NBA: Thunder get even with Mavs, Celtics go up 3-1

By Sports Desk May 14, 2024

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half to rally the Oklahoma City Thunder from a 14-point deficit and earn a crucial 100-96 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Monday's Game 4 of a Western Conference semifinal series.

Chet Holmgren had 11 of his 18 points after halftime and added nine rebounds to help the top-seeded Thunder even the best-of-seven series at 2-2 as they head back to Oklahoma City for Wednesday's all-important Game 5.

The fifth-seeded Mavericks squandered an opportunity to put the Thunder on the brink of elimination despite setting a franchise playoff record with 13 blocks, including four each from Derrick Jones Jr. and rookie Dereck Lively II.

Jones finished with 17 points in the loss, while Luka Doncic registered a triple-double for Dallas with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. 

The Mavericks led the majority of the game and owned an 86-80 advantage just past the midway point of the fourth quarter before Oklahoma City began their late surge. The Thunder seized momentum with a 12-2 run, capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Holmgren and Luguentz Dort, to go up 92-88 with 2:14 remaining.

Dallas answered on Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, but back-to-back baskets by the Thunder's Jalen Williams gave Oklahoma City a 96-91 lead entering the final minute.

The Mavericks again responded and had a chance to tie it when Doncic was fouled with 10.1 seconds left with Dallas trailing 96-94. The MVP finalist made just one of his two shots, however, and the Thunder sealed the outcome by going 4 for 4 from the foul line in the waning moments.

Free-throw shooting played a part in the result, as Oklahoma City finished 23 of 24 from the line compared to 12 of 23 for Dallas.

The Mavericks held a 54-43 lead at half-time after limiting the Thunder to under 35 per cent shooting for the first two quarters, and they stretched the margin to 14 when P.J. Washington hit a 3-pointer to begin the third.

Oklahoma City closed the gap before the end of the period, though, as they ended the third quarter on a 9-2 run to pull within 69-65 entering the fourth.

Celtics handle injury-plagued Cavaliers to take 3-1 lead

In the East, the top-seeded Boston Celtics moved within a game of reaching the conference finals for a third straight year after posting a 109-102 Game 4 win over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers behind Jayson Tatum's 33 points and 11 rebounds. 

Jaylen Brown added 27 points to help Boston take a 3-1 series lead over a fourth-seeded Cavaliers team playing without leading scorer Donovan Mitchell. The All-Star guard was unavailable due to a strained left calf he sustained in Cleveland's 106-93 loss in Saturday's Game 3.

The Cavaliers also remained without starting center Jarrett Allen, who hasn't played since Game 4 of their opening-round series against Orlando due to a rib contusion.

Darius Garland kept Cleveland competitive by producing 30 points and seven assists, while Caris LeVert had 19 points starting in place of Mitchell.

Boston can close out the series at home in Wednesday's Game 5.

Tatum set the tone right from the outset, scoring 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first quarter to stake the Celtics to a 37-30 lead after one period.

The All-Star forward closed out the first half with a 3-pointer that sent Boston into the break with a 62-57 advantage, though Cleveland opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run to move ahead by a 65–64 score three minutes into the second half.

Boston reasserted control from there, however, as they outscored the Cavs by a 14-4 margin over the next four and a half minutes. Brown had seven points during the spurt, which Derrick White capped with a 3-pointer for a 78-69 Celtics' lead with 4:50 left in the third quarter.

The Celtics stretched the lead to 98-83 with under eight minutes left, though Cleveland kept battling and put together a 12-2 run to close the gap to 100-95 with three minutes left to play.

Brown hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:09 to go, however, to put Boston up 105-97, and the Celtics kept Cleveland at bay the rest of the way as White and Tatum each made two free throws in the closing stages.

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    Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, including a jumper with three-tenths of a second left, and the Cleveland Cavaliers remained perfect with a 114-113 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.

    The 7-0 Cavaliers are one win away from matching their best start in franchise history. They won their first eight games in 1976-77.

    Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks, who have lost five straight since winning their opener. Milwaukee wasted a brilliant performance from Damian Lillard, who had 41 points with nine assists and shot 10 of 15 from 3-point range.

    Lillard had put Milwaukee ahead by hitting a step-back jumper with 9.8 seconds remaining.

    After shooting a combined 17 of 73 on 3-point attempts in losses at Boston and Memphis, the Bucks were 18 of 39 from beyond the arc in this one. Their hot start from long range helped them build a 16-point first-quarter lead.

    After Lillard put Milwaukee ahead, Cleveland called timeout. Evan Mobley inbounded a pass to Mitchell, who caught it while barely avoiding a backcourt violation. Mitchell briefly lost control of the ball, but regained possession in 3-point range, dribbled inside the arc and hit a 19-footer.

     

    Thunder defeat Clippers to remain unbeaten

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their undefeated start to the season by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 105-92.

    All five Thunder starters scored in double figures, and the six straight wins to begin the season marked the team's best start since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008.

    Norman Powell scored 24 points and James Harden added 12 points and 13 rebounds, but the Clippers dropped to 0-4 in their new arena despite holding double-digit leads in each of those defeats.  

