Bass scores 27 in Celtics’ win

Associated Press

BOSTON

They started as a Big Three and grew to a Big Four when Rajon Rondo earned the right to be mentioned along with the other Boston Celtics All-Stars.

At no point, however, did Brandon Bass merit marquee billing in his first season in Boston.

The fifth, newest and least-heralded member of the Celtics’ starting lineup, Bass erupted for a career playoff-high 27 points on Monday night, scoring 18 in the third quarter as Boston pulled away from the Philadelphia 76ers to win 101-85 and take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“We’ve got a few good players on the team that they had to focus on,” said Bass, who left the game to a standing ovation with 2 minutes left and Boston leading by 18. “That left me open, and I was able to take advantage of my opportunity.”

The 27 points matched Bass’ regular-season career high, and the 18 points in the third was one off his career playoff high for an entire game. It was also more than the Sixers scored in the quarter as a team.

Kevin Garnett added 20 points and Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 14 assists for the Celtics.

Elton Brand scored 19 for Philadelphia .

LAKERS-THUNDER

OKLAHOMA CITY

The Oklahoma City Thunder led the Los Angeles Lakers 83-77 through three quarters of Game 5 of their Western Conference playoff series.

The Thunder lead the series 3-1 and could close it out with a win on Monday night.

Kevin Durant had 23 points for Oklahoma City, while Kobe Bryant had 34 for the Lakers.