The Cleveland Cavaliers edged the Indiana Pacers 100-97 to level up their Eastern Conference series at 1-1.

LeBron James excelled with 46 points and 12 rebounds – with the Cavs’ first 16 points of the game coming from the 14-time NBA all-star.

The Pacers were unlucky, though, as Victor Oladipo missed a three-pointer to tie the game with 27 seconds on the clock, having earlier fought an 18-point deficit to bring the game to 95-92.

The Cavs suffered some misfortune of heir own when Kevin Love was forced to sit out the final stages of the game after jamming his thumb. The injury came after the 29-year-old added 15 points to the scoreboard and it is expected he will return for game three.

The Houston Rockets overcame the Minnesota Timberwolves 102-82 to claim a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference play-off.

Chris Paul scored 27 points and was backed up by Gerald Green, who claimed a play-off best with 21 points.

James Harden could not repeat his performance from the play-off opener, reaching only 12 points on Wednesday night, but a 22-point lead for Houston in the last nine minutes was too much for the Timberwolves to chase down in their first play-off series since 2004.

Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell led the scoring with 28 points for the Utah Jazz as they managed to level their series at 1-1 with a 102-95 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.