basketball
DALLAS, April 6, (AP): Luka Doncic scored 31 points and Dorian FinneySmith added a season-high 23 as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 111-103 on Monday night for their season-best fifth straight win.
The NBA-leading Jazz had their nine-game winning streak halted.
Jalen Brunson scored 20 points, Josh Richardson 17 and Tim Hardaway Jr 16 as Dallas won for the first time in three games versus Utah this season. Kristaps Porzingis, Dallas’ No. 2 scorer and leading rebounder, sat out with a sprained right wrist.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was pleased to hold the NBA’s No. 3 scoring team, averaging 117.2 points going in, to its lowest point total since Feb. 7 after losing the previous two games in the season series at Utah in late January.
Mike Conley scored 28 points to lead the Jazz, who trailed by as many as 18 points. Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson scored 16 each, and Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Dallas beat Utah at its long-range game. The Mavericks were 23 for 49 from behind the arc; their highs this season from behind the arc are 25 makes and 50 attempts.
Suns 133, Rockets 130
In Houston, Devin Booker scored 18 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets 133-130 for their sixth straight win.
Deandre Ayton matched a season high with 27 points as Phoenix won for the ninth time in 10 games overall. Mikal Bridges had 20 points, and Chris Paul finished with 19 points and 11 assists.
Phoenix led 101-92 after three quarters, but Houston opened the fourth with a 9-0 run. Houston trailed by nine again with a minute left, but Jae’Sean Tate and Kelly Olynyk made back-to-back 3s for the Rockets.
Christian Wood made two free throws to cut the Suns’ lead to one with 3.5 seconds remaining. Booker hit two free throws, and Houston’s inbounds pass was deflected to end the game.
Nets 114, Knicks 112
In New York, Kyrie Irving scored 40 points, Jeff Green made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left and the Brooklyn Nets overcome the early loss of James Harden to beat the New York Knicks 114-112 .
Harden returned after missing two games with right hamstring tightness but lasted just four minutes before having to leave again with the same injury.
But even short-handed and on the second night of a back-to-back, the Nets had enough.
Irving wore down the Knicks’ defense with his dazzling dribbling moves that freed up space for jumpers, including a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left after New York had closed within two.
The Knicks scored five straight to tie it at 112 on Alec Burks’ 3-pointer and forced the ball out of Irving’s hands on Brooklyn’s next trip. Joe Harris missed a jumper, but Green got the rebound and was fouled.
Raptors 103, Wizards 101
In Tampa, Fla, Gary Trent Jr. beat the buzzer with a long 3-pointer and the Toronto Raptors rallied from a 19-point secondhalf deficit to beat the Washington Wizards 103-101.
Pascal Siakam led Toronto with 22 points, and DeAndre Bembry and rookie Malachi Flynn led a fourth-quarter charge for the Raptors, who won consecutive games for the first time since Feb 19-21.
Russell Westbrook had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for the Wizards, who have lost four straight.
Washington led 101-100 when Siakam was called for a charge with 27 seconds left. Raul Neto missed a reverse layup with 5.5 seconds left and Trent got the rebound.
Cavaliers 125, Spurs 101
In San Antonio, Darius Garland scored a career-high 37 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the San Antonio Spurs 125-101 to snap a five-game skid. Collin Sexton added 22 points for Cleveland. Isaiah Hartenstein scored a season-high 16, and Taurean Prince finished with 14.
San Antonio finished the longest homestand in franchise history at 2-7, dropping from seventh to ninth in the Western Conference. It marked the fourth time during the homestand that an opponent beat the Spurs to snap a losing streak.
DeMar DeRozan had 25 points for San Antonio. Rudy Gay, Derrick White and Keldon Johnson each had 13 points.
Cleveland entered the game as the league’s lowest scoring team, averaging just 102.7 points, but it had no trouble scoring against a lethargic San Antonio defense.
Timberwolves 116, Kings 106
In Minneapolis, D’Angelo Russell scored 25 points in his return from knee surgery and Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 116-106 win against the Sacramento Kings .
Anthony Edwards scored 19 points for Minnesota and started the Timberwolves’ push in the fourth after the teams went back and forth for three quarters. Russell continued Minnesota’s push ahead with a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth. He scored 13 of his points in the fourth.
Russell came off the bench in his first game since Feb. 8. He missed 26 games. Pistons 132, Thunder 108
In Oklahoma City, Jerami Grant scored 21 points against his former team, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 132-108 .
Grant played three seasons for the Thunder, and then was traded after the 2018-19 season. He looked at home during his return, making 7 of 15 shots and adding five rebounds and five assists in just 23 minutes.
Josh Jackson and Sekou Doumbouya scored 14 points apiece for Detroit, which was coming off a 125-81 home loss to the New York Knicks on Saturday – the franchise’s worst defeat since a 44-point loss in 1994.
Pistons coach Dwane Casey wondered how his team would bounce back, and he liked what he saw. Detroit shot 52% from the field.