Lakers tie the series, Thunder and Pacers open gap

The tandem of LeBron James and Luka Doncic once again showed that when they're locked in, the Lakers are a serious force in these playoffs. Both recorded double-doubles in Los Angeles’ 94–85 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, tying the series at one apiece after two games in California.

The standout performer in the win, however, was Doncic. The Lakers' surprise midseason signing scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, with his perfect 11-for-11 showing at the free-throw line playing a crucial role in his performance.

At 40 years old, LeBron James—the Lakers’ ageless franchise cornerstone—logged 40 minutes, tallying 21 points and 11 rebounds.

"We need to win whether he scores 30 or 10, we just have to win," Doncic said in statements reported by AFP. "We played hard for 48 minutes, we have to be strong physically, that's what we have to do. I think I had a good game defensively, but it's about team effort."

For the Timberwolves, Julius Randle led the scoring with 27 points, followed closely by Anthony Edwards with 25. Despite the loss, Minnesota achieved its goal of stealing one of the first two games on the road and will now aim to capitalize on home-court advantage in the next two games.

Thunder once again overwhelm the Grizzlies

The Oklahoma City Thunder notched another dominant win, defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 118–99 at the Paycom Center to take a 2–0 lead in the series. From the opening tip, the Thunder gave their opponents no breathing room, and at times looked poised to repeat the blowout from Game 1, where they cruised to a 51-point victory.

This time, although the margin peaked at 23 points, the Grizzlies never looked like a real threat to the league’s top regular-season team or their explosive start to the playoffs.

"We knew they would come with a better effort," said Jalen Williams. "We wanted to come in with the mentality of playing better than them and with a lot of energy." One of the MVP favorites, Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points, including three 3-pointers.

Defensively, Oklahoma City has kept Memphis under the 100-point mark in both games of the series. Ja Morant, the Grizzlies’ leading scorer, put up 23 points over 40 minutes in Game 2.

Pacers once again beat the Bucks

The Indiana Pacers withstood a dramatic final push from the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, scoring 13 unanswered points to secure a 123-115 victory and take a 2–0 lead in their first-round NBA playoff series.

Damian Lillard, who had been out since March 18 due to a venous thrombosis, played 37 minutes, scoring 14 points on 31% shooting (4/13). Andrew Nembhard hit one of his three 3-pointers with 1:11 remaining, virtually sealing the game for the Pacers. Despite a late rally, Milwaukee never managed to take the lead after trailing by as many as 16 points.

"We're competitors and this is what we like," Tyrese Haliburton said after the game. "We have worked hard all year, no matter how we win the important thing is to get the result, today we were able to stop them to get the goal," he added.

Tyrese Haliburton, 25, the Pacers' star player, finished with a double-double of 21 points and 12 assists. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek forward and MVP candidate, led all scorers with 34 points and came one rebound shy of a triple-double, adding 18 rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee.

Indiana takes a 2-0 lead in the first-round series, which now heads to Milwaukee for games three and four.