Doncic returns; Jazz tie series with Mavs
SALT LAKE CITY — Rudy Gobert gave Utah the lead with an alley-oop dunk with 11.0 seconds left and the Jazz held off the Dallas Mavericks 100-99 on Saturday in Game 4 to tie the firstround series.
Spencer Dinwiddie missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Dallas.
Jordan Clarkson scored 25 points for Utah, Donovan Mitchell added 23 points and seven assists, and Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 15 rebounds — 10 off the offensive glass. Gobert was 3 of 8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and 9 of 18 overall.
Dallas star Luka Doncic scored 30 points, 10 rebounds four assists in his return from a threegame absence because of strained left calf.
Jalen Brunson added 23 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell and Reggie Bullock had 11 points apiece.
Game 5 is Monday night in Dallas.
CELTICS 109, NETS 103
Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 39 points as visiting Boston took a 3-0 series lead over Brooklyn.
Jaylen Brown added 23 points for the Celtics, who can sweep the Nets on Monday. Bruce Brown led the Nets with 26 points.
Kevin Durant took only 11 shots, finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Kyrie Irving was 6-for-17 and also had 16 points for the Nets, who have to decide if they will give Ben Simmons his debut in Game 4 as they face elimination.
Boston led most of the way before the Nets cut it to three with just over a minute left in the third quarter. But Marcus Smart scored on a follow shot and made a jumper in transition before Brown got a steal and dunk to make it 81-72 going to the fourth.
RAPTORS 110, 76ERS 102
Pascal Siakam scored 15 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and Gary Trent Jr. added 24 points as host Toronto beat Philadelphia to a avoid a series sweep.
Game 5 is Monday night in Philadelphia. No team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series.
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid started despite a right thumb injury that required him to wear a brace and shot 3-for-10 in the first half. He finished 7-for-16 and scored 21 points in 39 minutes. Before the game, 76ers coach Doc Rivers said Embiid is expected to undergo an MRI.
Ex-Rocket James Harden had 22 points for the 76ers.
Thaddeus Young scored 13 points, OG Anunoby had 10, and newly crowned NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes had six points and 11 rebounds off the bench as Toronto overcame an injury to All-Star guard Fred VanVleet to stave off elimination.
Ahead of tipoff, the NBA announced that Barnes had won the Rookie of the Year award, edging Cleveland’s Evan Mobley.
The difference of 15 points was the smallest margin in the rookie category under the current voting format that began with the 2002-03 season.
TIMBERWOLVES 119 GRIZZLIES 118
Karl-Anthony Towns roared back from two rough games with a career playoff-best 33 points and 14 rebounds, helping host Minnesota move past its Game 3 collapse to even the first-round series at 2-2.
Anthony Edwards scored 24 points and backup Jordan McLaughlin went 4 of 4 from 3point range to pitch in 16 points as the Timberwolves relentlessly attacked the basket and went 31 of 40 from the foul line.
Desmond Bane, who hit his eighth 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish with 34 points, and Dillon Brooks with 24 points kept the Grizzlies going on another quiet night for star point guard Ja Morant. Morant went 4 for 13 from the floor, and had 11 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds.