Doncic leads Mavs past Cavs
Mavericks 120, Cavaliers 112: Luka Doncic scored 35 points, added 13 assists and put visiting Dallas on the brink of a postseason berth, leading the Mavericks to a win on Wednesday night over Cleveland, who were without star forward Evan Mobley.
Dorian Finney-smith added a careerhigh 28 points for Dallas, which entered the game fourth in the Western Conference. With a win and loss by Minnesota, the Mavericks are assured of having one of the top six playoff spots.
Doncic scored 20 with ease in the third, when the Mavericks took control by outscoring the Cavaliers 39-22.
Wizards 127, Magic 110: Kristaps Porzingis scored 35 points, and Tomas Satoransky had an unusual doubledouble – no points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds – as host Washington beat Orlando.
Satoransky became the third player to finish a game with no points and at least 10 rebounds and 10 assists, joining Oklahoma City’s Josh Giddey earlier this season and Cincinnati’s Norm Van Lier in 1971.
Satoransky attempted only two shots, but he was part of a solid offensive performance for the Wizards. Kentavious Caldwell-pope added 25 points, and Rui Hachimura and Daniel Gafford contributed 17 apiece.
Nuggets 125, Pacers 118: Nikola Jokic flirted with another triple-double with 37 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, helping vistiting Denver hold off Indiana.
Jokic made his first nine shots in the first half and finished 15 of 19 from the field for Denver. He fell one assist shy of his 20th triple-double of the season after getting one Monday night at Charlotte.
Raptors 125, Timberwolves 102: Pascal Siakam had 12 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists for his second career triple-double, Gary Trent Jr. scored 29 points and host Toronto strengthened its hold on sixth place in the Eastern Conference by beating Minnesota.
Toronto (44-32) moved two games ahead of Cleveland for sixth after the Cavaliers lost to Dallas.
Toronto matched idle Chicago for the fifth-best record in the conference.
Hornets 125, Knicks 114: Miles Bridges scored 31 points and Lamelo Ball had 20 points and 15 rebounds to help lead visiting Charlotte past New York.
The Hornets improved to 40-37 and moved into a tie with idle Brooklyn for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
Evan Fournier scored 30 points, going 6 for 8 from long distance, RJ Barrett added 25, and Julius Randle chipped in 21 for the Knicks, who had their fourgame winning streak halted.
Heat 106, Celtics 98: Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Kyle Lowry added 23 and visiting Miami rallied in the fourth quarter to hold off Boston to stay atop a tight race for the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
Bam Adebayo finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds to help Miami post its second straight win since a seasonworst four-game losing streak.
Since briefly taking over the East’s top spot, Boston has lost two in a row for the first time since late January.
Hawks 136, Thunder 118: Trae Young had 41 points and eight assists, and visiting Atlanta rolled past Oklahoma City.
Kevin Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic each scored 20 points for the Hawks, who won their third straight and strengthened their hold on the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Kings 121, Rockets 118: Davion Mitchell, Damian Jones and Trey Lyles scored 24 points each, and visiting Sacramento outlasted Houston.
It was a wild back-and-forth game where both teams had double-digit leads before staying close in the fourth quarter.
Rookie Jalen Green, the second overall pick in the draft, tied a season high with 32 points for the Rockets, and Kevin Porter Jr. had his first career tripledouble with 30 points, 12 assists and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Grizzlies 112, Spurs 111: Tyus Jones scored 25 points and visiting Memphis clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, holding on to beat San Antonio.
Memphis never trailed, even as Ja Morant missed his sixth straight game with a knee injury.
San Antonio closed within a point, at 112-111, on a tip-in by Keldon Johnson with 27.8 seconds remaining.
Following a miss by the Grizzlies’ Desmond Bane, Johnson missed a contested layup with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Pelicans 117, Trail Blazers 107: CJ Mccollum received a 90-second standing ovation in his first visit to Portland since a February trade to New Orleans, then scored 25 points to lead the Pelicans over the Trail Blazers.
The Pelicans lead the Los Angeles Lakers by 11⁄2 games for the ninth spot in the Western Conference, which would put them into a play-in postseason game.
Suns 107, Warriors 103: Devin Booker’s two free throws with 34.2 seconds left put Phoenix ahead, Draymond Green traveled to turn it over before Chris Paul made a short jumper, and the Nba-best Suns held off the host Warriors in a furious finish between Western Conference rivals.
Jordan Poole scored a season-best 38 points to match his career high and also contributed nine rebounds and seven assists. He had five free throws over the final 1:20.
Poole drew a loose ball foul on Booker with 39.8 seconds to go and converted two free throws before Booker came through for the Suns in their ninth straight victory.