The other games on the slate: Cleveland at Miami, Denver at the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston at Golden State. Jimmy Butler is questionable for the Warriors.
Jayson Tatum was listed as doubtful three hours before game time Friday night because of what Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla called a severe bone bruise in his wrist, then — in a two-hour span — was upgraded twice, first to questionable and then available. He led all scorers with 36 but Orlando topped Boston to slice the Celtics' series lead to 2-1.
Minnesota grabbed a 2-1 lead on the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James had a history-making 38, while Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards combined for 59 for the Timberwolves. Luka Doncic played through illness, but the Lakers got outscored 13-1 in the final 4:35.
And Milwaukee cut Indiana's lead to 2-1, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Gary Trent Jr. combining for 74 points to lead the Bucks.
Saturday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
1 p.m. — Cleveland at Miami (TNT)
3:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
6 p.m. — Denver at LA Clippers (TNT)
8:30 p.m. — Houston at Golden State (ABC)
Sunday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
1 p.m. — New York at Detroit (ABC)
3:30 p.m. — LA Lakers at Minnesota (ABC)
7 p.m. — Boston at Orlando (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Indiana at Milwaukee (TNT)
Monday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 or 7:30 p.m. — Cleveland at Miami (NBA TV or TNT)
7:30 p.m. — Memphis at Oklahoma City (TNT)
10 p.m. — Houston at Golden State (TNT)
Note: If Oklahoma City sweeps Memphis, Cleveland-Miami will be 7:30 p.m. on TNT. Otherwise, it will be 7 p.m. on NBA TV.
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+170) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200). After that, it's Cleveland (+475), the Los Angeles Clippers (+1400), the Los Angeles Lakers (+2500), Golden State (+2500), Minnesota (+2800), New York (+3500) and Houston (+6600).
Minnesota's Game 3 win over the Lakers lowered the Timberwolves' odds, and saw the Lakers' odds rise.
From there, it's Indiana (+8000), Denver (+10000), Milwaukee (+15000), Detroit (+25000), then Miami, Memphis and Orlando (all +150000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is still favored (-165) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston. The Clippers also are a lower seed favored to advance; they're at -400 in the 4-5 matchup with Denver.
Award season
The NBA announced Friday that Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
Other awards so far:
— Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
The league has not announced a schedule for other awards — including MVP, most improved player, coach of the year and rookie of the year — along with All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
Key upcoming events
Saturday — NBA early entry deadline.
May 3 — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Saturday's games: Cavaliers-Heat, Thunder-Grizzlies, Nuggets-Clippers, Rockets-Warriors.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award
Stats of the day
— LeBron James became the first 40-year-old to have a 38-point playoff game. The previous record for those in the 40-and-older club in the playoffs was a 32-point game by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then 40, for the Lakers in the 1987 NBA Finals against Boston. “He was incredible,” Wolves star Anthony Edwards said. “It was fun to watch him.”
— Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo and Gary Trent Jr. became the 13th set of teammates to have at least 37 points in the same playoff game. Both had exactly 37.
— Trent also had nine 3-pointers in Friday's game, tying the fourth-most in NBA playoff history. Damian Lillard (for Portland in 2021) has the record with 12, Klay Thompson (for Golden State in 2016) had 11 and Lillard (for Portland in 2019) had 10.
— Through the first 22 playoff games, teams were scoring more than 100 points 61% of the time. In the regular season, they exceeded 100 points 85% of the time.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP