The reigning champions San Antonio Spurs struggled to stop Austin Rivers, and the Los Angeles Clippers evened the best-of-seven first-round series at 2-2 on Sunday.
Surprisingly, or maybe not, Rivers was the Clippers hero after coming off the bench with a sense of desperation to keep his team in contention.
Rivers was in offensive mode throughout his 17 minutes on floor, sparking the Los Angeles Clippers to a much-needed 114-105 victory.
Rivers performed as never seen before, making seven of his eight field goals attempts, converted two free-throws to go with 16 points.
“This is his first playoffs, what he did out there it just motivated our team. It was a hell of a game by Austin,” said Clippers captain Chris Paul, who finished with a game-high 34 points and seven assists.
In the only series that is tied after four games, Kawhi Leonard propelled San Antonio with 26 points, Tim Duncan, who fouled out late in the game, had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Tony Parker contributed 18 points, but the Clippers made sure to bounce back from a 100-73 loss in Game 3.
Game 5 is on Wednesday morning in Los Angeles.
In Dallas, the Mavericks cut the series deficit to 3-1 thanks to a 121-109 home victory over the Houston Rockets.
Monta Ellis finished with a game-high 31 points, J.J Barea added 17 points and 13 assists to give the Mavericks hope in the series.
Houston will host the Dallas on Wednesday morning in Game 5.
In Boston, the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a sweep of the Celtics following a 101-93 win in a very physical game, which saw Kevin Love rushed to the locker room to find out that he dislocated his left shoulder after tangling with Kelly Olynyk.
The Cavaliers booked a place in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and will face either the Chicago Bulls or the Milwaukee Bucks.
However, the Cavaliers are yet to find out whether Love, who was playing in his first playoffs series, would be available for the next round.
NBA playoffs basketball is all about intensity, and the Cavaliers versus Celtics series proved it clearly when Kendrick Perkins shoved Boston’s Jae Crowder early in the game, before the Celtic player was forced out of the game later on with a sprained left knee when he was knocked down by J.R. Smith. Smith was ejected from the game after the incident.
In Washington, the Wizards completed the first sweep of a seven-game series in the franchise history after beating the Toronto Raptors 125-94.
Bradley Beal had 23 points to lead six other Wizards players who scored in double figures.
In the second round Washington will take on the winner of the Atlanta Hawks versus Brooklyn Nets series. Those teams play their Game 4 on Tuesday morning in Brooklyn, with the Hawks leading 2-1.
