Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, drives past Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, center, and forward Aaron Gordon in the second half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers, the top seeds in the playoffs and owners of the best regular-season records in the NBA, find themselves in dire need of wins as they host Game 5s in the conference semifinals on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City might have saved its season with a 92-87 win at Denver on Sunday that tied the Western Conference series at two wins apiece. The Thunder finally won a close game in the series on Sunday after losing Game 1 on a last-second shot and Game 3 in overtime.

“I think we fought, stayed the course, played the game,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Especially in this series, it’s been so random almost. It’s throwing different things at us. I think we’ve been able to stay the course and it gave us a chance late. We closed it out.”

The Thunder regained the homecourt advantage they worked so hard to get in a franchise-best 68-14 regular season. But lose tonight, and they head to Denver down 3-2 and facing elimination.

“I mean there’s no relief at all,” Thunder forward Chet Holmgren said after Sunday’s win. “It’s still a really competitive series with a good team on the other side. There’s no relaxing until … There’s just no relaxing.”

Cleveland, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 64-18 regular-season record, is on the brink of elimination after being blown out 129-109 at Indiana to fall behind 3-1.

The Pacers, who reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season, know there’s work ahead to return.

“You’ve got to be able to go into hostile territory and be able to stay focused,” Pacers center Myles Turner said. “I think that people are going to start talking about us now, ‘We’re this, we’re this, we’re that.’ We’ve got to keep our heads down, keep our blinders on and just keep rolling.”

Mavs win lottery

CHICAGO — The ping-pong balls have spoken: Cooper Flagg might be headed to Dallas to start his NBA career.

And a fan base that lost Luka Doncic this season might have a new star to cheer for. The Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery on Monday night, giving them the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft — and the first chance to take Flagg, the freshman who led Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season and the consensus player of the year.

Charlotte, Utah and Washington, the team’s with the three worst records last season, are picking 4-6. San Antonio will pick second, followed by the 76ers at No. 3.

Jordan to NBC

NEW YORK — Michael Jordan is joining NBC Sports as a special contributor to its NBA coverage when the 2025-26 season begins.

NBC made the announcement on Monday morning during its upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall previewing the networks offerings during the upcoming television season. NBC returns to carrying the NBA after a 23-year absence. It had NBA rights from 1990 through 2002 and carried all six of Jordan’s championships as a member of the Chicago Bulls.

Knicks go up 3-1

NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson had 39 points and 12 assists, and the New York Knicks moved a win away from their first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years and pushed the defending champion Boston Celtics to the brink of elimination with a 121-113 victory Monday in Game 4.

The Celtics will have to make the NBA’s 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit to extend their title reign and may have to do it without All-Star Jayson Tatum, who was carried off the court with a right leg injury with 2:58 left.

Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns each added 23 points and OG Anunoby bounced back from two poor performances by scoring 20 for the Knicks, who can win the series Wednesday night at Boston. If not, they would come back to Madison Square Garden to try to do it Friday night.

Tatum scored 42 points, his high in these playoffs, before he was hurt when the Celtics turned the ball over and his leg gave out as he tried to lunge forward toward the loose ball.