Kobe Bryant refused to let a second straight game slip through his fingers as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 99-96 in a cliffhanger on Friday (Saturday in Manila) to avoid going 3-0 down in their NBA playoff series.
Bryant endured a tough 9-for-25 shooting night to score 36 points, including eight of his team's final 10, helping LA notch a crucial home win in the second-round West matchup.
The Lakers squandered a seven-point lead in the final two minutes to lose a heart-breaker in Game Two, but this time they clawed back from a five-point deficit in the final three minutes.
Bryant was a perfect 18-of-18 from the free throw line, while the Lakers were a combined 41 for 42 from the stripe in a clutch win.
Kevin Durant tallied 31 points, but missed a long potential game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds, while Russell Westbrook and James Harden each had 21 in the loss.
In the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers roared back from an early 14-point deficit to defeat the Boston Celtics 92-83 and tie their Eastern Conference semi-final series at 2-2.
Andre Iguodala scored five consecutive points to break a 83-83 tie and Jodie Meeks finished off the visiting Celtics with four free throws in succession as Boston failed to score in the final 98 seconds.
"Our guys are pretty amazing," Philadelphia coach Doug Collins told reporters. "Fall behind early and they just keep pushing and pushing and pushing."
Iguodala and Evan Turner each had 16 points for Philadelphia, who travel to Boston for Game Five on Monday.
Lou Williams came off the bench to score 15 points and deliver eight assists, including a pass to Iguodala for a three- pointer that put Philadelphia up by five.
"Williams played about as well as I have ever seen him play," Iguodala said. "“He was our MVP."
Paul Pierce topped the Celtics with 24 points but Kevin Garnett scored only nine.
Boston collected the game's first 14 points and led 46-31 at the half before Philadelphia outscored them 28-17 in the third and 33-20 in the final quarter.
"We lost our composure," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
"Coming out of halftime they came out more physical, and we got into that instead of playing basketball." — Reuters
