NBA playoffs takeaways: Wolves push Lakers to brink of elimination; Knicks take 3-1 lead

Are the Bucks cooked? Are the Lakers toast? Are the Magic and Pistons ready to pack for summer vacation?

Each of those teams was pushed to the brink of playoff elimination on Sunday, losing Game 4s to fall into 3-1 holes in their respective best-of-seven series. One more loss and they’re out.

In Sunday’s nightcap, the Pacers dominated Milwaukee, 129-103, aided by a first-quarter injury to Damian Lillard that knocked the Bucks’ All-Star guard from the game — and perhaps from the playoffs.

Earlier, the defending champion Boston Celtics moved one win away from the second round after a 107-98 victory over the Orlando Magic. Jayson Tatum led the way with 37 points as Boston held off a gritty Magic squad that battled back to forge a tie with 4:16 to go.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, Anthony Edwards scored 43 points as Minnesota beat the Lakers 116-113. Edwards made two crucial free throws with 10 seconds left to provide the final score. He was awarded the free throws after referees overturned a ruling that Edwards had lost the ball out of bounds, instead calling a foul on LeBron James.

Earlier Sunday, the Knicks held off the Detroit Pistons to claim the 94-93 victory. The game’s last play was a source of controversy, as Tim Hardaway Jr. missed a 3 from the corner after what appeared to be contact from Josh Hart. After the game, officials said a foul should have been called on Hart on the play.

Pacers 129, Bucks 103

(Pacers lead series 3-1)

Bucks unable to muster comeback without Damian Lillard

Halfway through the first quarter, Lillard was lying on the floor at the opposite free-throw line after suffering what the team later called a lower left leg injury. As the Pacers ran the ball up the floor, Lillard lay on his back and grabbed at his left Achilles. When the Bucks purposely committed a foul on the other end of the floor, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers and several of Lillard’s teammates rushed to help him get to his feet. Lillard did not put any weight on his left foot and instead hopped off the floor on his right foot, heading to the locker room immediately.

After Lillard went back to the locker room, the game continued, but the ominous feeling in Fiserv Forum never left. The Bucks kept fighting without Lillard and kept the deficit around 10 points for much of the first three quarters, but couldn’t manage to slow down the Pacers’ offensive attack well enough to chip away at the lead and make a comeback.

Kevin Porter Jr. put together his best game of the series with 23 points, five rebounds and six assists, but the Bucks’ porous defensive effort couldn’t keep them from dropping another game in this series. For the first time in this series, the Pacers managed to hold Giannis Antetokounmpo under 30 points as the two-time MVP put up 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting, plus 15 rebounds and six assists. Now, the Bucks have to head to Indianapolis to try to stave off elimination with the severity of Lillard’s injury unclear. — Eric Nehm

Myles Turner does it all in Pacers’ win

After an abysmal performance in Game 3, the Pacers bounced back, taking an 11-point lead into the half after leading by as many as 13.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Indiana continued to set the pace, pushing their lead to 17. A desperate Milwaukee closed within nine points in the third, but Indiana shut the door in the fourth.

Pacers big man Turner had himself a game. Turner was all over the place — setting screens, drawing fouls and blocking shots. He led the Pacers with 23 points and added five rebounds.

The Pacers find themselves one win away from a gentleman’s sweep of the Bucks as they head home for Game 5 on Tuesday night with a 3-1 series lead. — Shakeia Taylor

Celtics 107, Magic 98

(Celtics lead series 3-1)

Kristaps Porziņģis makes a big impact in only 22 minutes

Against the Magic defense, Porziņģis’ ability to produce down low should be a solution for the Celtics. Through the first three games of the series, it was not. He averaged 10.7 points per game on 28.1 percent field-goal shooting while missing all 10 of his 3-point attempts. Following Game 3, he took accountability for a subpar performance, saying that he “played like sh–” and that his shot felt “janky.”

The Celtics needed more from him. They got it in Game 4. Though significant foul trouble limited him to 22 minutes, he scored 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Porziņģis racked up three early dunks while appearing to put an increased focus on rolling all the way to the rim. Following 11 straight 3-point misses to open the series, he sank his first triple of the series with 7:45 left in the second quarter, then added another one with the Magic threatening late in the third quarter. After Orlando tied the game with four minutes left, Porziņģis followed up his miss with a put-back dunk plus the foul.

The big man will need to stay out of foul trouble moving forward, but the Celtics might have figured out some ways to get him going. — Jay King

Magic struggle to find offensive creators beyond Paolo Banchero

For all the deserved talk about the Celtics’ high-powered offense, it’s sometimes easy to overlook their defense.

Not on Sunday, though.

Boston’s defense turned in a strong performance, and Orlando’s largely anemic offense didn’t have enough creators or shooting to do enough about it. Banchero scored a team-high 31 points, but he had to take an enormous number of shots, going 12-for-32 from the field.

