PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Al-Farouq Aminu scored a career-high 30 points and the Portland Trail Blazers pulled away after Chris Paul left with a broken bone in his right hand, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 98-84 on Monday night to even their playoff series at two games apiece.
Paul departed midway through the third quarter. It was not immediately clear how he was hurt, although his wrist appeared to bend back when he guarded Portland’s Gerald Henderson on a layup.
The Clippers were further hurt when Blake Griffin retreated to the bench late in the game after appearing to aggravate the left quad injury he struggled with this season.
CJ McCollum had 19 points for the Blazers, while Mason Plumlee added 14 rebounds and 10 assists.
Griffin had 17 points before leaving with under 6 minutes left.
Game 5 is Wednesday at Los Angeles.
THUNDER 118, MAVERICKS 104
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Russell Westbrook had 36 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, and Oklahoma City beat Dallas to win the first-round playoff series 4-1 and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
Westbrook was 13 of 23 from the field and 7 of 8 on free throws. Kevin Durant scored 33 points and Steven Adams added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who will play the San Antonio Spurs in a series that begins Saturday.
Oklahoma City shot 50.6 percent from the field and outrebounded the Mavericks 42-35.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points, Justin Anderson had 14 and Zaza Pachulia added 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Mavericks, who were hampered by injuries throughout the series.
Oklahoma City lost Game 2 85-84 at home, then won three straight, including two on the road.
HORNETS 89, HEAT 85
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kemba Walker scored a playoff career-high 34 points, Jeremy Lin added 21 and Charlotte beat Miami to even their first-round series at 2-2.
Walker scored 11 straight Charlotte points in the fourth quarter after Miami had cut the lead to two with 6:07 left. Courtney Lee sank two free throws with 4.6 seconds left after being fouled on an offensive rebound to seal the win.
Lee finished with 11 points and helped hold Dwyane Wade to 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Miami.
Joe Johnson led Miami with 16 points, while Luol Deng had 15.
Charlotte dominated in the paint for the second straight game, outscoring Miami 44-30.