On a day that was filled with standout play, Utah’s Donovan Mitchell and Dallas’ Luka Doncic put on shows for their respective teams and helped will the Jazz and Mavericks to wins in the NBA playoffs on Sunday.
For Utah, Mitchell pumped in 51 points (18 in the fourth quarter) to help the Jazz withstand a 50-point night from Denver’s Jamal Murray to beat the Nuggets 129-127 on Sunday and take a 3-1 lead in their playoff series.
“I love hearing negative things about me,” Mitchell said after the win. “The knock on me has been inefficient, not a team player. I pride myself on being a team player. … People are going to say what they say. You can’t please everybody. For me, it’s how can I help my team win? Tonight it was scoring 50. Some nights it’s not. They want to talk. It’s just more fuel to the fire for me.”
For Dallas, Doncic finished with 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists for his second straight triple-double and capped off his night with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to carry the Mavericks past the Los Angeles Clippers 135-133 in overtime to even their series at two games apiece.
“We know this kid has got a flair for the dramatic,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s a guy that lives for these moments.”
Elsewhere in the NBA, the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors both completed sweeps of their respective series, and they will face off in the second round of the postseason starting on Thursday.
Another full day of basketball is ahead on Monday …
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