NBA roundup: P.J. Washington leads Mavericks to a 2-1 series edge over Thunder

P.J. Washington scored 27 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 105-101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals series Saturday in Dallas.

The Mavericks lead the series 2-1, winning for the second consecutive game.

Washington has scored 56 points combined over the past two games and has hit a combined 12 3-pointers, including five Saturday.

“Even keeled,” Washington said when asked if his confidence is soaring after the past two games. “You can’t get too high, you can’t get too low.”

Kyrie Irving scored eight of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, including six consecutive Mavericks points early in the quarter that helped Dallas stretch the lead to nine with eight minutes remaining.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 31 points and 10 rebounds, going 10 of 23 from the field.

The Thunder repeatedly fouled to send Dallas’ Dereck Lively II, a 50.6% free-throw shooter during the regular season, to the line.

But Lively went 5 of 8 from the line in the fourth quarter to help the Mavericks hold the lead.

Irving hit a floater with 39 seconds left to put Dallas up five.

“We haven’t done nothing,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “We haven’t achieved anything. We have to stay hungry.”

Chet Holmgren’s free throws with 10 seconds left made it a one-possession game, but Luka Doncic hit the first of his two free throws moments later to put the game away.

Doncic had 22 points and 15 rebounds, going 7 of 10 from the free-throw line.

“We’re not playing quite at a level that I think we’re capable of right now,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

With just more than three minutes left in the third, Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams was guarding Irving on the perimeter and turned his ankle during a collision with Josh Green.

Williams stayed down during the rest of the possession, and Irving buried his first 3-pointer of the game to put the Mavericks up 74-70.

Irving’s 3-pointer extended Dallas’ run to 19-5, with eight points from Washington during the stretch.

The Mavericks run came immediately after an 11-0 Thunder run put Oklahoma City up by 10, its biggest lead of the game.

Williams returned to the bench ahead of the fourth quarter and returned later.

Williams added 16 points, Chet Holmgren had 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks – three in the first quarter – and Isaiah Joe had 13 points, hitting three of his four attempts from 3-point range.

Jayson Tatum scores 33 points as Celtics take 2-1 lead on Cavaliers

Jayson Tatum recorded 33 points, 13 rebounds and six assists and the Boston Celtics regained the lead in their Eastern Conference second-round playoff series with a 106-93 victory over the host Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

Jaylen Brown scored 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting and collected nine rebounds as top-seeded Boston took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Jrue Holiday added 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Derrick White had 12 points for the Celtics.

Boston had coughed up homecourt advantage with a 118-94 loss in Game 2 on Thursday before responding emphatically on Saturday.

“We just wanted to bounce back. Disappointing loss the other night and coming into a hostile environment on the road. Our backs were against the wall,” Tatum said. “This was a good test for us to see how we respond and we were up to the challenge.”

Donovan Mitchell made seven 3-pointers and scored 33 points for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers.

Evan Mobley had 17 points and eight rebounds, while Caris LeVert and Darius Garland scored 15 points apiece for Cleveland.

Game 4 is Monday night at Cleveland.

The Cavaliers were without big man Jarrett Allen (ribs) for the sixth straight game. Kristaps Porzingis (calf) missed his fourth straight game for the Celtics.

Boston shot 51.2 percent from the field, including 13 of 34 from 3-point range. Cleveland connected on 42.9 percent of its shots and was 12 of 36 from behind the arc.

“We can do a better job defensively and that’s with holding them to 106 (points),” Mitchell said. “But at the end of the day, we didn’t score. We didn’t score when we needed to or respond back. We’ll be better. It’s not going to be easy.”

The Cavaliers trailed by 15 points before scoring the first six points of the final quarter. Mobley capped the run with back-to-back buckets down low to bring Cleveland within 84-75 with 10:29 remaining.

Payton Pritchard and White nailed 3-pointers over the next few minutes as Boston pushed its lead to 94-81 with 6:58 remaining.

After a three-point play by Mitchell, Brown and White scored to give the Celtics a 98-84 advantage with 5:42 left.

Tatum’s fallaway baseline jumper over Max Strus made it 104-89 with 2:14 left, and Boston closed it out.

“There were a couple (shots) that I think we would all like to have back, where we rushed them,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “When you get down to this team, it feels real heavy.”

Boston led by nine at the break before opening the third quarter with 14 consecutive points.

Tatum opened the quarter with a three-point play, White added a 3-pointer and Brown followed with a layup to increase the margin to 17. White and Holiday knocked down treys to end the surge and give the Celtics a 71-48 lead with 9:06 left in the third.

Mitchell hit a short jumper with 8:39 left in the third to start a 9-0 run as the Cavaliers pulled within 14 with 5:25 to go. Boston thwarted the charge, and Brown drained a long 3-pointer with 20.3 seconds left to give his team an 84-69 advantage entering the final stanza.