Doncic’s double-double helps Mavs tie series with Thunder
OKLAHOMA CITY — Luka Doncic limped around the court, often grimacing as he played through a sprained right knee and a bloodied left knee.
His shooting stroke was unaffected. He had 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-110 on Thursday night and even the Western Conference semifinals at one win apiece.
“I think that was one of the hardest games I've had to play,” Doncic said. “I'm battling out there trying to do my best to help the team win.”
The Thunder held Doncic to 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting in Game 1. He made 11 of 21 field goals in Game 2. Throughout, he had frequent conversations with the officials — enough to draw the ire of Thunder fans, who booed him and directed chants his way.
“That's great for me," he said. “I love it.”
P.J. Washington added 29 points and 11 rebounds and made 7 of 11 3-pointers for the Mavericks. He averaged 12.9 points in the regular season.
Mitchell powers Cavs past Celtics
Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points, Evan Mobley had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the top-seeded Boston Celtics 118-94 on Thursday night to tie their secondround playoff series at one game apiece.
Two nights after losing by 25, with Mitchell scoring 33 but getting little help, the Cavaliers seized the lead in the third quarter and answered with a blowout of their own. Mitchell scored 16 in the third, hitting three straight baskets early in the fourth, including a 28-foot, banked 3-pointer that left him shrugging his shoulders as he backpedaled back down on defense.
Jayson Tatum scored 25 for Boston, and Jaylen Brown added 19 points. But Derrick White, whose 25 points in Game 1 helped the Celtics coast to a 120-95 win, managed just 10 points, missing seven of his eight 3-point tries.
Pacers’ Carlisle fined $35,000
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Friday for criticizing the officials and “questioning the integrity of the league” with his pleas for fairness for small-market teams.
Carlisle made his comments after the Pacers' 130121 loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday. He was called for two technical fouls and ejected late in the game as Indiana fell into a 2-0 hole in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Carlisle complained about a number of missed calls, which the Pacers subsequently sent to the league for review, and implied a bias in favor of big market New York.
Oakley continues boycott of MSG
Retired New York Knicks star Charles Oakley says no thanks, he won't step foot in Madison Square Garden.
Not during these NBA playoffs, and certainly not as long as he has an ongoing lawsuit against Madison Square Garden and team owner James Dolan over a tussle with security at a 2017 Knicks game that got Oakley ejected from the arena.
Oakley, the former NBA enforcer and rebounding machine with the 1990s Knicks, said he has no interest — though he continued to root for the team — in coming back as long as he is still in a dispute with Dolan.