Tatum was brilliant, easily the best player on the floor. This game had the feel of a battle of attrition: a grind-it-out fight in which the Celtics made just a little bit more of the opportunities they were afforded than the Magic made. Chief among the Magic’s regrets: They sank only 14 of their 20 free-throw attempts. The Magic also could not defend without fouling; the Celtics went 30-of-32 from the foul line.

And now it’s onto Boston for a Game 5, with the Celtics up 3-1.

For the Magic to stave off elimination, they’ll have to do something they haven’t done yet in the brief Banchero/Franz Wagner era: win a road playoff game. — Josh Robbins

Timberwolves 116, Lakers 113

(Timberwolves lead series 3-1)

Anthony Edwards puts his stamp on Wolves’ win

Edwards single-handedly took down Luka Dončić, LeBron James and the Lakers in the biggest game in his young career.

Edwards scored 16 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter, rallying Minnesota from a 12-point deficit to give his team a commanding lead heading back to LA for Game 5.

The Wolves appeared dead in the water after Dončić, James and Rui Hachimura eviscerated their defense in the third quarter to take a 94-84 lead. Then Ant scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to get the Wolves back into it. And with Minnesota clinging to a one-point lead late, Edwards drove to the basket and was fouled by James, hitting two free throws to seal the win.

He also got some big-time help from Naz Reid, who hit two big 3s, and Donte DiVincenzo, who converted a three-point play to put the Wolves over the top.

It was the kind of performance that justifies the league’s hope that Edwards will one day take the baton from James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant as the next American superstar. He has starred in a movie, he has a signature sneaker and he led the Wolves to the Western Conference finals last season. And now he has his signature moment in a career that can go anywhere from here. — Jon Krawczynski

Anthony Edwards got into it with the end of the Lakers’ bench after the buzzer pic.twitter.com/XEpEf7ASRj

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) April 27, 2025

JJ Redick finds an effective lineup, but it runs out of gas

After hinting at a potential starting lineup change ahead of Game 4, Lakers coach Redick stuck with the same lineup to begin the game. But after another shaky shift from starting center Jaxson Hayes, Redick benched him for the rest of the game.

Redick started the second half with Dorian Finney-Smith in Hayes’ place — the most logical replacement. The Dorian Finney-Smith/James/Hachimura/Austin Reaves/Dončić lineup has been the Lakers’ best center-less look and Redick’s preferred closing lineup.

Redick boldly played the group the entire second half of the Lakers’ loss on Sunday. They scored their series-high of 36 points in the third quarter as the Timberwolves switched to more hedging and blitzing. The Lakers picked it apart to head into the final frame up by 10.

But they eventually ran out of gas, getting outscored 32-19 in the fourth quarter as open 3s fell short and every defensive rotation and box-out became that much tougher. The Wolves generated better looks, getting to the rim and the free-throw line.

The Lakers should start the second-half group in a must-win Game 5 at home on Wednesday, but the lineup adjustment might’ve ultimately been made too late. — Jovan Buha

Knicks 94, Pistons 93

(Knicks lead series 3-1)

What else is there to say about Jalen Brunson?

The NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year did it yet again, like he has all season, scoring 15 of his 32 points in the fourth to help New York pull off a comeback win and take the dominating series lead.

After a great start, the Knicks’ offense was abysmal in the middle quarters. No one could make a shot, and New York stopped winning the 50-50 balls. The Pistons found their footing offensively as the Knicks hit a snag. New York led by seven at halftime. The Pistons led by seven at the end of the third.

In the end, the brilliance of Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, who added eight points in the fourth, was too much for Detroit.

The Knicks’ experience and talent have helped them get a commanding lead in this physical series. Both of those qualities, along with Detroit being a turnover-prone team, made many believe New York was the favorite. The Pistons had 19 turnovers.

Now the Knicks need to finish the series Tuesday in New York, with a chance to get some significant rest before the inevitable second-round series against the Boston Celtics or Orlando Magic.  — James Edwards III

Detroit couldn’t sustain third-quarter dominance

The Pistons looked like the best version of themselves in the third quarter, but couldn’t sustain that level of play. Detroit outscored New York 28-14 in the frame to enter the fourth with a 71-64 lead before the Knicks outscored the Pistons 30-22 in the fourth.

It was the defense in the third that got the Pistons back into the game, as evidenced by their seven blocks in the quarter, but it simply wasn’t enough. Detroit specifically pestered Towns in the third, and he looked completely flustered. But Towns came alive in the game’s waning minutes, hitting back-to-back triples to give the Knicks a 94-93 edge with 46.6 seconds remaining.

Towns and Brunson proved to be too much for the Pistons down the stretch, combining for 58 of New York’s 94.

With Cunningham’s first playoff triple-double, he joins Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson (1986) as the only players with a 25-point triple-double and four blocks in a playoff matchup.

Detroit is now tasked with winning each of the next three games to keep its season alive. — Hunter Patterson

(Photo of Pascal Siakam driving to the basket between AJ Green and Kevin Porter Jr.: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)

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