's very, very hard to do. But we got enough in that locker room to try to bring to the table what Kyle does. He'll get his treatment and we'll see where he's at."
Game 4 takes place on Sunday in Atlanta.
Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul was all smiles after his side's crucial 114-111 road win against the New Orleans Pelicans, in a city that holds a special place in the heart of the 'Point God'.
With Devin Booker out for the game with a hamstring injury, Chris Paul assumed a greater offensive load on Friday and took it in stride.
He posted a gaudy playoff stat line of 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, with 14 assists, while Deandre Ayton was superb, riding a hot start to a 28-point (13-of-20 shooting), 17-rebound showing.
Paul, who was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets back in 2005, dismissed a question in the post-game press conference about whether he heard fans in the arena chanting their displeasure for their former favourite son, and wrapped his arms around the city he once called home.
"These are my people, man. I grew up here," he said. "Six of the best years of my life I played for New Orleans.
"I know how I am with this city, that will never change. I have my parents here, my family here.
"There's nothing like it, it will always be so much love between me and the city here."
Touching on the game, Paul was full of praise for both Suns centers who played key roles in Game 3.
"[Ayton's start] was huge, it was big-time," he said. "You can't replace everything that Devin [Booker] does for us, so it's going to be different spurts, where guys get going.
"[Ayton] kept us in this game in order to bring it home down the stretch… he kept telling me he was going to get me loose, and to stop passing and just shoot the ball.
"JaVale [McGee] was amazing. We talked about it – this was the third game where Larry Nance came in and they started to switch everything – so we wanted to try and punish them on the inside.
"JaVale's energy is contagious – him rebounding and getting those put-backs kept us in the game, too."
The Suns were a top-10 team in three-point percentage during the regular season, but shot just four-of-26 from downtown on Friday.
Paul went into detail about why he feels that stat bodes well for his side going forward in this series, and why he thinks they are built to handle adversity and win tough games.
"We got a lot of good looks," he said. "I was one-for-six, and I didn't realise we were four-of-26 [from three-point range] – but the thing about it is we got great looks.
"All season long we've been a really good shooting team, so to win this game without shooting well, that's a plus for us, because if we can get the same shots next game, hopefully we can knock them down.
"We've got a good group who have been together – we're sort of battle-tested when it comes to things. We went on an incredible run last year, and we're still building.
"I don't know the amount of playoff games our team has under our belts, so everything is still new to a certain extent, but guys know what to expect, and we know what we want to get to [offensively] down the stretch."
Trae Young said he had no doubts that his game-winning shot would go in, and gave a special mention to the role players who ignited the Atlanta Hawks' 111-110 win against the Miami Heat.
The crucial win pulled the series margin back to 2-1, avoiding a dreaded 3-0 lead for the Heat, but it required some late-game heroics from Young to get the job done.
Trailing by one point with 12 seconds to go, Atlanta did not call a timeout, instead opting to live or die with Young's decision making. Weaving through the defense, Young got to his floater and made no mistake, putting his side up by one with less than five seconds on the clock.
Speaking with post-game media, Young broke down what was going through his mind on that crucial last shot.
"I didn't have any doubt that if I shot it that I was going to make it, but I was really just trying to make the right read," he said.
"I was driving to the middle and waiting to see if somebody helped, and to be honest I was going to hit a shooter if they helped, or if they didn't I was going to go to the basket like I did.
"We just didn't give up. We didn't stop fighting, or stop playing. In the NBA, teams are going to make runs.
"They made their run in that third quarter, and got going, and it was about our time to make a run too."
He went on to finish with 24 points and eight assists, shooting six-of-14 from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line, but he was just one of seven Hawks to score at least nine points in the contest.
The All-NBA point guard made a point of shouting out the three-man group of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Delon Wright and Onyeka Okongwu, who played a massive role in coming back from a 94-80 deficit with less than 10 minutes to play.
"[The chemistry] was great," he said. "It started on the defensive end for Delon and 'O' [Okongwu].
"They really helped us get out in transition and push the ball – and when 'Bogey' [Bogdanovic] gets hot like that, he's one of the best shooters in this league. He got going tonight and it really sparked our offense.
"This was a total team effort, and a total team win, so it was a great job by our whole team tonight."
With the Hawks' season on the line, and coming off a Game 2 in which he had 10 turnovers, Young touched on the adjustments he made coming into Friday's game.
"I didn't think I took care of the ball in Game 2, so I wanted to come here and take care of the ball, and at least give our team a shot on the offensive end," he said. "I just wanted to play the right way.
"I think in the first two games [of the series] – having to really battle to get into the position we were in [through the play-in tournament] really wore on us.
"I think tonight showed that when we've got our guys [fresher] and we take care of the ball, we can play.
"It's only one game, so I've got to do it again."
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