{"id":717458,"date":"2026-04-25T03:48:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T03:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717458\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T03:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T03:48:31","slug":"lakers-rally-past-rockets-for-3-0-lead-celtics-edge-out-76ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717458\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers rally past Rockets for 3-0 lead, Celtics edge out 76ers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Johnny Askounis\/ info@eurohoops.net<\/a><\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> and Boston Celtics<\/a> both secured vital victories in their respective best-of-seven series in the opening round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google, on Friday.<\/p>\n

At the Toyota Center, the Lakers<\/a> squandered a 15-point second-quarter advantage and had to overcome a late six-point deficit to complete a gritty comeback in overtime, eventually defeating the Houston Rockets<\/a>, 112\u2013108.<\/p>\n

The victory was particularly impressive as Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic remained sidelined with a hamstring strain and Austin Reaves was unavailable due to a left oblique muscle strain, despite being initially listed as questionable for Game 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shouldering the load, LeBron James forced overtime by sinking a clutch triple with 13.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, en route to team highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds, and propelling the team coached by JJ Redick to a commanding 3\u20130 series lead. While the Lakers celebrated, German forward Maxi Kleber did not see any playing time in the contest.<\/p>\n

The initial Rockets<\/a> rally was fueled by Turkish starting center Alperen Sengun, who dominated the interior to finish with game highs of 33 points and 16 rebounds. Swiss backup Clint Capela saw limited action in the loss, contributing two points and two rebounds.\u00a0However, Kevin Durant sat with an ankle injury, after missing Game 1 with a knee injury.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics<\/a> took a 2\u20131 series lead following a hard-fought 108\u2013100 win over the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> at Xfinity Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n

Head coach Joe Mazzulla leaned on a strong European frontcourt to control the glass, led by Portuguese starter Neemias Queta, who recorded seven rebounds and two blocks in limited minutes. Montenegrin veteran Nikola Vucevic provided a massive spark off the bench with 11 points, while Bosnian big man Luka Garza chipped in three points. However, the rotation did not include British Amari Williams, Ukrainian Max Shulga, or Spanish Hugo Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

The Sixers<\/a> found a bright spot in Turkish starting center Adem Bona, who logged ten points and three blocks, but continued to struggle with the absence of the unavailable Joel Embiid.<\/p>\n

NBA Playoffs 2026
\nEastern Conference
\nQuarterfinals (best-of-seven)<\/p>\n

1. Detroit Pistons<\/a> \u2013 Orlando Magic<\/a>\u00a01-1 (101-112<\/a>, 98-83<\/a>)
2. Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> \u2013 Toronto Raptors<\/a> 2-1 (126-113<\/a>, 115-105<\/a>, 104-126<\/a>)
3. New York Knicks<\/a> \u2013 Atlanta Hawks<\/a> 1-2 (113-102<\/a>, 106-107<\/a>, 108-109<\/a>)
4. Boston Celtics \u2013 Philadelphia 76ers 1-1 (123-91<\/a>, 97-111<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Semifinals (best-of-seven)<\/p>\n

5. Winners 1-2
6. Winners 3-4<\/p>\n

Finals (best-of-seven)<\/p>\n

Winners of Semifinals<\/p>\n

Western Conference
\nQuarterfinals (best-of-seven)<\/p>\n

1. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> \u2013 Phoenix Suns<\/a> 2-0 (119-84<\/a>, 120-107<\/a>)
2. Los Angeles Lakers \u2013 Houston Rockets\u00a02-0 (107-98<\/a>, 101-94<\/a>)
3. Denver Nuggets<\/a> \u2013 Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> 1-2 (126-115<\/a>, 114-119<\/a>, 96-113<\/a>)
4. San Antonio Spurs<\/a> \u2013 Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> 1-1 (111-98<\/a>, 103-106<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Semifinals (best-of-seven)<\/p>\n

5. Winners 1-2
6. Winners 3-4<\/p>\n

Finals (best-of-seven)<\/p>\n

Winners of Semifinals<\/p>\n

NBA Finals 2026 (best-of-seven)<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions<\/p>\n

Read the latest News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Johnny Askounis\/ info@eurohoops.net The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics both secured vital victories in their respective…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-717458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-lakers","11":"tag-lakers","12":"tag-lalakers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangeleslakers","17":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116463304911640091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}