Nikola Jokic, Nuggets top Warriors in Game 4 to avoid series sweep

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 33 points. Klay Thompson scored 22 of his 32 points after picking up his fourth foul in the final second of the first half. Jordan Poole had 11 after averaging 27.8 in the first three games of the series.

The series shifts back to San Francisco for Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The Nuggets took a 98-89 lead into the fourth quarter, but fell behind 121-119 on Curry’s jumper with just over a minute left.

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Denver rookie Bones Hyland hit three consecutive 3-pointers, the last from 33 feet that capped a 14-2 run to open the second quarter with Jokic catching his breath on the bench after assisting on 20 of Denver’s first 23 points.

That gave the Nuggets a 40-23 lead and command for the first time in the series that began with two blowouts on the road before a competitive Game 3 at Ball Arena that gave them hope of avoiding a second straight sweep in the playoffs.

Last year, they were shut out by Phoenix in the second round.

The Nuggets took a 63-52 halftime lead after a move by Warriors coach Steve Kerr backfired with less than a second left in the second quarter.

Kerr sent Thompson back into the game with six-tenths of a second remaining and Thompson executed the play to perfection, coming off the screen for the layup — only, he pushed Rivers on his way to the rim, so the basket was waved off and Thompson was whistled for his fourth foul.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone was confident his team would come out and give it their all to force the series back to San Francisco after the way they played in Game 3 in taking the Warriors into the final minute before succumbing 108-103.

“Really confident,” Malone said before tip-off. “Just knowing our group. I have to remind myself, when you think about our team, the last four years no one has won more games in the West than this team, and there’s a reason for that. So, I would be shocked and disappointed if we didn’t go out there and play our brand of basketball like we did in Game 3.

“I have the utmost confidence in our group that that will be our mindset, that will be our approach, and we will go out there and leave everything we have on that floor.”

Allen career-high 27 leads Bucks past Bulls

Grayson Allen once again responded to the boos from the fans and even his teammates by making shot after shot.

By the time he was finished, he had his highest point total in a postseason game. And the Bucks walked away with another lopsided win.

Allen set playoff career highs with 27 points and six 3-pointers, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 17 rebounds, and Milwaukee beat the Bulls, 119-95, on Sunday in Chicago to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round series.

Jrue Holiday scored 26, and the defending champion Bucks came away with another easy win after two shaky performances at home.

They’ve outscored the Bulls by a combined 54 points over the past two games. That includes a 111-81 romp Friday that was Chicago’s most lopsided home playoff loss in franchise history.

The Bucks led by 22 early in the third quarter Sunday and steadied themselves after a push by Chicago. The defending NBA champions will try to wrap up the series in Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

Allen delivered another huge effort off the bench, surpassing his previous postseason scoring high of 22 points in Game 3. He made 10 of 12 shots and hit 6 of 7 threes, getting booed once again just about the entire time.

Allen, in his first season in Milwaukee, has a bad-boy image from his time at Duke. He is particularly unpopular in Chicago, where fans are upset about a hard foul that resulted in a broken wrist for Bulls guard Alex Caruso during a game in Milwaukee in January.

Teammates have since started having fun with the boos, letting him hear it at practices and film sessions, on the bus and at the hotel. And now, they’re doing it in games, too.

“They have so much fun,” Allen said, laughing. “I think it’s funny. I think it’s honestly hilarious. They’ve kind of turned it into a fun thing. It makes hearing it out there during the game a lot easier, too, because they think it’s so funny.”

Allen is 18 of 24 from the field and 11 for 14 on 3-pointers over the past two games. With Khris Middleton expected to miss the remainder of the series after spraining his left knee in Game 2, the Bucks needed it.

“He’s played well here in Chicago,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think some of it’s his best basketball. I think it’s just the competitor in him, the fight in him. It’s always there, but maybe it’s a little heightened when we’re here.”

Antetokounmpo had seven assists. Holiday made five 3s.

Bobby Portis added 14 points and 10 rebounds in his second start with Middleton out, and the Bucks beat the Bulls for the 19th time in 21 games.

Zach LaVine led Chicago with 24 points and 13 assists, DeMar DeRozan scored 23, and Patrick Williams finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

“There were times where we gave really, really good effort and they still scored,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “I think there were times we moved the ball and generated pretty good looks for each other and the ball didn’t go in the basket. That, I think, gets deflating. And you could kind of sense that a little bit.”

Heat’s Lowry won’t play in Game 4

Heat point guard Kyle Lowry has been ruled out of Game 4 on Sunday night in Atlanta against the Hawks because of a left hamstring strain.

Lowry was injured in the third quarter Friday night in a 111-110 loss to the Hawks and did not play in the fourth quarter.

“You have to be smart about it,” coach Erik Spoelstra said Sunday.

Lowry’s absence puts Gabe Vincent in the spotlight in the matchup against Hawks point guard Trae Young.

Hawks coach Nate McMillan said center Clint Capela (right knee hyperextension) would be a game-time decision. Capela has missed the first three games.

Spoelstra said Vincent has proved he can handle the role.

“You like to have things that you trust that you’ve seen and we’ve seen it,” Spoelstra said. “Gabe has been able to plug in and stabilize and also give us some really good two-way basketball and we have full confidence that he’ll be able to fill in that gap and that position in a different way. He’s not going to be Kyle.”

Lowry, 36, is averaging 8.3 points and 5.3 assists. Vincent, in his third season, has averaged 7.3 points as one of the top-scoring reserves. He scored in double figures in 30 games this season, including six with at least 20.

“We’ve proven as a group that we can still be functional and effective even when different guys are out,” Spoelstra said.

Lowry’s status is not known for Game 5 in Miami on Tuesday night.