Luka Dončić drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3 seconds remaining and finished with a triple-double as the Dallas Mavericks rallied for a 109-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals on Friday night.

Doncic had 32 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his eighth triple-double in 42 career playoff games for the Mavericks, who erased a 16-point deficit midway through the third quarter.

After winning two on the road, the Mavericks look to take a commanding 3-0 lead as the series shifts to Dallas on Sunday night.

Naz Reid scored 23 points with seven 3-pointers, but his last shot at the buzzer rimmed out as the Timberwolves endured another off night from stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Edwards had 21 points on 5-of-17 shooting and Towns scored 15 on 4 of 16 from the field.

Jaden McDaniels, who had 20-plus points in each of Minnesota’s last three games, didn’t make a basket until midway through the third. He finished with two points on 1-of-6 shooting.

Kyrie Irving scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3 from the corner with 65 seconds left that drew Dallas within 108-106.

Minnesota committed two turnovers, the last one by Edwards, who recklessly threw the ball out of bounds off a drive with 13 seconds to go.

Doncic took the inbounds pass and dribbled to set up a screen for Dereck Lively II that triggered a switch by the Wolves. Rudy Gobert covered Doncic, but the Mavs superstar sank the 3 and then flexed his arms and yelled at the stunned crowd as his teammates mobbed him.

The Wolves pushed their lead to 68-52 on Mike Conley’s free throw with 9:07 left in the third quarter, but Dallas scored eight straight points and was within 79-77 on Irving’s basket with 1:22 to play in the quarter.

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 half-time and added nine rebounds to help the top-seeded Thunder even the best-of-seven series at 2-2 as it heads 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 play-off 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 Dončić 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 its 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 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 it 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 shorthanded 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 re-asserted control from there, however, as it outscored the Cavs by a 14-4 margin over the next 4 1/2 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.

In a Christmas Day slate full of noteworthy performances, Luka Doncic was the star atop the Christmas tree.

Doncic scored 50 points, eclipsing 10,000 for his career, and added six rebounds and 14 assists as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 128-114 in the NBA’s Christmas night cap.

Doncic went 8 of 16 from 3-point range and made all 12 of his free throw attempts as he reached the 10,000-point milestone in 358 career games, the seventh-fastest in NBA history.

Rookie center Dereck Lively II added 20 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double, while Derrick Jones Jr. contributed 23 points.

Grayson Allen led the Suns with 32 points while Kevin Durant (4 for 11) and Devin Booker (6 for 14) had poor shooting nights.

Celtics get first Christmas win over Lakers

Kristaps Porzingis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jayson Tatum scored 25 despite an off shooting night and the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 126-115.

The Celtics’ win was their first ever against the Lakers on Christmas Day, overcoming a 40-point, 13-rebound performance from Anthony Davis.

LeBron James had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers dropped to 2-6 since winning the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament.

Jokic shines in win over Warriors

Nikola Jokic flirted with a triple-double and made all 18 of his free throw attempts, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 120-114 win over the Golden State Warriors.

Jokic had 26 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for the defending champions as the Nuggets won a season-high fifth consecutive game and improved to 12-2 at Ball Arena this season.

Jamal Murray led Denver with 28 points.

The Warriors’ leading scorer was Andrew Wiggins, who netted 22 off the bench.

Luka Dončić notched a triple-double by halftime and finished with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in three quarters in the Dallas Mavericks’ 147-97 rout of the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

Doncic grabbed a rebound with 71 seconds left in the first half and assisted on Dereck Lively II’s dunk 12 seconds later to complete the 60th triple-double of his career. That moved him past Larry Bird into sole possession of ninth on the career list.

The Dallas superstar had the first 25-point first-half triple-double in NBA history. Doncic shot 14 of 25 from the field and was 6 of 12 from long range.

Kyrie Irving added 26 points for Dallas, which had its highest-scoring game of this season and came up two points shy of the highest-scoring game ever in regulation.

Ochai Agbaji scored 21 points for the Jazz, who played without top scorers Lauri Markkanen (hamstring) and Jordan Clarkson (thigh).

Grizzlies’ Bane goes off as Pistons lose again

Desmond Bane poured in 32 of his career-high 49 points in the second half and the Memphis Grizzlies sent the Detroit Pistons to their 18th straight loss, 116-102.

Detroit’s streak is the longest single-season run in franchise history and the longest in the NBA since the Houston Rockets’ 20-game slide in 2020-21. The Philadelphia 76ers hold the NBA record with a 26-game drought in 2013-14.

Bane shot 19 of 31 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point range while sinking all seven free-throw attempts. He added eight assists and six rebounds.

The Pistons held a 69-61 lead midway through the third quarter, but Bane scored the next seven points.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points for Detroit, which was outscored 34-18 in the fourth quarter.

Embiid drops 50 in 76ers’ win

Joel Embiid scored a season-high 50 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 131-126 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Embiid hit the 50-point mark for the sixth time in his career, falling nine points short of his career best set on Nov. 13, 2022, against Utah.

He was 19 of 24 from the floor with a 3-pointer on two attempts and 11 of 13 from the foul line. He also had seven assists and six turnovers in just over 38 minutes.

Tyrese Maxey added 26 points as the 76ers averted a third straight loss.