Sunday brought two blowouts and two thrillers. Payton Pritchard erupted for a playoff career-high 32 points off the bench — punctuated by a first-quarter buzzer-beater that had Tatum glaring at him in disbelief — as Boston crushed Philadelphia 128-96 to take a 3-1 series lead, spoiling Joel Embiid's heroic return from an appendectomy in the process. Victor Wembanyama cleared concussion protocol hours before tip and then dropped 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 blocks as the Spurs erased a 19-point deficit and became the first team in NBA playoff history to trail by 15 or more at halftime and win by 15 or more — a 114-93 statement in Portland that puts San Antonio one win from the second round. Toronto survived Cleveland 93-89, with Scottie Barnes' free throws with 34 seconds left giving the Raptors a lead they'd never give back, to even their series at 2-2. And Houston — still without Kevin Durant — routed the Lakers 115-96 to stay alive at 3-1.

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Boston Celtics 128, Philadelphia 76ers 96

The crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena erupted about 30 minutes before tip when the 76ers posted a clean injury report. Joel Embiid — 17 days removed from an appendectomy, averaging 23 days missed for the procedure across NBA history — was upgraded to available. He scored his team's first eight points, threw down a highlight dunk over Nikola Vucevic, and forced Neemias Queta into early foul trouble. For about four minutes, it looked like the series might turn.

Then Payton Pritchard checked in with 6:35 left in the first quarter and the Celtics never looked back. Pritchard dropped 13 points in the first quarter alone — including a one-legged buzzer-beater three from the right wing with 1.4 seconds left that sent a smirking walk-off past the Philadelphia crowd — and finished with 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting with 6 threes. By the time Boston pushed the lead to 40-plus in the fourth, Philadelphia fans were hearing "We Want Boston" chants echoing off their own building. Tatum added 30 points and 11 assists in a near-triple-double, Brown contributed 20, and the Celtics hit 24 threes as a team — Boston 72, Philadelphia 27 from three-point range on the night. Pritchard turned the ball over zero times.

Embiid's return created as many problems as it solved. His usage rate of 37.8 percent pulled possessions away from Maxey, whose usage dipped from 34 percent in Game 3 to just 19.3. The trade-off suited Boston perfectly — Embiid finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes but shot 1-of-6 from three, and the Celtics attacked him relentlessly in pick-and-roll coverages all night. Boston pulled 14 offensive rebounds and converted them into 18 second-chance points. Maxey and George each scored in the teens but without the creation or spacing that made Game 2 and 3 viable. The Sixers were held under 100 points for the third time in four games.

Boston has never lost a playoff series after leading 3-1. Game 5 is Tuesday at TD Garden.

BOS 128 · PHI 96

San Antonio Spurs 114, Portland Trail Blazers 93

He was listed as questionable. He was cleared about an hour before tip. He walked out for warmups and the Moda Center went quiet in the way arenas do when the best player on the other team materializes somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. Then Wembanyama dunked with 9:58 left in the first half and the Spurs fell behind by 19 anyway — Portland's urgency palpable, their execution sharp, Robert Williams dunking, Jerami Grant and Scoot Henderson hitting threes, Avdija capping an 18-3 run with a fadeaway to push the lead to 45-28. The Blazers led 58-41 at halftime. San Antonio hadn't been in worse shape all series.

Then Wembanyama put on a second half for the ages. The Spurs opened the third with an 11-0 run that cut the deficit to six. Vassell's jumper with 4:38 tied it at 62. Fox and Keldon Johnson hit back-to-back threes to push San Antonio to 90-77. Johnson's dunk with 4:31 left made it 101-81 and emptied whatever air remained in the building. The Spurs outscored Portland 73-35 over the final 24 minutes — holding the Blazers to 33.3 percent shooting and 3-of-15 from three in that stretch — to complete the most dramatic comeback in first-round history. It was the first time any team in NBA playoff history had trailed by 15 or more at halftime and won by 15 or more.

Wembanyama's final line: 27 points, 11 rebounds, 7 blocks, 4 steals — making him the first player since Bill Walton in 1977 to record 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks in a road playoff game. He was 8-of-10 on shots in the paint in the second half, four of them lobs as the Spurs found their rhythm. Fox was the other engine of the comeback — 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting with four threes and 18 of those points after halftime — and was the best player on the floor for the stretches when the deficit was being dismantled. Castle played through a first-half left hand injury that he didn't let derail his 16 points and 8 assists. Avdija led Portland with 26 points — there was a technical exchange between him and Castle with 2:13 left after a shove — while Holiday had 20 and Grant 17 off the bench.

After the game, Wembanyama expressed frustration with the way the concussion protocol was handled by unnamed parties, while praising the Spurs' medical staff. He wouldn't elaborate, saying he didn't want to be a distraction. San Antonio leads 3-1 and heads home for Game 5 on Tuesday.

SAS 114 · POR 93

Toronto Raptors 93, Cleveland Cavaliers 89

A game that spent most of three quarters looking like a comfortable Cleveland win turned into a free throw survival test in the final 90 seconds — and Toronto passed it. Barnes stepped to the line with 34 seconds left and the game tied at 87-87, made both, and the Raptors held off two final Mitchell attempts to even the series heading back to Cleveland for Game 5.

