The Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 121-114 in Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday, trailing 2-1 in the series and keeping it alive.

The Suns missed their starting point guard Chris Paul because of a groin injury, suffering a heavy blow in playmaking. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant shouldered part of the duties on this front by combining to deliver 17 of the team's 24 assists in Friday's game. But, more importantly, the two produced one of the most dominant duo scoring displays in this year's playoffs by dropping 86 points collectively.

Booker shot 20-for-25 from the field to get 47 points, matching playoff career high for the second time this season. 16 of his shots made were jumpers and 11 were within the 3-point line. Furthermore, before he was fouled to go to the free throw line in the final six seconds when the game was long gone, Booker didn't shoot a single free throw to score any of the 45 points he had already had.

By contrast, Durant had a cold start on Friday night after missing six of his seven field goals (FGs) in the first quarter. In fact, he struggled with his jump shooting touch on most occasions as he only made eight of his 25 attempts of this category. Nonetheless, Durant made it up with remarkable aggressiveness that earned him court-high 16 free throws. He made 14 of them and managed to drain all four of his 2-point jumpers in the clutch fourth quarter.

Though Booker and Durant were the only two on the Suns' rotations to score double-digit points on Friday night, their teammates made key contributions to the team's victory. Coach Monty Williams gave T.J. Warren, who didn't play in any of the previous four postseason games, more than 25 minutes on Friday. Warren made two shots to get five points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, making sure that his side stayed ahead with a safe seven-point lead when the Nuggets were on their final rally.

Jock Landale played much longer in Friday's game than he did in the previous two competitions. Not only did he make all three of his shots, he was very physical in guarding Nikola Jokic and protecting rebounds, grabbing nine, including two on the offensive glass. Landale's good performance convinced Williams to keep him, instead of Deandre Ayton in the game during the clutch time.

Like the Suns, the Nuggets saw most of their offensive productions from their core players, Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., who combined to drop 83 points, 35 rebounds and 22 assists. Jokic had a triple-double of 30 points, 17 rebounds and 17 assists; Murray contributed 32, but he went as poorly as 1-for-8 from the field in the fourth period; Porter Jr. drained six 3-pointers and he was the team's only one who made plural shots from downtown on Friday night.

Game 4 will happen at the Footprint Center on Sunday.

Can the 76ers get Embiid, Harden and Maxey to perform at the same time?

The Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 114-102 in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Friday, leading 2-1 in the series.

The Celtics had seven players score in double digits. Their star duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined to drip 50 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists. Brown had 10 points in both the second and third quarters to help his side establish a 11-point lead (88-77) before the final period. Tatum contributed 10 points in the fourth quarter for the Celtics to seal the deal.

In his second game of the series since he returned from injury, Joel Embiid dropped a double-double of 30 points and 13 rebounds. However, the 76ers suffered the second consecutive loss as their second- and third-in-commands, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, went 7-for-30 from the field collectively. Both only made one shot under the hoop. Neither did they go well enough behind the arc. In fact, 10 of the 16 triples the 76ers made in Friday's game came from P.J. Tucker, De'Anthony Melton, Georges Niang and Jalen McDaniels who shot a better 3-point rate (55.6 percent) than Harden and Maxey collectively (31.3 percent).

Both Harden and Maxey performed well in the first game of the series that Embiid missed to help the 76ers win. Nonetheless, the two seem to have lost their rhythm since Embiid returned, which is confusing because the three have played together in the starting lineup for over a season, long enough to build at least workable chemistry.

Embiid is not free of criticism for Friday's loss. Offensively he was very reliant on foul-drawing. He got 24 points in the first and third quarters during which he earned a total of 12 free throws. By contrast, when he couldn't get any call in the second and fourth periods, he got only six points.

Embiid's defensive performance was not perfect either in spite of the four blocks and eight defensive rebounds he had. He didn't close out on most defensive possessions either because of his slowness or coach Doc Rivers' defensive policy, watching Al Horford go 5-for-7 at the 3-point line. Moreover, contrary to many have expected, the 76ers did worse than the Celtics in attacking the paint, both in efficiency (43.8 percent-55.2 percent) and production (28-32).

Game 4 will take place at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.