NBA roundup: Celtics defeat Cavs, Thunder pull level with Mavs

The Boston Celtics successfully defended against a depleted Cleveland team to establish a commanding 3-1 lead in their NBA playoff series on Monday, while Oklahoma City evened the score with Dallas in their own series.

The Celtics are looking to close out the series at home on Wednesday.

Oklahoma City, the top seed in the Western Conference, is tied 2-2 with the Mavericks after a strong fourth-quarter comeback led them to a 100-96 win in Dallas.

Despite facing a tough Dallas defense with 13 blocked shots, the Thunder managed to tie the game at 86-86 in the fourth quarter with a fadeaway jump shot by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Chet Holmgren's three-pointer then gave the Thunder the lead for good.

Although Dallas cut the deficit to one point with 10.1 seconds remaining, Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander made crucial free throws to secure the victory.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 34 points, credited the team's perseverance and focus for the win.

Holmgren added 18 points, while Luguentz Dort contributed 17 for the Thunder, who were solid from the free-throw line, making 23 of 24 attempts.

Despite Luka Doncic's triple-double performance for Dallas, P.J. Washington led the team with 21 points as Kyrie Irving was limited to nine points.

Doncic acknowledged that Dallas' mistakes in the little details, such as missed free throws and turnovers, were the main reasons for the loss.

In Cleveland, the Cavaliers suffered a setback when Donovan Mitchell, who had been averaging over 35 points in the previous six games, was ruled out due to a calf injury. This added to the absence of starting center Jarrett Allen on the sidelines.

LeBron James, the NBA superstar who led the Cavs to their only NBA title in 2016, was present courtside. However, without Mitchell, the Cavs lacked the necessary firepower.

Despite this, the Cavs managed to keep the pressure on and briefly took the lead in the third quarter thanks to Darius Garland's driving basket.

Nevertheless, the Celtics quickly regained control and entered the final period with a 10-point lead.

Cleveland, led by Garland's 30 points, made three attempts to narrow the deficit to five points in the final four minutes. However, Jaylen Brown, assisted by Jayson Tatum, sealed the game with a three-pointer at the 1:09 mark.

"It's a game of runs," Tatum commented after the Celtics struggled to put away the depleted Cavaliers, who had fallen behind early due to a 12-0 scoring run by Boston in the first quarter. "It's not going to be perfect every single time. They're going to make shots, but it's our job to figure it out."

Although Boston led by as much as 13 points in the second quarter, Cleveland managed to cut the deficit to one point twice before halftime, thanks to 11 of their 15 three-pointers in the first half.

During the second quarter, Brown avoided a flagrant foul call when he fell backwards into Max Strus and grabbed Strus's ankle as the Cavs player, struggling to maintain balance, stepped over him.

Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff expressed disappointment with the free-throw discrepancy, as Boston went to the line 24 times compared to Cleveland's seven.

"I'll be honest with you, I was disappointed with the way the whistle blew tonight," Bickerstaff stated. "I don't think we got an equal opportunity at it tonight from that standpoint."

Garland described the free-throw discrepancy as "ridiculous."

"I'm not one of those guys with the striped shirt, but I know how many times I get hit, I know how many times my teammates get hit, put on the floor.And we can't reciprocate," he said.