Doncic leads Mavericks past Jazz, into Western Conference semifinals

Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson each scored 24 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat hosts Utah Jazz 98-96 on Thursday night in Game 6 to wrap up the first-round series.

The Jazz got an open look for Bojan Bogdanovic on the left wing, but he came up short and the Mavericks moved on to face top-seeded Phoenix in the second round.

Doncic also had nine rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and two steals. Spencer Dinwiddie added 19 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith had 18.

Donovan Mitchell had 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for Utah, Bogdanovic finished with 19 points.

The Mavericks won in the first round for the first time since since winning the 2011 NBA championship.

Finney-Smith's 3-pointer gave the Mavericks their largest lead at 88-80 before the Jazz scored eight straight — many coming off hustle plays as Utah played with desperation — culminating with a Mitchell-to-Gobert dunk.

The Mavericks found their range in the third quarter as they Jazz tried multiple defenses but somehow seemed to consistently leave someone alone behind the arc. Doncic had 10 points and Dallas made 8 of 12 from 3-point range to outscore Utah 36-19 in the third quarter.

Perfect Paul, Suns finish off Pelicans

Chris Paul went 14 for 14 in the best shooting night in NBA playoff history, Devin Booker returned from a hamstring injury to hit a late 3-pointer and the Phoenix Suns beat the New Orleans Pelicans 115-109 on Thursday night to finish off the first-round series in six games.

Phoenix will face the Dallas-Utah winner in the second round.

Booker hit a 3-pointer with 1:42 left to put the Suns ahead for goad at 106-104. The All-Star guard played for the first time in nine days since injuring his right hamstring after scoring 31 points in the first half of Game 2. He had 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting and had five rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes.

Deandre Ayton had 22 points for Phoenix on 10-of-12 shooting

The Suns erased the 10-point halftime deficit by making 13 of their first 14 shots in the third quarter to take a 77-74 lead. At that point, Paul was 10 of 10 from the field and Ayton was 6 of 6. Paul had 13 points in the quarter, but New Orleans used an 11-5 run to take an 85-82 lead into the final period.

Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 21 points.

The game got chippy in the second quarter — there were 16 fouls called — and the Pelicans seemed to revel in the physical play, outsourcing the Suns 30-20 to take a 58-48 halftime lead.