The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 115-96 on Sunday to avoid a sweep in their NBA playoff first-round series. Boston Celtics routed the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96 for a 3-1 lead, while the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors also won their Game 4s. Amen Thompson led the Rockets with 23 points as LeBron James managed only 10 points on poor shooting.
Sunday's NBA playoff action featured four Game 4s with the Raptors edging the Cavaliers 93-89 to tie their series at 2-2, the Spurs rallying from 17 down at halftime to beat the Trail Blazers 114-93 for a 3-1 lead, and the Celtics posting their largest road playoff win ever against the 76ers, taking a 3-1 advantage after Payton Pritchard scored 32 points off the bench and Jayson Tatum added 30 for a combined 62 points on efficient shooting from deep. The Rockets, facing elimination without Kevin Durant, pulled away in the second half behind Thompson's game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, with all starters in double figures including Alperen Sengun's 19. Houston coach Ime Udoka had urged his young players to 'grow up' after a Game 3 collapse, and they responded with better defense and shooting, forcing twice as many turnovers as they committed. James, playing 33 minutes, scored just 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting with eight turnovers and nine assists, his third-lowest playoff scoring output. In San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama returned from a concussion to post 27 points, 11 rebounds, seven blocks and four steals, while De'Aaron Fox added 28 points including 18 after halftime to fuel the historic comeback, the largest in playoff history for a team trailing 15-plus at the break. Raptors rookie Collin Murray-Boyles notched 15 points and 10 rebounds, delivering key fourth-quarter defense to seal the win despite both teams' poor shooting that set a record for the worst in a playoff victory.
