NBA Roundup: Irving sinks Mavs with costly foul vs Hawks as Brunson, Knicks punch playoff ticket

While the Mavericks’ new point guard was risking Dallas’ season with a costly foul, his predecessor was guiding the New York Knicks to a playoff berth for just the second time in the last decade.

Kyrie Irving’s controversial foul on Atlanta’s Trae Young allowed the Hawks to pull out a 132-130 overtime win against the visiting Mavericks, putting Dallas one game behind the 10th-place Oklahoma City Thunder for the final play-in spot in the West with three left to play.

Meanwhile, former Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson’s sensational season continued Sunday as he scored 27 points in the Knicks’ 118-109 win over the visiting Washington Wizards. The win not only clinches a playoff spot for New York, but nearly guarantees the Knicks the five seed in the upcoming Eastern Conference playoffs.

After winning two national titles at Villanova, Brunson played his first four seasons with the Mavericks, who regrettably opted against signing the point guard to a contract extension. Instead, he signed a four-year, $105 million pact with the Knicks last summer, and now he and Tom Thibodeau’s team area headed to the playoffs. 

Without Brunson, the Mavericks chose to add Irving at the trade deadline, but that deal with the Brooklyn Nets has not paid any dividends for Dallas and coach Jason Kidd.  

Former Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson (right) is headed to the playoffs with the Knicks

Kyrie Irving’s controversial foul on Atlanta’s Trae Young allowed the Hawks to win in overtime

Mavericks star Kyrie Irving reacts after he was charged with a foul against Trae Young

Irving had 41 points on Sunday, but was whistled for a controversial foul on Young with 1.8 seconds remaining in overtime and the game tied at 130. 

Young made both, and alter admitted it was ‘kind of a lucky play for us and unlucky for them.’

Young said he accidently stepped on the foot of Mavericks guard Josh Green before crashing into Irving. ‘I just got in Kyrie’s way,’ Young said.

Kidd said ‘it was a wild ending’ and added ‘it was just unfortunate we got a foul there that could have gone either way.’

Following Young’s free throws, Luke Doncic, who scored 22 points, missed a last-second 3-pointer.

‘I thought Luke got a great look there at the end,’ Kidd said. ‘He’s the one who can make it.’

The Hawks (39-39) moved back into eighth place in the play-in race. Toronto and Chicago put pressure on the Hawks with wins before Atlanta´s game. The Hawks have the tiebreaker advantage over Toronto.

The Hawks are only one ahead of the 10th-place Bulls for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference and play at Chicago on Tuesday night.

Irving’s mid-range jumper with 37 seconds remaining in regulation tied the game at 121. Saddiq Bey’s layup gave the lead back to Atlanta.

Christian Wood was fouled by John Collins and made one free throw before missing the second with 1.2 seconds remaining. With 0.4 seconds remaining, Atlanta’s Clint Capela fouled JaVale McGee near the basket as McGee reached for Doncic’s inbound pass. McGee missed the first free throw and made the second to tie the game at 123 and force overtime.

Quentin Grimes scored 27 points for the Knicks as they clinched a playoff berth

In Atlanta, Christian Wood split a late pair of free throws as the Mavs went on to lose

Immanuel Quickley had 22 points for the Knicks while Corey Kispert (right) led Washington with a career-high 29

John Collins’ 3-pointer, followed by Clint Capela’s jam, gave Atlanta an 84-74 lead midway through the third period. The Hawks stretched the advantage to 15 points at 91-76, but Dallas used a 15-3 run to close the deficit to 94-91 entering the final period.

While Dallas fell in overtime, the Knicks comfortably won 118-109 in regulation over the Wizards, as Quentin Grimes matched his teammate Brunson’s efforts with 27 points of his own.

Immanuel Quickley added 22 points and Obi Toppin had 21 for the Knicks, who won their fourth in a row and will be in the postseason for the second time in three years after missing it the previous seven.

‘Making the playoffs is a great accomplishment, but it’s one of several,’ Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. ‘It’s the next step along the way. Just keep checking the boxes.’

Mitchell Robinson contributed eight points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who have won both games since losing All-Star forward Julius Randle to a sprained left ankle.

Corey Kispert led Washington with a career-high 29 points. Johnny Davis had 16 and Taj Gibson added 14.

The Knicks trailed by as many as 10 points in the second quarter and 61-53 at halftime. The Wizards extended their lead to 64-55 before the Knicks went on a 14-4 run to reclaim a lead they never gave back.

‘We just had to wake up a little bit,’ Brunson said. ‘We needed a little wake-up call at halftime and Coach gave it to us and we responded. Better to learn from wins than from losses.’

Bucks 117, 76ers 104 

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 117-104 on Sunday night to move a step closer to the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Bucks (56-22) have a two-game lead over Boston (54-24) with four games left. Boston won the season series with Milwaukee and has the tiebreaker. Philadelphia (51-27) is third in the East.

Brook Lopez scored 21 points, Khris Middleton had 19 and Jrue Holiday and Bobby Portis each added 18 as the Bucks shot 57.5%. Middleton also had nine assists.

