These N.B.A. playoffs have developed so many intriguing story lines.
Out West, someone joked that the haunting spirit of Donald Sterling must have been present at Staples Center on Thursday when the Los Angeles Clippers, the team Sterling owned before it was taken away from him, blew a 19-point second-half lead and lost to Houston.
The Clippers, looking to reach the Western Conference finals for the first time, must now face the Rockets in Houston in Game 7 on Sunday. Somewhere, Sterling must be laughing.
In another Western series, Stephen Curry continued to prove his mettle with Golden State.