The Los Angeles Lakers celebrated Kobe Bryant Day by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 135-115 to take a 3-1 lead in their playoff series on Monday.
On a day commemorating Bryant, with the date of 8/24 marking the two numbers the former Laker, who died in a helicopter crash in January, wore during his career, LA ran for 24-8 and not was never directed.
LeBron James led the way with 30 points and 10 assists in 28 minutes before being rested at the end of the third quarter.
Anthony Davis had 18 points for the Lakers before coming out in the third quarter with back spasms.
The Trail Blazers, who look like the shadow of the team that won the opening match of the seven-game series, lost star Damian Lillard to a knee injury in the third term. Jusuf Nurkic had 20 points for Portland.
The Milwaukee Bucks also took a 3-1 lead in their streak over the Orlando Magic, winning 121-106.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, while Khris Middleton made a big quarter-quarter haul of 18 points from his game’s total of 21, having been kept to just one basket in the first three quarters.
Milwaukee, like the Lakers, have won three straight wins after losing their first game.
Nikola Vucevic had 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Magic.
The Miami Heat advance to the second round of the play-offs with a 4-0 win by the Indiana Pacers, winning game four 99-87.
Goran Dragic had 23 points for Miami, while Tyler Herro had 16 and Bam Adebayo 14 points and 19 rebounds.
It’s the first time Miami has made it past the first round since 2016.
Victor Oladipo had 25 points for the Pacers, while Myles Turner finished with 22.
The Oklahoma City Thunder staged a comeback by beating the Houston Rockets 117-114 and leveling their streak at 2-2.
Dennis Schroder scored 30 points for the Thunder, who were 15 points behind in the third quarter but recovered in the end.
Chris Paul scored 26 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma.
Houston was led by James Harden with 32 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds.
