The Denver Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 147-140 after two overtimes (OT) in Game 5 at Ball Arena on Tuesday, leading 3-2 in the series and being one win away from the Western Conference semifinals.

Despite the loss, Damian Lillard still deserves the loudest applause after draining 12 triples, a new playoff record for the NBA, to get career-high 55 points and 10 assists for the Trail Blazers.

The game would have been over in regular time if it weren't for Lillard's 23 points in the fourth quarter and first OT. More importantly, over half of Lillard's shots were taken in front of defenders taller than him, but he still finished going 17-24 on the field and 12-17 from downtown.

"It was the best playoff performance I've ever seen. He gave it his all," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts.

"Damian Lillard was superhuman tonight," said Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.

"It doesn't matter. We lost the game. At this point, all that matters is we can't lose another game in the series. We go out there and we play to win the game, and we came up short," said Lillard.

The main reason that Lillard's epic performance was wasted was that most of his teammates failed to follow. While he went 6-8 in field goals to get 17 points in the two OTs, the rest of the Trail Blazers were 1-19 and only scored two points. Robert Covington missed the second open dunk and C.J. McCollum stepped on the boundary line receiving the ball during that period of time.

Compared with the lone-hero situation of Lillard, Nikola Jokic received great help from his teammates. The "Joker's" 38 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists were excellent, but Michael Porter Jr., Monte Morris, Austin Rivers and Aaron Gordon made key contributions as well.

Porter provided great offensive production and efficiency by shooting 10-13 in FGs and 3-5 in triples; Morris gave the Nuggets what they needed the most – penetration from outside to change the opponents' defense; and Gordon was everywhere defensively while grabbing four offensive rebounds.

Game 6 will take place at Moda Center in Portland on Thursday.

Los Angeles Lakers 85-115 Phoenix Suns (2-3)

Before Game 5 at Phoenix Suns Arena, most knew it would be tough for the Lakers because Anthony Davis might have to sit on it. Some expected LeBron James to turn on his playoff trigger and carry the team to victory like he did with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018.

Rarely anyone saw such a big win coming for the Suns.

The home team did everything right. Defensively they closed in around the paint with determination and stuck to the plan even though James went 6-10 from the arc. As a result, the Lakers only had 32 points in the paint and James was 3-7 there.

When the purple and gold replaced Andre Drummond with Marc Gasol, trying to improve their spacing, Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Cameron Payne kept targeting at Gasol via screen plays. Moreover, the Suns speeded up trying to drive early offense with every opportunity possible, forcing coach Frank Vogel to put Gasol back onto the bench.

Booker and Payne scored 28 points together in the first quarter, followed by Chris Paul's seven points and two assists plus Deandre Ayton's seven points and five rebounds in the second quarter. The Suns led by 30 after the first half (66-36) and won by 30 in the end.

When Paul fell onto the ground at 6:47 in the third quarter, his reaction was so dramatic while grabbing his right shoulder. But he had good reason to do so since he struggled with the same shoulder in two of the previous games. Paul and his team have lost too many series to injury in his 17-year-long career. Fortunately for him and the Suns, he seemed okay, calm and collected on the bench in Q4.

On the Lakers' side, James shooting 9-19 from the field to put down 24 points, five rebounds and seven assists was more like average to him, but the rest of the team looked like they had already given up even before the game began. Under-performing in a game is one thing, but losing the spirit and the will to fight basically mean the purple and gold are doomed in the series.

It remains unconfirmed whether Davis will return in Game at Staples Center on Thursday. "My mindset is that he's not going to be able to play in Game 6, but that's just my mindset," said James. "If something changes, we go from there. It's literally win or go home ... so you shoot all the bullets you got and throw the gun too. I look forward to the environment."

"We have to be better if we want to force a Game 7."

Boston Celtics 109-123 Brooklyn Nets (4-1)

James Harden dropped his fourth postseason triple-double of career, scoring 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nets. While he was taking charge at Barclays Center on Tuesday night, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving casually had 25 and 24 points, respectively.

The three averaged 85.2 points in the gentleman's sweep – no other combination has ever done that in NBA history.

They will meet the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday. In the regular season, the Nets first won at home, and then lost twice on the road. However, the Bucks never faced all of Durant, Harden and Irving together on the floor.

On the Celtics' side, Jayson Tatum seemed to have hurt his left foot while already dealing with a knee problem. Despite that, he still claimed 32 points for the team. The 22-year-old averaged 30.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.6 blocks in the series, taking his game to a new level in his fourth playoff journey. That's probably the only comforting news for the Celtics this season.