Jazz win opener vs. Doncic-less Mavs

Jazz 99, Mavericks 93: Donovan Mitchell scored 30 of his 32 points after halftime, Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 26 and Utah opened the playoffs with a victory Saturday over host Dallas, which were without injured All-Star guard Luka Doncic.

Bogdanovic had Utah’s only two 3pointers before halftime, in a 13-2 run over the final 31⁄2 minutes that put the Jazz ahead to stay.

Mitchell, who always seems to step up in the postseason, came alive after the break.

Jalen Brunson, the starting point guard with Doncic out, had 24 points on 9-of-24 shooting with seven rebounds.

Timberwolves 130, Grizzlies 117: Anthony Edwards scored 36 points in his postseason debut, and seventhseeded Minnesota stunned the No. 2 seed Grizzlies in Memphis, Tenn., to grab home-court advantage in the opener of their first-round Western Conference series. Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 and 13 rebounds. Malik Beasley had 23 points, and Jaden McDaniels 15. Patrick Beverley and D’Angelo Russell had 10 apiece.

The Timberwolves, fresh off beating the Los Angeles Clippers in the play-in game, won their first playoff opener since 2004. That’s when they beat Sacramento in the first round on their way to the Western Conference finals. Game 2 is Tuesday night in Memphis.

Ja Morant led Memphis with 32 points and eight assists, and Dillon Brooks added 24 points. Brandon Clarke had 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Desmond Bane scored 17 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 12.

76ers 131, Raptors 111: Tyrese Maxey had the breakout game of his young career, scoring 21 of his playoff careerhigh 38 points in the third quarter to lead host Philadelphia over Toronto in Game 1.

James Harden had 22 points and 14 assists in his first Eastern Conference playoff game as a Sixer. Joel Embiid, the NBA scoring champion, had 19 points and 15 rebounds. They combined to only make 11 of 32 shots from the floor.

Pascal Siakam scored 24 points for the Raptors, who lost rookie Scottie Barnes to an ankle injury.

Warriors 123, Nuggets 107: Jordan Poole shined in his long-awaited playoff debut with 30 points, staying in the starting lineup as Stephen Curry returned from a foot injury by coming off the bench, and host Golden State smothered Nikola Jokic to beat Denver in the opener of their first-round playoff series.