The New York Knicks secured their ninth straight victory with an epic 131-129 double over-time win over the Boston Celtics as Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 38 points.
Quickley stepped into the Knicks starting line-up in the absence of Jalen Brunson (left foot injury), playing a career-high 55 minutes, and scoring their first seven of 10 points overall in the second over-time period.
The Knicks shooting guard scored 27 of his 38 points in the second half including OT. He made 15-of-28 attempts from the field, including five-of-12 from beyond the arc, with eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
But the Celtics almost snatched victory, with Al Horford's three-point attempt on the buzzer rimming out after a pass from Jayson Tatum.
Tatum also spurned a chance to win it in the first over-time period, missing a two-point attempt after Jaylen Brown kept the ball for too long with the clock ticking down, putting his team-mate under pressure for a tough look.
Brown had sent the game to OT with a three-point play after a foul from Quentin Grimes at the end of regulation squared it up.
Tatum finished with 40 points on 12-of-30 shooting with six-of-17 from three-point range, 11 rebounds and six assists. Brown added 29 points, while Horford had 20 points, making six-of-10 three-point attempts, but not the crucial last one.
Randle offered excellent support to Quickley with 31 points, nine rebounds and four assists, draining five triples. The win improved the Knicks' record to 39-27, sitting fifth in the east.
AD leads Lakers past GSW in Curry's return
Stephen Curry scored 27 points on his return from injury, but it was not enough as Anthony Davis led the Los Angeles Lakers past the Golden State Warriors 113-105 in a big Western Conference clash.
Davis scored 39 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter to lead the Lakers home, improving their record to 31-34 as he continues to shine in LeBron James' absence with a foot injury.
The result snapped the Warriors' five-game winning streak even with Curry back in action after a left leg injury. The Golden State guard added 19 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, shooting five-of-13 from three-point range.
Booker and Doncic square off as Suns win
Kevin Durant landed a fadeaway jumper with 11 seconds left to earn the Phoenix Suns a 130-126 victory over Kyrie Irving's Dallas Mavericks in another huge clash in the West.
Devin Booker and Luka Doncic squared off face to face after the Mavs guard missed a two-point shot at 128-126 with 3.5 seconds remaining, earning them both technical fouls. That square-off was a flashback to the tense Mavs-Suns Conference Semi-Finals last season, when Dallas eliminated Phoenix in a Game 7 blowout.
Durant finished with 37 points and seven rebounds in his first match-up against his former Nets team-mate Irving, since both left Brooklyn. Booker added 36 points with 10 assists for Phoenix, while Doncic finished with 34 points and nine rebounds and Irving had 30 points.
Timberwolves demolish Nuggets to force Game 7
The Minnesota Timberwolves needed a win to keep their season alive.
They proceeded to obliterate the Denver Nuggets.
The Timberwolves rode a 20-0 run in the first quarter en route to a 115-70 thrashing of the Nuggets on Thursday to force a Game 7 in their Western Conference semi-final series.
Anthony Edwards led the way with 27 points and Jaden McDaniels added 21 on 8-of-10 shooting as Minnesota recorded the second-largest play-off win in NBA history when facing elimination.
The Wolves led by as much as 50 to send the series back to Denver on Sunday with a berth in the West finals on the line.
After winning the first two games of the series in Denver, Minnesota suddenly found itself on the brink of elimination after losing Games 3 and 4 on its home court and Tuesday's 112-97 defeat back in Denver.
The Timberwolves then trailed 9-2 early in Game 6 before turning the tables on the Nuggets.
They scored the next 20 points and went on a 27-2 run on their way to taking a 31-14 lead after the first 12 minutes.
Edwards sparked the first-quarter surge, racking up 14 points in the opening period after scoring 18 total points in Game 5.
The Wolves clamped down defensively and dominated the boards to turn Game 6 into a laugher.
