Anthony Davis double-double carries Los Angeles Lakers over Phoenix Suns

The win ensured the defending champions edged ahead of the Suns 2-1 in their first-round playoff series.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis dunks (AP)

Anthony Davis scored 34 points and had 11 rebounds as his Los Angeles Lakers celebrated hosting their first play-off game in more than eight years with a victory over the Phoenix Suns

The defending champions pulled ahead of the Suns 2-1 in their series, with LeBron James adding 21 points and nine assists as the Lakers treated 7,000 masked fans to a victory.

Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix, who are appearing in their first post-season in 11 years and raised questions about their composure when Devin Booker and Jae Crowder were sent to the locker room in the final minute.

Western Conference sides the Denver Nuggets and the Portland Trail Blazers tussled in Oregon, with the visitors securing the win and taking a lead in their series.

Damian Lillard led all scorers with 37 points but his Trail Blazers struggled overall, particularly from three-point range.

The Nuggets had no such difficulty from beyond the arc, with Austin Rivers netting four straight threes in the final quarter as Denver closed out the game 120-115 and moved to 2-1.

The Milwaukee Bucks were one win away from progressing to the Eastern Conference semi-finals after they downed the Miami Heat 113-84.

The reigning champions of the East had lost the opening two games of the series but hoped to turn things around in front of a home crowd of 17,000, their largest of the year.

But Miami had no answers for Milwaukee, whose star player Giannis Antetokounmpo matched his 17 points with the same number of rebounds while his team-mates Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday scored 22 and 19 points respectively.