Tyrese Maxey had 29 points and Joel Embiid 28 for the 76ers.

The Bucks bounced back three nights after a 140-99 home loss to Boston that matched their most-lopsided defeat of the season. The Bucks never trailed thanks to a blistering start that enabled them to build a 31-15 lead.

Milwaukee made its first first eight shots from the floor and 12 of its first 13. The Bucks were 5 of 5 from 3-point range during that stretch.

Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts after a dunk in Milwaukee’s victory over Philadelphia

Nuggets 112, Warriors 110

Jamal Murray scored 26 points and blocked Klay Thompson’s three-point attempt in the final seconds, and the Denver Nuggets held on for a 112-110 win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.

Michael Porter Jr. had 29 points and 11 rebounds and Aaron Gordon added 13 points and 10 rebounds for short-handed Denver.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic missed his third straight game with calf tightness that first cropped up against Milwaukee on March 25 and lingered against Philadelphia on Monday, coach Michael Malone said.

Thompson led Golden State with 25 points and Stephen Curry scored 21, but struggled from the field. Curry missed his first five shots from behind the arc and finished 2 of 14 from deep.

Denver (52-26) moved within a game of securing home-court advantage in the Western Conference. A victory in the final four games or one loss by Memphis will give the Nuggets the No. 1 seed for the first time in franchise history.

The Warriors (41-38) are tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for the fifth seed and are just a half-game ahead of the surging Lakers, who have won three straight.

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray drives to the basket in the win over the Warriors

Lakers 134, Rockets 109

Anthony Davis scored 40 points, LeBron James had 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to tie Jason Kidd for fourth place with his 107th triple-double and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 134-109 on Sunday night.

The Lakers (40-38) moved two games over .500 and into a tie for seventh with the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference with four games to go. Los Angeles has won six of its last seven games and owns the tiebreaker over the Pelicans.

Davis scored 27 in the first half en route to his first 40-point performance since scoring 55 against the Washington Wizards on Dec. 4 and his third of the season.

Lakers starter D´Angelo Russell, who has started every game since being acquired in a three-team trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 9, did not return to play in the second half due to left foot soreness. Russell had six points, four assists and three rebounds in 15 minutes.

Ham said sitting sitting Russell was ‘definitely precautionary’ and that he’ll be reevaluated and see how he feels on Monday.

For the Rockets Alperen Sengun notched his third straight double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds, Jalen Green scored 24 points and Kevin Porter Jr. chipped in 20 points.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) scored 40 points for the Lakers in the win

Cavaliers 115, Pacers 105

All-Star Donovan Mitchell scored 40 points and Evan Mobley had 14 points and 16 rebounds as the playoff-bound Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away late for a 115-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.

Darius Garland added 20 points and six assists for Cleveland, which reduced its magic number to one for clinching home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Cavaliers won for the 31st time in 40 games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

‘It´s great to be in this position, but we have stuff to prove in the playoffs,’ Mitchell said. ‘The big thing for me is we´re bringing that energy and that vibe to the city. We have expectations. We´re here to win.’

Rookie Bennedict Mathurin had 19 points, nine rebounds and three fourth-quarter offensive fouls for Indiana, which was eliminated from postseason contention for the third year in a row. T.J. McConnell had 16 points and five assists off the bench.

Mitchell became the first Cleveland player with three straight 40-point games and extended his franchise record for such games in a season to 12. He scored 17 points in the third quarter and 21 in the second half.

The Cavaliers trailed by 11 points in the opening half and didn´t go in front for good until Garland drained a 3-pointer early in the fourth, making it 92-89. Jarrett Allen returned from a two-game absence with a groin strain and had 15 points and seven rebounds.

Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots against Pacers forward Isaiah Jackson

Nets 111, Jazz 110 

Mikal Bridges had 30 points and seven rebounds, helping the Brooklyn Nets move closer to clinching a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference by holding off the Utah Jazz 111-110 on Sunday.

Spencer Dinwiddie had 17 points and 12 assists, his eighth double-double in 23 games for Brooklyn. The Nets won their third straight, but only after blowing almost all of a 20-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.

‘There’s only one winner and one loser in every single game; we won,’ Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. ‘So we’re going to take the win and we’re going to keep this thing moving.’

Cam Johnson scored 18 points as the Nets won for the fourth time in their past five games, opening a two-game lead over Miami for the No. 6 seed and dipping their magic number to two to clinch the last guaranteed playoff spot in the East.

Talen Horton-Tucker scored 32 points and Lauri Markkanen had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who lost for the fifth time in six games and are 12th in the West, two spots behind the last play-in spot. Ochai Agbaji had 19 points.

Brooklyn led by 11 at halftime, then outscored Utah 28-15 over a span of 10 1/2 minutes between the third and fourth quarters to build a 23-point lead. Bridges had 17 of his 19 second-half points in the third quarter.

Mikal Bridges continued his strong play on Sunday with 30 points and seven boards vs the Jazz

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