Lakers finally solve Nuggets, avoid sweep

MANILA, Philippines — Anthony Davis had 25 points and 23 rebounds, and LeBron James scored 30 points as the Los Angeles Lakers avoided elimination in a first-round Western Conference playoff series with a 119-108 Game 4 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves each scored 21 points as the Lakers avoided being swept by the Nuggets for the second straight year. They head back to Denver for Game 5 on Monday with the Nuggets leading 3-1 in the series.

Los Angeles shot 52.2 percent from the floor as it ended an 11-game losing streak to Denver. Russell was 8 of 15 shooting and 4 of 8 from 3-point range after missing all seven of his shots from the floor in Game 3.

Nikola Jokic put together his second triple-double of the series with 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists. Michael Porter Jr. added 27 points and 11 rebounds as the Nuggets fell to the Lakers for the first time since December 2022.

Celtics 104, Heat 84

Jayson Tatum posted 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as visiting Boston regained home-court advantage in its first-round playoff series with Miami, routing the Heat in Game 3.

Boston, the NBA’s top seed, leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Monday in Miami. After losing Game 2 in Boston, the Celtics never trailed in this battle against the eighth-seeded Heat.

The Celtics also got 22 points from Jaylen Brown, who added eight rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points and Derrick White added 16 points.

The Heat again played without injured standouts Jimmy Butler (knee) and Terry Rozier (neck). Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 20 points and nine rebounds. Nikola Jovic and Tyler Herro added 15 points each.

Magic 112, Cavaliers 89

Orlando rode a dominant third quarter to emphatically even its best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series with visiting Cleveland, shellacking the Cavs in Game 4.

Franz Wagner had 12 of his game-high 34 points and three teammates chipped in with a combined five 3-pointers in the third, which turned a 60-51 Cavaliers advantage at the break into an 88-70 Magic romp by the third quarter’s end.

Game 5 in a series dominated by the home team is scheduled for Tuesday at Cleveland.