NBA playoffs: Blazers go up 2-1 after 140-137 win over Denver in 4OT

CJ McCollum matched his career playoff high with 41 points, Rodney Hood hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.6 seconds left in the NBA postseason record-tying fourth overtime and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 140-137 on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

It was the second quadruple-overtime playoff game in NBA history, joining a 1953 game between the Boston Celtics and the Syracuse Nationals.

Damian Lillard added 28 points for Portland, which stretched its winning streak at home to 12 games dating back to the regular season. Hood came off the bench to score seven points in the final OT and help the Blazers remain unbeaten at home this postseason.

Nikola Jokic had his third triple-double of the playoffs with 33 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists, but missed a crucial free throw with 5.6 seconds to go. Jamal Murray had a playoff-high 34 points.

Bucks 123, at Celtics 116: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 13 rebounds, George Hill finished with 21 points and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics 123-116 on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Khris Middleton added 20 points.

Antetokounmpo had only 13 field goal attempts but had 16 points from the free throw line. Including Milwaukee’s two regular-season games in Boston, he has scored 30 or more points in each of his trips to TD Garden in 2018-19.

Kyrie Irving scored 29 points and Jayson Tatum had 20 for the Celtics, who host Game 4 on Monday.

Boston led by a point at the half but was outscored 40-31 in the third quarter and trailed by as many as 17 points in the final period.

The Celtics were outscored 52-24 in the paint and had 18 turnovers leading to 28 Milwaukee points.

The Bucks threw the Celtics a tactical curveball in Game 2, inserting Nikola Mirotic into the starting lineup in place of Sterling Brown.

In Game 3 it was Celtics coach Brad Stevens who brought new wrinkles, notably going with a small lineup that featured 6-foot-7 Semi Ojeleye guarding the 6-11 Antetokounmpo when he returned to the game at the start of the second quarter and again in the third quarter.

Boston also kept attacking Antetokounmpo throughout the game when it had the ball. It included a one-handed dunk by Jaylen Brown over the Bucks’ star early in the third quarter that brought the Celtics fans inside TD Garden to their feet. It was reminiscent of a two-handed dunk he had over Antetokounmpo in Boston’s Game 1 win.

Friday’s version complemented several nice defensive plays by Brown, including blocking a Tony Snell layup attempt off the backboard.

Still, Milwaukee managed to keep racking up points in the paint. The Bucks led by as many as 12 in the third quarter and took a 95-87 lead into the fourth.

That was the score when Brown was called for his fifth foul with 10:53 left on what appeared to be a light touch of Eric Bledsoe near the baseline. It brought animated protests from both Brown and Stevens. A few trips later, Tatum received a technical for protesting his foul of Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks started to rack up points at the line and their lead grew to 114-97 by the time Brown came back into the game with 4:53 remaining.