Denver, Atlanta and Chicago refused to buckle under the threat of elimination from the NBA playoffs on Tuesday and kept their hopes alive with wins, while Orlando's season came to an end after Indiana wrapped up the series 4-1.

The Denver Nuggets held off a stunning Los Angeles Lakers' fightback to win 102-99 to trail 2-3 in the Western Conference, while in the East, the Hawks edged Boston 87-86 while injury-hit Chicago dug deep to beat Philadelphia 77-69. Atlanta and Chicago also trail 2-3 in their first-round series.

In Los Angeles, the sixth-seeded Nuggets came close to squandering a 15-point lead in the final quarter but held on after Kobe Bryant and Ramon Sessions missed three-point attempts in the dying seconds.

Plagued by poor shooting, the Lakers trailed for almost the entire game and were 15 points behind with 6.35 left before Bryant closed the gap to just two after pouring in three consecutive three-pointers.

With the third-seeded Lakers down 99-96, 14-time All Star Bryant missed another three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining.

In Atlanta, the Hawks survived a careless turnover in the final seconds to scrape past the Boston Celtics 87-86.

In Chicago, Luol Deng stepped up with 24 points, Carlos Boozer added 19 and 13 rebounds as the Bulls slogged their way to a gritty 77-69 triumph minus the talents of injured MVP Derrick Rose and the ailing Joakim Noah.

In Indiana, the Pacers were buoyed by 25 points from Danny Granger to blowout the Magic 105-87 and achieve their first series win since 2005.