MAVS KEEP STREAKING, SNAP JAZZ’S AT NINE
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 in Dallas for their season-best fifth straight win.
Mavericks 111, Jazz 103
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.
“To hold these guys to 103 is a hell of a job,” Carlisle said. “The difference was we just came out and we were much more physical than we were last time we played them. That was a long time ago; that was light years ago.”
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.
Nets 114, Knicks 112: Kyrie Irving scored 40 points, Jeff Green made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left and Brooklyn overcome the early loss of James Harden to beat
New York for its eighth straight win at home. Harden returned after missing two games with right hamstring tightness but lasted just four minutes before having to leave again with the same injury.
Suns 133, Rockets 130:
Devin Booker scored 18 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and visiting Phoenix beat Houston for its sixth straight win. Deandre Ayton matched a season high with 27 points for the Suns.
Cavaliers 125, Spurs 101:
Darius Garland scored a career-high 37 points, and Cleveland beat San Antonio to snap a five-game skid. San Antonio finished the longest homestand in franchise history at 2-7, dropping from seventh to ninth in the Western Conference.
Pistons 132, Thunder 108:
Jerami Grant scored 21 points against his former team, and visiting Detroit beat Oklahoma City.
Timberwolves 116, Kings 106: D’Angelo Russell scored 25 points in his return from knee surgery and Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota in a win against visiting Sacramento. De’Aaron Fox had 31 points for the Kings, who lost their fourth in a row.
Raptors 103, Wizards 101:
Gary Trent Jr. beat the buzzer with a long 3-pointer and Toronto rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to beat Washington. in Tampa, Fla. DeAndre Bembry (15 points) and rookie Malachi Flynn (16) led a fourth-quarter charge for the Raptors, who won consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 19-21.
Notable
The Clippers signed DeMarcus Cousins to a 10-day contract.