The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92 at the Staples Center on Sunday, tying the series 2-2.

What might hurt the purple and gold even worse than the loss was the injury of Anthony Davis. Having suffered a left groin strain in the second quarter, Davis sat for the remainder of the game. He is day-to-day on a return, according to Sham Charania of The Athletic. Charania later added that Davis may be able to appear in Game 5 in Phoenix but "status is very much in question."

"We've got to understand that we have enough [to win without Davis]," Lakers Head Coach Frank Vogel told ESPN during a fourth-quarter interview.

Unfortunately his team failed to do that at home on Sunday. Without Davis inside, the Lakers watched Deandre Ayton score 10 points and 12 rebounds in the second half. The Suns had a 27-15 run in Q3, establishing an 18-point lead on the floor, safe enough for them to stand up to the opponents' desperate counter-strike in the last quarter.

The Suns' Chris Paul, who had been haunted by shoulder problems in the past two games, was apparently growing better and put down a team-high of 18 points and nine assists. Paul sat on team practice before Game 4. Coach Monty Williams reportedly suggested Paul he not attend Game 4, but Paul insisted he must do it before making key contributions to the team's valuable win on the road.

Should the Lakers ask Davis to do the same in Game 5, especially when Davis is still dealing with knee issue? He entered Game 4 carrying that injury.

On the other hand, things won't look good for the purple and gold without Davis. He is both the team's biggest mismatch advantage over the Suns and ultimate solution to the Lakers' small-ball squad. Coach Vogel will have to work very hard to adapt his rotation trying to fill in Davis' absence.

The other one the Lakers can look to is LeBron James, who dropped 25 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in Game 4. So far the 36-year-old has not seemed to turn on his playoff switch, but does he still have what it takes to reverse the situation?

New York Knicks 96-113 Atlanta Hawks (1-3)

Julius Randle's underperformance in the first three games is one of the major reasons for the 3-1 trail of the Knicks in the series. The good news is that he finally made a difference in Game 4 at State Farm Arena on Sunday, getting 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, all team highs for the Knicks.

The bad news, however, is that the Knicks were still outperformed by the Hawks on offense. While Trae Young was struggling at the 3-point line (4-14), John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter took over the load, going 9-17 from the arc. Danilo Gallinari was 4-4 in the middle range and 8-8 at the free throw line, dropping 21 points for the Hawks as well.

The game was still close when neither side could make breach in the first half. When the Hawks grew hot in the third quarter, it took them only three triples in 60 seconds to blow the opponents away.

Trae Young is only one win away from Conference semifinals in his first postseason trip.

Brooklyn Nets 141-126 Boston Celtics (3-1)

Kyrie Irving made the perfect response to the ear-splitting boos at TD Garden by putting down 39 points and 11 rebounds in Game 4, bringing the Nets one win from sealing the series.

Many of Irving's attempts were far from reasonable, not to mention wise – which partly explained why his field goal rate on Sunday was below 50 percent (11-24) – but that has been Irving's playstyle for most of his career.

Furthermore, the Nets have another two even more unreasonable guys. Kevin Durant went 14-20 on the field to get 42 points. He had 17 points in both the first and the third quarter, matching franchise record of the Nets. Durant is also the first one in Nets' history to score 35-plus points in two consecutive playoff games.

James Harden was 8-12 to get 23 points while delivering a career-high of 18 assists. He's the first one in team history to score 20-plus points and 15-plus assists in a single postseason game.

The three had 104 points together, 86 of which happened in the first three quarters. Such dominance is why the Nets created another franchise record of 112 points before Q4. It's also why Jayson Tatum failed to save the Celtics again despite claiming 40 points at home.

Los Angeles Clippers 106-81 Dallas Mavericks (2-2)

Things are leaning toward the Clippers quickly not only because they tied the series 2-2 at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

Coach Tyronn Lue has found the winning recipe for the Clippers. Putting Reggie Jackson, not Patrick Beverley, and Marcus Morris, not Ivica Zubac in the starting-lineup, so the team can switch everything on defense and go five-out on offense.

Give the ball to Rajon Rondo when he's on the court because the 35-year-old veteran knows best how to run the game and what's best for the team.

Charge the Mavericks' rim and don't be afraid of Kristaps Porzingis whose 2.21-meter height is nothing but a paper tiger.

Things took an unfavorable turn for the Mavericks with Luka Doncic's neck problem killing his game. According to coach Rick Carlisle, Doncic could not even turn his head left. It slowed him down on the court and held him back from changing the Clippers' defense with individual attacks, while also suffering in his shooting.

"The pain is like neck and then the nerve down. I don't really know how to explain that. It felt way better today morning than yesterday. I'll just keep doing massages, ice it down and then be ready for Wednesday," said Doncic.

Losing the past two games means the Mavericks are back onto the same base with the Clippers, which apparently are in a more threatening position. If the Mavericks do not want to return home with a 3-2 trail, they need a healthy Doncic and the rest of the team to be more aggressive on the floor.