The Los Angeles Lakers, fueled by 29 points from LeBron James, beat the Houston Rockets 112-108 in an overtime thriller to take a 3-0 stranglehold in their NBA playoff series.

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James, the 41-year-old superstar playing in his 19th post-season, came up with a steal and a game-tying three-pointer with 13.6 seconds left in regulation.

He couldn’t get a potential game-winner to drop at the buzzer, but added a steal and a block in a frantic overtime as the Lakers pushed the Rockets to the brink of elimination in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.

No NBA team has come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series.

The Lakers will have a chance to close out the series in Houston on Sunday. It’s not a position many expected them to be in with league-leading scorer Luka Doncic sidelined by a hamstring strain and key offensive contributor Austin Reaves out with an oblique injury.

The young Rockets, with veteran star Kevin Durant sidelined by a sprained ankle, were led Alperen Sengun’s 33 points and 16 rebounds.

They rallied from an early 15-point deficit and led by six with less than 30 seconds left in regulation.

But their mistakes caught up with them. A Houston turnover was followed by a foul on Marcus Smart as he attempted a three-pointer.

“Horrendous mistakes,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said.

“I don’t know if you want to say youth, or scared of the moment, or whatever is the case. But you have a six-point lead with 20 or 30 seconds to go, you get a rebound and just have to hold the ball.”

Smart made all three free-throws to cut the Lakers’ deficit to 101-98 and set the stage for James’s game-tying basket.

Sengun missed a potential go-ahead basket before James was off-target from beyond the arc and they went to overtime, Smart scoring eight of his 21 points in the extra session as the Lakers pulled away.

LeBron had a special moment with Bronny, who outscored the entire Houston bench with just five minutes, when he found his son for the alley-oop. It was the first father-son assist in NBA playoffs history.

“He also made a three when they disrespected him and go under on the pick and roll … that was a special moment,” James said after the game.

The Lakers lead the Rockets 3-0. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)Source: AP

ROOKIE’S COMING OUT PARTY IN BIG WIN

Elsewhere in the West, the San Antonio Spurs erased a 15-point third-quarter deficit and swept to a 120-108 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, despite missing star Victor Wembanyama as he recovers from a concussion.

Stephon Castle’s 33 points included 11 in the fourth quarter and rookie Dylan Harper added 27 points and 10 rebounds off the bench as the Spurs roared home to take a 2-1 series lead.

They had dropped game two at home after Wembanyama was injured in a hard fall. The 22-year-old French star cheered from the bench as his teammates turned the tide in Portland, where they will try to build on their series lead on Monday.

TATUM TAKES OVER AS CELTICS BEAT SIXERS

Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 25 points apiece to lead the Celtics to a hard-fought 108-100 victory over the 76ers in Philadelphia and a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series.

The Sixers had grabbed game two in Boston to knot the series at one game apiece. In a game that neither team led by more than 10 points, the Celtics took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Tyrese Maxey’s three-pointer briefly put the Sixers up 85-84 with 8:42 remaining, and Philadelphia were within one when Tatum drilled a three-pointer that pushed Boston’s lead to 100-96 with 1:57 left to play.

Payton Pritchard added another three-pointer with the shot-clock winding down before Tatum — who missed most of the season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in last year’s playoffs, drained a dagger trey that sealed it for Boston.

“We just were resilient,” Tatum told broadcaster Prime.

“We stuck with it. It’s a game of runs — good team and just, you’ve got to answer.”

Maxey scored 31 points to lead the Sixers. Paul George added 18 and rookie VJ Edgecombe added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Sixers star Joel Embiid, still recovering from an emergency appendectomy earlier this month, was ruled out shortly before the game.

“He’s just not ready,” said Sixers coach Nick Nurse, whose team will try to even the series when they host game four on Monday.