NBA playoffs winners and losers: LeBron James struggles as Rockets stay alive, Payton Pritchard heats up - CBS Sports

Sunday delivered another full slate of NBA playoff action. The Raptors, Spurs, Celtics and Rockets were all winners. Houston's victory avoided a sweep at the hands of the Lakers and means there are still no tickets punched yet to the second round in the playoff bracket.

The Raptors tied up their series with the Cavaliers in a hard-fought, low-scoring affair that highlighted Toronto's dominant defense. It wasn't pretty, both teams shot the ball so poorly that the Raptors set a new record for the worst shooting performance in a playoff win. But a win is a win, and now the series shifts back to Cleveland for a crucial Game 5.

San Antonio's 114-93 win in Portland was considerably prettier, but it didn't start that way. Despite getting Victor Wembanyama back in the lineup (after missing Game 3 with a concussion), the Spurs shot 34% in the first half (with no second-chance points and just one fast-break point) and trailed by 17 points heading into the third quarter. For the second consecutive game, though, San Antonio dominated after halftime. The Spurs scored the first 13 points of the third quarter and outscored Portland 73-35 in the second half. It was the largest victory in NBA playoff history by a team that trailed by 15-plus points at half. San Antonio has a chance to close out the series at home on Tuesday.

The Boston Celtics' 128-96 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers was their largest road win in franchise playoff history. They shot 24 for 53 (45.3%) from deep -- one make short of the most in NBA playoff history -- and took a 3-1 lead in the series, ruining Joel Embiid's return. Payton Pritchard and Jayson Tatum scored a combined 62 points on 20-for-37 shooting.

The Rockets, with their backs against the walls and without Kevin Durant, were able to pull away from the Lakers in the second half on Sunday. Amen Thompson had a game-high 23 points, and LeBron James was held to just 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting and turned the ball over eight times.

Sunday's NBA playoff scores

- Game 4: Raptors 93, Cavaliers 89 -- Series tied 2-2

- Game 4: Spurs 114, Trail Blazers 93 -- San Antonio leads 3-1

- Game 4: Celtics 128, 76ers 96 -- Boston leads 3-1

- Game 4: Rockets 115, Lakers 96 -- L.A. leads 3-1

And now here are the biggest winners and losers from Sunday's action.

Winner: The young Rockets

Fred VanVleet has missed the whole season. Steven Adams has missed half of it. Kevin Durant has sat for three of the four games in this series. That has largely left the Rockets in the hands of their youngest players, and they came up short in an epic collapse at the end of Game 3. Afterward, head coach Ime Udoka had a simple message for them. "Grow up," he told them. "You're not that young anymore."

Whether that characterization is fair or not is debatable. Their oldest starter at the moment, Tari Eason, is 24. What's clear is that the Rockets certainly didn't play young in Game 4. They generated twice as many turnovers as they coughed up. They finally started hitting shots. They defended the Lakers better than they have all series. It took them four games, but they finally seem to have arrived to this series.

All five Houston starters reached double figures. Reed Sheppard, the target of vicious switch-hunting throughout the series, finally made up for those defensive vulnerabilities with a 4-of-7 performance on 3-pointers. Amen Thompson's touch near the basket was a highlight as he made 10 of his 16 shots. Alperen Sengun followed up his strong Game 3 with a 19-point outing in Game 4. Houston still has a long way to go. No team has ever overcome a 3-0 postseason deficit. But at least the young players they expect to carry them moving forward showed some fight at home in Game 4. -- Sam Quinn

Well, it was probably bound to happen. A 41-year-old playing against a team full of young, athletic wings wasn't going to keep playing at a superstar level forever, and, finally, LeBron James had his bad game. In 33 minutes, James scored just 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting. It was the third-lowest scoring playoff game of his career, and he had nearly as many turnovers (eight) as he had assists (nine).