    The Clippers got off to a good start from 3-point range, making eight long balls in the first quarter, but went 3 for 16 the rest of the way.

    Aaron Wiggins hit a 3 to end the third quarter for an 81-78 lead, and the Thunder followed that up by scoring the first seven points in the fourth to create separation.

     

    Booker leads Suns to 4th straight win

    Devin Booker had 28 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and the Phoenix Suns used a dominant third quarter to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 103-97.

    Kevin Durant scored 21 points for Phoenix, which won its fourth in a row.

    The Suns led by as many as 26 points, but the Trail Blazers cut the deficit to 99-97 in the final minute. Booker and Tyus Jones each made two free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the win.

    Grayson Allen scored 18 off the bench, making a team-high four 3-pointers. Jones and Bradley Beal each finished with 15 points, while Jusuf Nurkic had a game-high 15 rebounds.

    Trailing 47-43 at halftime, Phoenix scored 44 in the third quarter to take a 22-point lead by the end of the period. The Suns had zero turnovers in the third quarter after committing nine in the first half.

    Booker and Allen each had 10 points in the third quarter, while Portland only managed 18 points in the period.

    Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant led the Trail Blazers with 20 points apiece. Deni Avdija scored 13 points and former Sun Deandre Ayton had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

  • 'This defeat is on me', says Jokic after Nuggets collapse 'This defeat is on me', says Jokic after Nuggets collapse

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    Jokic's contribution of 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds put Denver up 116-109, after he had scored two free throws with two minutes and 30 seconds left.

    But the visitors surmounted a comeback, and the Serbian missed the chance to bring the scores level at 119-119 with 2.3 seconds left on the clock.

    The result leaves the Nuggets languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference with just two wins from their opening five matches, and Jokic took responsibility for his poor showing.

    "We had 10 or eight points in the last, I don't know how many minutes. We didn't execute, I missed basically all of my shots in the last two or three minutes," he reflected.

    "They scored easily, they had open looks. This defeat is on me. I need to do a better job of getting guys involved.

    "Today, I didn't do a good job. I had a turnover, I missed two turnaround jumpers, so it was a bad sequence for me."

    The Nuggets had started to put a run of form together with wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors in their previous two matches, but will now face Utah Jazz feeling they need a win now more than ever.

    The Timberwolves will be leaving far happier, with Anthony Edwards scoring 29 points during the victory. The guard credited the rivalry between the two teams for the grandstand finish.

    "They know when they see us, they don't like us, and I'm pretty sure they know we don't like them,” Edwards said. "It's always a great game. I love going against those guys. Plus, they have got the best player in the league, so I look forward to it."

  • NBA: Cavaliers, Thunder remain NBA's lone unbeaten teams NBA: Cavaliers, Thunder remain NBA's lone unbeaten teams

    Darius Garland scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 22 and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 6-0 with a 120-109 victory Friday night over the Orlando Magic, who played their first game without injured All-Star Paolo Banchero.

    The Cavs are the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. The last time Cleveland started 6-0 was in 2016 with LeBron James when it lost to Golden State in the NBA Finals. The club's best start was 8-0 in 1976.

    The early meeting between Orlando and Cleveland was a rematch of last season's tense opening-round playoff series won by the Cavs in seven games.

    Banchero is expected to miss at least a month - and maybe longer - with a torn right oblique. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft was on an early tear, averaging 29 points with 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists before getting hurt Wednesday.

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    The Magic hung around and were still within 10 late in the third quarter, when Cavs reserves Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill and Georges Niang all made 3-pointers in the final 2:17 to give Cleveland a 17-point lead going to the fourth.

    Cleveland improved to 30-7 in Mitchell's last 37 regular-season games since January.

    Thunder roll past Blazers to stay unbeaten

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points in 28 minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder remained perfect with a 137-114 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

    Jalen Williams added 22 points for the Thunder and Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins each had 13 off the bench as Oklahoma City improved to 5-0.

    Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points and Deandre Ayton added 14.

    After the Blazers came back from down 17 to tie the game at 68 at the half, Oklahoma City outscored the Blazers 38-17 in the third quarter and Portland was never able to get back in it.

    Wolves edge Nuggets in thriller

    Anthony Edwards hit a go-ahead 7-foot floater with 25.7 seconds left, and Rudy Gobert iced the game with two free throws to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Denver Nuggets 119-116.

    Edwards scored 29 points, Gobert had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Julius Randle added 23 points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who recovered from a 25-3 fourth-quarter run by the Nuggets.

    Nikola Jokić had 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds and hit two free throws with 2:30 left to put Denver up 116-109, before Minnesota roared back. Jokic had a chance to tie the game at 119, but Gobert forced an errant corner 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds to go.

    Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 31 points and 11 rebounds in a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinal.

    Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points for the Nuggets, who lost point guard Jamal Murray to the concussion protocol in the third quarter after colliding with Randle.

    Christian Braun dunked over the 7-foot-1 Gobert with 5:14 left and got even closer to his face with a taunting scream that egged Gobert into grabbing Braun by the neck. The benches cleared, shouts were exchanged, and both players got a technical.

     

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