The China Mail - T'Wolves push Lakers to brink of elimination, Celtics and Knicks win

Luka Doncic scored 38 points and LeBron James added 27 for the Lakers, who took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter but are now one game away from elimination.

Jaden McDaniels drove for a basket and drew a foul with 39.5 seconds to play, converting the free throw to put Minnesota up 114-113 with 39.5 seconds left.

McDaniels then stole an inbounds pass from James and Edwards drew a foul on the Lakers superstar and made two free throws that sealed it as Austin Reaves missed a final three-point attempt.

The Lakers will try to stay alive in the best-of-seven series when they host game five on Wednesday.

Only 13 NBA teams have rallied from 3-1 down to win a playoff series. One of those was the James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 Finals.

"Obviously you don't think about winning three (games)," James said. "You just think about winning the next one."

The defending champion Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks both took 3-1 leads in their Eastern Conference series, the Celtics holding off the Orlando Magic 107-98 and the Knicks beating the Pistons 94-93 in a game that concluded amid controversy as officials admitted after the fact that Detroit's Tim Hardaway Jr. was fouled on a last-gasp attempt to win it.

In Minneapolis, it was a frantic finish to a physical game.

Doncic and James played 46 of the game's 48 minutes. That included every minute of the second half, when coach J.J. Redick stuck to the same five players throughout.

Trailing by three at halftime, the Lakers opened the third quarter on a 14-0 scoring run and led by as many as 12, taking a 94-84 lead into the final frame only for Edwards to lead the Timberwolves back.

“We haven't lost nothing yet," Doncic said. "It's still the first one to four wins, and we've just got to still believe."

- 'There's contact' -

The Knicks will have a chance to close out the Pistons in New York on Tuesday.

Jalen Brunson scored 32 points and Karl-Anthony Towns's 27 points included two clutch baskets, but Detroit's Hardaway had a shot to win it at the buzzer.

He missed, and coach J.B. Bickerstaff was fuming that no foul was called when Josh Hart bumped him, but Bickerstaff had no challenge remaining.

"There's contact on Tim Hardaway's jump shot," Bickerstaff said. "I repeat, there's contact on his jump shot."

David Guthrie, the officiating crew chief, acknowledged after the game that Bickerstaff was correct, saying that a postgame review showed "Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called."

It was a heartbreaking outcome for the Pistons. Fueled by a 25-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double from Cade Cunningham, they erased an early 16-point deficit and led by 11 early in the fourth quarter.

Towns pulled New York within two points with a fiercely contested basket then drilled a three-pointer that put New York up 94-93 with 47 seconds left.

In Orlando, Jayson Tatum scored 37 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, making all 14 of his free-throw attempts -- including four in the final minute.

Tatum scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, when the Magic erased a nine-point deficit to tie it with less than five minutes to play.

Jaylen Brown scored 21`points and pulled down 11 rebounds for Boston and Kristaps Porzingis scored 19 -- including a tip-in dunk off his own miss that put the Celtics ahead for good with 3:58 to play.

The Celtics host game five on Tuesday.

Later Sunday, the Milwaukee Bucks hosted Indiana, the Bucks vying to pull level in a series led 2-1 by the Pacers.

V.Fan--ThChM