The Miami Heat are one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies played into early morning on Monday night before the Thunder tied their Western Conference series at 2-2.
The Heat held Boston to 13 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a four-point deficit after three, then outscored the Celtics 12-4 in overtime to go up 3-1 in their series with a 98-90 victory.
Miami only had three scorers in double-figures, and — predictably — it was their Big Three of James, Wade and Bosh.
LeBron led the way for the Heat with 35 points to go with 14 rebounds, while Dwyane Wade went 28 and nine. Chris Bosh added 12 rebounds and 20 points to push the Celtics to the brink of elimination.
This one could have gone Boston’s way, as the Celtics had the ball for the final possession of regulation, but could not convert on a shot that rimmed out at the buzzer from Paul Pierce.
Miami owned the overtime, giving Wade his first win in 12 games in Boston, and James just his third win in 16 games.
Out west, Memphis led by 18, fell behind by ten in the fourth quarter, then tied the game on a 3-pointer from Mike Conley to get to the first overtime.
In that first overtime, Greivis Vasquez hit another three to force another five minutes, and in double OT Marc Gasol led the way for Memphis to keep the game going into triple overtime.
But then Oklahoma City took charge as the game passed midnight, outscoring Memphis 14-4 and scoring the final ten points of the game.
Zach Randolph led the Grizzlies with 34 while Kevin Durant scored 35. This series moves back to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night for Game Five with the winner going up 3-2 in the series.
Miami will be looking to eliminate Boston on Wednesday in Florida, but even should the Celtics win on Wednesday, they would have to win in Boston and again in Miami to move on.