5 Fast Facts from Last Night’s Games — LeBron Drops 49 Points, Portland Survives Elimination Game

The 2014 NBA Playoffs continued on Monday, May 12 with two separate series reaching 3-1 in differing manners. One team lived to fight another day by earning a series-saving victory, while another used a monster performance by a mega-star to move one step closer to advancing.

Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action.

1. LeBron James erupted for 49 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 102-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Chris Bosh drained a critical clutch 3-point field goal to help overcome 18 points from Joe Johnson and 16 by Paul Pierce at Barclays Center.

LeBron’s 49 points matched a postseason career-high and set a new Heat franchise record.

2. James moves into a tie with Allen Iverson for the third-most 45-point games in postseason history at seven. Michael Jordan is No. 1 at 23 and Wilt Chamberlain checks in at second with eight.

Perspective.

3. Miami has won 10 straight games following a loss in the playoffs.

4. Damian Lillard scored 25 points and Nicolas Batum tallied 14 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, one block and a steal to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 103-92 win against the San Antonio Spurs. Will Barton added a postseason career-high 17 points for Portland, while no Spurs starter played more than 27 minutes in the Trail Blazers’ statement win.

The win snaps Portland’s nine-game postseason losing streak against the Spurs.

5. The Trail Blazers scored 62 points in the paint. That’s tied for the most allowed by the Spurs in a playoff game during the Gregg Popovich era.

For perspective, Pop and the Spurs made their first postseason appearance in 1998.

Bonus Fact: The Spurs have lost a Game 4 while leading 3-0 on four separate occasions. In the previous three instances, San Antonio won Game 5 to advance.