Chris Paul had 18 points and nine assists, Devin Booker and Jae Crowder added 17 points apiece and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92 on Sunday in Game 4 to even the first-round series.
Deandre Ayton had 14 points and 17 rebounds, and the second-seeded Suns took advantage of Anthony Davis’ absence from the second half with a groin injury to reclaim home-court advantage after two straight losses.
LeBron James had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers. Before a last-minute surge, Los Angeles struggled in the absence of starters Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who injured his knee in Game 3.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Phoenix.
Davis scored six points on 2-for-9 shooting in the first half, then didn’t return after halftime. The superstar big man scored 34 points in each of the Lakers’ two victories in the series, but he hyperextended his leg in Game 3 and appeared to aggravate his accumulated injury woes in the second quarter of Game 4, falling awkwardly and grabbing his leg after a layup attempt defended by Crowder.
In Dallas, Kawhi Leonard had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Paul George scored 20 points and Los Angeles manhandled Dallas in Game 4 to tie the series.
Reggie Jackson added 15 points, and the Clippers are headed home for Game 5 on Wednesday night much more sure of themselves than when they left LA in a two-game hole.
Luka Doncic started slowly after being listed as questionable because of cervical strain, the diagnosis for the Dallas sensation after he said following Game 3 that he felt pain in his neck and down his left arm.
Playing with medical strips on his left shoulder, and wearing a large pad in that area when he wasn’t playing, Doncic scored 19 points after averaging 38 in the first three games. He was 9 of 24 with series lows in rebounds and assists with six apiece.
And in Boston, Kyrie Irving had 39 points and 11 rebounds to quiet the first post-pandemic full house at the TD Garden, Kevin Durant scored 42 points and Brooklyn beat Boston to take a 3-1 series lead.