The night was defined by awful three-point shooting from both teams and individual brilliance from the players who found other ways to score. Toronto went 4-of-30 from three — missing their first 14 consecutive attempts before Barrett hit one with 8:31 left in the first half — and won anyway. Barnes finished with 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, doing his most important work in the final minute rather than the box score. Ingram's night mirrored his Game 4 pattern of the series: he missed nine of his first ten attempts, caught fire in the second quarter with three consecutive makes including a buzzer-beating three that sent Toronto into the break up 38-36, and finished with 23 points in a game where the scoreline made his efficiency line irrelevant. Barrett added 18. Murray-Boyles contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds as the energy big man Toronto needed inside.

Cleveland's night ran through Mitchell's fourth quarter and nowhere else. He scored 12 of his 20 in the final period, tying the game at 74-74 with a three with 6:57 left, then leading a 13-2 run that gave the Cavaliers an 86-78 advantage. It felt decisive. But Ingram answered with a three with 2:36 left to cut it to two, Harden fouled Ingram on the next possession — Ingram made two of three — and then Barrett drove for a five-footer that made it 87-86 with 49 seconds left. Mitchell couldn't get the ball across halfcourt in time and handed Toronto the possession. Barnes was fouled. Both free throws fell. Mitchell's three with five seconds left — a look that could have tied it — missed. Harden's 19 points came with six turnovers in the first half, and the Cavaliers as a team committed 18 — the same number that has haunted them across every loss in this series.

Toronto wins back-to-back postseason games for the first time since 2022. Series tied 2-2. Game 5 is Wednesday in Cleveland.

TOR 93 · CLE 89

Houston Rockets 115, Los Angeles Lakers 96

Sengun gathered the team before tip. "He was just letting us know he didn't want to go home," Amen Thompson said afterward. It showed. Kevin Durant — on the bench in street clothes for the second consecutive game, his left ankle still not ready — watched Houston produce their cleanest performance of the series from a seat near the tunnel while the Rockets' entire starting lineup combined for at least 16 points. Thompson led with 23 points and 7 assists. Sengun added 19 with 6 rebounds. Reed Sheppard scored 17, Jabari Smith Jr. contributed 16, and the Rockets built a 20-point lead in the third quarter before extending it to 97-71 early in the fourth. Ayton was ejected midway through the third after being assessed a flagrant foul 2 for catching Sengun in the face with his elbow — contact the referee deemed unnecessary and excessive — and the Lakers' bench emptied shortly after.

LeBron had 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting with 9 assists and 8 turnovers before sitting with 7:30 remaining. It was his worst shooting night of the playoffs, and the 23 Lakers turnovers told the broader story: LA combined for just five threes after hitting 35 through the first three games. James went 0-of-3 from deep. Smart missed both his attempts. Kennard was 0-of-3. The Rockets, still stinging from their third-quarter Oklahoma City Game 3-style collapse — when they held a six-point lead with 30 seconds left in regulation and let LeBron tie it — made sure there was no comparable moment Sunday. Houston led wire to wire and it wasn't close after the first eight minutes.

The Lakers' best-case scenario remains closing it out in Game 5 on Wednesday in Los Angeles. But 23 turnovers against a live opponent — even a Durant-less one — cannot happen in an elimination game. Houston will have Durant back at some point. The Rockets made enough shots without him to win a playoff game convincingly. That's the most encouraging development of their series.

HOU 115 · LAL 96

Sunday told two separate stories running in parallel. Boston and San Antonio — the deeper, more talented teams in their respective series — reasserted themselves emphatically, both winning by double digits in road environments that had every reason to believe the game was theirs. Meanwhile Toronto and Houston did just enough to stay alive: one with a grind-it-out four-point survival built on free throws and stops, the other with a dominant blowout that reminded everyone what this series might look like with a healthy roster.

The bigger picture after nine days of first-round basketball is one of convergence. Of the eight series, five now have a 3-1 lead — Boston, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Minnesota, and Los Angeles. Two are tied at 2-2 — Toronto-Cleveland and Atlanta-New York. Detroit trails Orlando 2-1. The second round is coming into focus. The teams expected to advance are advancing, mostly — though Orlando over Detroit remains the first round's most genuine ongoing upset, and Toronto's refusal to fold against a Cleveland team that has dominated them for years is the series no one predicted would reach Game 5. The clock is ticking for the teams trailing 3-1. History is not on their side. But Sunday proved at least two of them are not going quietly.

Stud of the Day: Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics — 32 points, 6 threes, zero turnovers off the bench. He hit a one-legged buzzer-beater to end the first quarter and smirked his way off the floor while the Philadelphia crowd watched their season slip away. Pritchard is the reason Boston's bench is different from every other team's bench. On Sunday he was the best player on the floor in a game Joel Embiid was supposed to reclaim.

Dud of the Night: Cleveland Cavaliers (team) — 18 turnovers. Again. Mitchell shot 6-of-24 and was invisible for three quarters before a brilliant fourth that wasn't quite enough. The Cavaliers have now committed 18 turnovers in each of their two losses in this series and generated the same Cleveland-Toronto dynamic in Games 3 and 4 as in Games 1 and 2 — controlling the game, building a lead, then watching Toronto find something in the final two minutes. The series is tied. Game 5 in Cleveland is a must-win.