Josh Giddey has played a key role as his Oklahoma City Thunder continue to dominate their NBA Western Conference playoff series against New Orleans.
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The Thunder took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Australian star Giddey contributing 21 points and eight rebounds - second only to superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 24 points - in Oklahoma City's 106-85 win.
"We adjusted really well to the flow of the game. We got good looks," Giddey said.
"They threw a lot of different looks at us but we've got a lot of weapons on the floor at all times.
"(The) guys made the right play, the extra pass."
Jalen Williams also scored 21 for OKC, who escaped Game 1 with a two-point victory before posting winning margins of 32 (Game 2) and 21 (Game 3).
The eighth-seeded Pelicans will attempt to avoid elimination at home in Game 4 on Monday night: no team in NBA history have come back from a 3-0 series deficit.
"It's not over," Pelicans coach Willie Green insisted.
"(We'll) go home, have a good meal and we'll ... go over what we need to do and get ready for the next game."
The game was competitive until the Thunder went on a 14-0 run in the second quarter to take a 54-39 lead they never looked like relinquishing.
While Giddey has grabbed most of the headlines back home after another strong season, fellow Australian Joe Ingles also enjoyed a playoffs win on Saturday night.
Ingles contributed two points during five minutes of court time as his Orlando Magic beat Cleveland 112-89 to tie their Eastern Conference first-round series at 2-2.
Franz Wagner (34 points, 13 rebounds) was the standout for Orlando, outscoring Cleveland by himself in the third quarter and turning a competitive game into another rout in this series.
After putting up 60 points in the first half, Cleveland were outscored 37-10 in the third quarter and managed only 29 points in the second half.
Wagner had 10 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter, finishing with 12 for the period.
Game 4 will be on Tuesday night in Cleveland.
"We're not satisfied at all," Wagner said.
"We just got two wins. We need two more against them so we've got to stay locked in."
LeBron James scored 30 points and Anthony Davis added 25 more, along with 23 rebounds, as the Los Angeles Lakers avoided elimination with a 119-108 victory over Denver.
The Nuggets swept LA out of the Western Conference finals last season, but the Lakers responded to this 0-3 deficit with a performance more worthy of a team that rolled into the post-season with 12 wins in 15.
Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists for Denver, the two-time MVP's 18th career triple-double and second in this series.
The Boston Celtics bounced back from losing on their home floor 48 hours earlier with a 104-84 win over the Miami Heat to take a 2-1 lead in their playoff.
"We didn't make too many adjustments," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
"We played a little bit harder and we dictated the physicality and the tempo."
Game 4 is on Monday in Miami, where the Celtics are 9-2 in their last 11 games and 6-1 in their last seven playoff games.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points for the Celtics, while Boomer Patty Mills added seven for the Heat.
Australian Associated Press
