Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder kept Luka Dončić in check to pull away for a 117-95 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday.
Chet Holmgren had 19 points and seven rebounds and Jalen Williams scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Thunder remained unbeaten in the playoffs.
Game 2 is Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
Doncic entered this series averaging just under 30 points per game in these playoffs but was limited to 19 on 6-of-19 shooting, including 1 of 8 from 3-point range, and had five turnovers.
Kyrie Irving led Dallas with 20 points and Daniel Gafford had 16, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
The Thunder held just a 69-67 lead midway through the third quarter before a 20-7 run increased the advantage to 89-74.
Dallas got the deficit down to 96-87 on Irving’s 3 with 8:31 remaining, but Williams hit consecutive 3s and then dunked to make it 104-87.
Celtics handle Cavs in Game 1
Jaylen Brown scored 32 points and Derrick White added 25 with seven 3-pointers to lead the Boston Celtics to a 120-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opener of their Eastern Conference second-round series.
Jayson Tatum had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Payton Pritchard scored 16 for the Celtics, who improved to 5-1 in this postseason and will host Game 2 on Thursday night.
Donovan Mitchell had 33 points and six assists and Evan Mobley added 17 and 13 rebounds as Cleveland lost for the fourth time in as many road playoff games.
Boston shot 18 of 46 from 3-point range and took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Celtics started the final quarter with a 10-2 run to essentially put the game out of reach.
Both teams played without their starting centres. Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen missed his fourth straight game with a bruised rib and Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis was sidelined for the second consecutive game with a strained right calf.
Los Angeles Clippers extend head coach Lue
Tyronn Lue is staying with the Los Angeles Clippers after agreeing to a new long-term contract, the team announced Wednesday.
Terms of the agreement are not yet known, though ESPN reports Lue's new deal will make him among the NBA's highest-paid coaches.
Lue, who has compiled a 184-134 record in four seasons with the Clippers, was rumoured to be a candidate for the head coaching vacancy of Los Angeles' other franchise, the Lakers. That speculated scenario would have reunited the 47-year-old with LeBron James, whom Lue previously coached during a successful run with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers' lone NBA championship came during the 2015-16 season, when Lue replaced David Blatt at mid-season and guided a team anchored by James and Kyrie Irving past the Golden State Warriors in seven games in a memorable NBA Finals.
Lue also found immediate success after replacing Doc Rivers with the Clippers prior to the 2020-21 season, as the team reached the Western Conference finals before bowing out to the Phoenix Suns in six games.
The Clippers have not won a play-off series in Lue's subsequent three seasons, though they finished fourth in the West with a 51-31 record in 2023-24. The Clippers were defeated in six games in the opening round by the Dallas Mavericks, who later advanced to the conference finals and currently own a 3-1 lead on the Minnesota Timberwolves in that series.
Lue is 312-217 during the regular season and 54-37 in play-off games over eight overall seasons as a head coach. The former NBA point guard also helped the Cavaliers reach the NBA Finals in 2017 and 2018, when they lost to the Warriors both times.
Cleveland fired Lue following an 0-6 start to the 2018-19 season, the team's first after James left the Cavaliers for a second time to sign with the Lakers.
With Lue now under contract, the Clippers can now turn their attention towards attempting to keep their star core of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden together. Harden is a free agent this offseason and George could become one by declining his $48.8 million player option, which he's widely expected to do.
Edwards credits Towns as bounce-back performance keeps Timberwolves alive
Anthony Edwards credited Karl-Anthony Towns after he halted his slump to keep the Minnesota Timberwolves alive in their Western Conference finals series against the Dallas Mavericks.
Towns scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half as Minnesota held off a late Dallas rally for a 105-100 road win, forcing a Game 5 in Minneapolis on Thursday.
That came after a difficult start to the series for the four-time All-Star, with coach Chris Finch saying it was "hard to watch" his struggles in Game 3.
Towns shot just 27.8 per cent in the series' first three games, but was 9 of 13 from the floor and made 4 of 5 from 3-point range on Tuesday.
Edwards, who narrowly missed out on a triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, said Towns was the primary reason the Timberwolves retained hope of an NBA Finals berth.
"Everything came together for him; he was super confident," Edwards said of Towns.
"He played exceptionally well, and he came through big-time. He was the reason we won tonight."
Finch echoed Edwards' praise, saying: "KAT's a great player. His struggles were not going to last forever. He got himself going.
"Even when he got deep in foul trouble, we left him out there, just let him roll, and he played smart, played under control, rebounded really well for us, executed defensively. We're really proud of him. Tonight was a great step for him."
While it was Towns' efforts that gave Minnesota a lead to defend, it was Edwards who made certain of the victory with a mid-range jumper after the Mavs pulled within three points just over a minute before the buzzer.
Towns, who fouled out with one minute and 38 seconds on the clock, said of his team-mate's game-sealing shot: "I was on the bench and had a front-row seat. I feel like he was visualising that make and he got to exactly the spot he wanted to.
"I'm honoured to be playing with my brother here, seeing him every day put the work in, and I knew when he got to that shot it was a high likelihood he was going to make that."
NBA: Timberwolves hold off Mavericks to force Game 5
Anthony Edwards just missed a triple-double, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and the Minnesota Timberwolves held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 105-100 on Tuesday to avoid being swept in the Western Conference finals.
Facing a 3-0 series deficit on the road, the Wolves conjured their best defensive game of the series to force a Game 5 on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Dallas' Luka Doncic finished with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists but was held to 7-for-21 shooting. Kyrie Irving shot 6 of 18 from the field to finish with 16 points.
"That game's on me. Just didn't give enough energy," Doncic told reporters after the game. "They won one game. We've just got to focus on the next one."
Towns, who shot 27.8 per cent in the series' first three games, was 9 of 13 from the floor and made 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Despite his redemptive performance on offense, Towns fouled out with 1:38 remaining after falling for a Doncic pump fake at the 3-point line.
Edwards was assertive from the opening tip, scoring 14 points in the first quarter, and finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
The Mavs pulled to within 100-97 with just over a minute remaining before Edwards hit a mid-range jumper to extend the Minnesota lead. On Dallas' following possession, Kyle Anderson stole the ball from Irving to extinguish the threat.
The Mavericks played without standout rookie center Dereck Lively II due to a neck sprain after taking a rough fall in Game 3.
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 series lead, but the Wolves will hope to keep the pressure on Dallas in Game 5.
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