Patty Mills' San Antonio Spurs played valiantly with heavy hearts but were unable to topple the Golden State Warriors in game three of their NBA play-offs series.
The Warriors' 110-97 win in San Antonio on Thursday, led by Kevin Durant's 26 points, gave the defending NBA champions a commanding 3-0 series lead and placed them just one win away from eliminating the Spurs.
Mills, who had 14 points, and his teammates went into the game without coach Gregg Popovich who lost his wife Erin on Wednesday after she battled a long illness.
"It's hard to think about that for me, personally, right now because there is other stuff bigger than basketball," Spurs veteran Tony Parker said about elimination.
Already playing without star guard Stephen Curry, the Warriors got two more injury scares.
The good news for the defending NBA champions is that the ankle injuries sustained by Kevin Durant and Shaun Livingston appear to be minor.
"Both sprained ankles, but I think they'll be all right," Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.
Game four is in San Antonio on Sunday.
New Orleans dominated from start to finish in a 119-102 dismantling of the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.
The win gave the Pelicans a 3-0 lead in their first-round play-offs series.
Nikola Mirotic scored 30 points and Anthony Davis collected 28 points and 11 boards as the big men dominated for New Orleans.
"Our team right now is playing good team basketball," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said, according to the Times-Picayune.
The Pelicans will try to sweep the best-of-seven series at home on Saturday.
CJ McCollum scored 22 points, Al-Farouq Aminu 21 and Damian Lillard 20 for the Trail Blazers, who committed 24 turnovers.
"They whooped our (rear) and beat us in every facet of the game," McCollum said, according to the Oregonian.