Minnesota limited Denver to just 7-of-36 shooting from 3-point range (19.4 per cent) and held a 62-43 advantage on the glass, with big men Rudy Gobert (14), Karl-Anthony Towns (13) and Naz Reid (11) combining for 38 boards.
NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 22 points and nine rebounds for the defending champions, but Jamal Murray struggled mightily from the floor, making just 4-of-18 shots and finishing with 10 points.
Mike Conley returned after missing Game 5 because of soreness in his right Achilles tendon, and finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
The Timberwolves opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to open up a 30-point lead, prompting the Nuggets to empty their bench just over two minutes into the final period.
Less than 90 seconds later, that lead grew to 36 points and Minnesota took out its starters.
The Wolves bench picked up right where the starters left off to finish off a 24-0 run as the lead ballooned to 50.
Mavs coach Kidd: Doncic is 'not a robot'
Jason Kidd reminded the media that Luka Doncic is "not a robot" after the Dallas Mavericks star turned in a peculiar display against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Doncic delivered his best performance of the playoffs on Wednesday, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 104-92 victory.
The Mavericks are now just one win away from the Western Conference finals.
But what was different about Doncic's night was the fact he rarely remonstrated with the officials, having previously expanded a lot of energy doing just that in Game 4 of the series.
"He's human; he's not a robot," Kidd said.
"Sometimes we just pencil in that he's going to put in 30, 10 and 10. You know the playoffs are hard mentally and physically.
"Before the game, understand you are not going to get any calls on the road. You got to understand you got to play through it."
For Doncic, it was a case of just focusing on what he could control.
"Just focus on basketball," Doncic said. "Remember the thing I love, the thing I love to do. Just play basketball.
"I talked to them [the officials] normally, without complaining.
"I think it was the whole game, nothing. So I just go out there and hoop. Have fun, have fun. It was the old Luka, a smile on my face."
Doncic's teammate Derrick Jones Jr suggested the Slovenian's sharpness in the warm-up told him all he needed to know about what was to come.
"I was just sitting back saying, 'It's going to be a long day for them,'" Jones said.
"Once he gets his rhythm and he's got it going, you can't stop him."
Kyrie Irving believes Doncic can take lessons from his Game 5 performance.
"I think he can learn from this tonight as well as all of us and just continue to affirm to himself that when he is focused on just his game and he's focused on doing the right things, then we flourish as a team," he said.
"I'm not going to sit up here and complain about him. I'm not going to do that.
"I've got to give my brother a little benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it is warranted to get on the guys that are refereeing the game, but I think he found a healthy balance tonight where he was just really focused on getting us going offensively and making the right plays and making sure that we kept our foot on the gas pedal."
Return to Eastern Conference finals a sign of Boston's character, claims Tatum
Jayson Tatum believes the Boston Celtics' return to the Eastern Conference finals shows the character of the team.
Boston beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 on Wednesday to book their place in the Conference finals for a third straight season.
It is the sixth time in the past eight years that the Celtics have reached the finals.
"It just shows the character of the team, the organisation," said Tatum, who led Boston with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
"People might think that it's a given that we're supposed to be here, but I give a lot of credit to everyone in the front office, the coaching staff, the trainers, the guys that hand out the equipment, the ball boys, the cooks, the chefs, the security team. We're all in this together. I do, I mean that.
"Everybody has an effect on each other, and we all impact each other to help winning and build this culture that we have.
"Everybody should be proud of themselves. Obviously, it's not the end all, be all. We want to win a championship, but we're doing something right."
Coach Joe Mazzulla lauded the mentality and attitude of his team.
"Close-out games are tough. It's a level of stress, anxiety, desperation; it takes what it takes," he said. "You've got to play 48 [minutes] hopefully, maybe more at times.
"And at the end of the day, you just got to keep going, continue to chip away at the things you can control."
The Celtics will face either the New York Knicks or the Indiana Pacers for a place in the Championship game.
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