Russell Westbrook figured out that he didn’t have to do it all. Once that happened, the Oklahoma City Thunder figured out how to beat the Houston Rockets.

Westbrook scored 32 points in a triple-double and the Thunder held off the Rockets 115-113 on Friday night to cut their deficit to 2-1 in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Westbrook scored 51 points in a triple-double on Wednesday, but the Rockets won, and Westbrook was criticized for shooting too much. This time, shots and contributions were distributed more evenly throughout the game. Taj Gibson scored 20 points and Andre Roberson and Victor Oladipo each added 12 for the Thunder, who shot 55% from the field.

“I had to do a better job of trusting my team-mates for 48 minutes,” Westbrook said. “Tonight, those guys made plays throughout the whole game. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

James Harden scored 44 points for Houston, but he missed a three-pointer that could have won the game just before time expired.

“We were down two, so I just wanted to get the best shot available, honestly,” Harden said. “I didn’t try to overthink it or whatnot. I just dribbled up the basketball court and I see the paint kind of close in once I passed half-court. I gave him [Roberson] a little jab, and he bit for it, and I just shot the ball. I shot it with confidence. It was a little bit short.”

Lou Williams scored 22 points and Ryan Anderson added 18 for the Rockets, who nearly overcame a double-digit, second-half deficit again. Instead, the Thunder will host game four on Sunday in a much better position.

“We did enough offensively,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We just didn’t have the will or the want early in the game. It’s a little bit of a recurring theme we have. It takes us a while to get going. We’ll address it and try to get it better, because we’ve got to play the whole 48 [minutes] like we did the last 24, and the last two games we have not done that.”

Westbrook also had 13 rebounds and 11 assists. It was his second straight triple-double and the seventh playoff triple-double of his career.

Clippers 111, Jazz 106

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin is out for the remainder of the playoffs after injuring his big toe during Friday night’s win against the Utah Jazz.

The team announced Saturday that the five-time all-star was diagnosed with an injury to the plantar plate of his right big toe. Griffin left game three with 3:18 remaining in the second quarter after landing awkwardly following a transition layup. He had 11 points, six rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes, and the team said at the time the injury was a bruised toe. X-rays at the arena were negative, but he was re-evaluated after the game.

Blake Griffin won’t play again this season. Photograph: Jeffrey Swinger/USA Today Sports

Griffin averaged 25 points, six rebounds and 2.5 assists in the first two games.

His injury marks another playoff blow to a franchise that has dealt with a series of bad luck and internal turmoil in recent years.

Griffin and point guard Chris Paul were lost to injuries last year, and the Clippers blew a 3-1 series lead against Houston in 2015.

During the 2014 playoffs, voice recordings of then-owner Donald Sterling making racist comments surfaced, leading to him being banned by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who forced the sale of the team.

The Clippers were up 2-0 in 2013 before losing to Memphis in six games after Griffin stepped on teammate Lamar Odom and injured his ankle.

Paul said after the latest game that losing Griffin would keep the team from running offense through the post as much, where other players cut and move off of the 6ft 10in, 250lb player. Paul called Griffin a “dynamic player” who is one of the best passers on the roster.

“Just his leadership, it’s just a different feeling when he’s on the court,” Paul said Friday night.

The Clippers rallied for a 111-106 victory, with Paul scoring a season-high 34 points and the offense running through pick-and-roll between Paul and DeAndre Jordan. The Clippers have been without injured backup guard Austin Rivers (strained left hamstring) for the first three games of the playoffs.

Celtics 104, Bulls 87

The Boston Celtics got pep talks from a past champion as well as their current superstar. Then, they put a charge in a series that was slipping from their reach. Al Horford had 18 points and eight rebounds, Isaiah Thomas scored 16 points, and the top-seeded Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 104-87 after dropping the first two games of their opening-round series at home.

The Celtics pulled away after a 20-point lead shrunk to one early in the third quarter and put themselves in position to tie the series just as it was getting away from them. Game four is Sunday in Chicago.

The Bulls lead the Celtics 2-1 in their first-round series. Photograph: Caylor Arnold/USA Today Sports

They got a recorded message from Kevin Garnett before the game. Thomas, still grieving the death of his sister, had a few things to say, too.

“To me personally, it was everything,” Jae Crowder said. “It was just a little motivation speech. [Garnett] said we looked like a team that wasn’t having fun. We looked like a team that [wasn’t] soaking in the moment. We just needed to play for one another, and play for the moment which is at hand being in the playoffs and have fun with it. He basically said put a little more KG into it.”

Dwyane Wade scored 18 for Chicago. Jimmy Butler had 14 points on 7-of-21 shooting, and the offense simply didn’t click the way it had been, with Rajon Rondo out indefinitely with a broken right thumb. Chicago shot about 39% and committed 18 turnovers.

“We’re not going to put this all on missing Rondo because he might not show up,” Wade said. “It sounds like he’s going to be out for a while. We need to come out as a team and figure out how to be better.”

Thomas rejoined the team after spending time with his family in Tacoma, Washington. He scored eight points in the third quarter, helping the Celtics regain control, and finished with nine assists in the game.

Crowder added 16 points. Avery Bradley scored 15 and hit four of Boston’s 17 3-pointers.

“We weren’t coming here hoping to get a win,” Bradley said. “We knew we were coming here to win both games.”