JALEN BRUNSON

Let the talking begin.

Luka Doncic had 30 points and 14 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks avoided being swept with a 119-109 victory over Golden State in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

When the NBA playoffs take the TV court even the most popular shows find the competition tough.

Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Andrew Wiggins added 27 while posterizing Luka Doncic on a dunk and the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-100 for a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Stephen Curry had 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, Golden State’s defense held Luka Doncic in check, and the Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-87 for a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

The NBA’s long regular season can be tedious, but make no mistake, it matters.

Luka Doncic scored 33 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 113-86 on Thursday night to force a Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals.

Devin Booker scored 28 points, Deandre Ayton added 20 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 110-80 night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

Luka Doncic scored 26 points and the Dallas Mavericks took advantage of foul trouble for Chris Paul to beat the Phoenix Suns 111-101 on Sunday, evening the Western Conference semifinal series at 2-2.

Luka Doncic had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks turned up the defensive pressure to get back in their Western Conference semifinal series with Phoenix, beating the Suns 103-94.

The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat are the top seeds in the playoffs and at the moment, they look like it coming off impressive performances.

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

Luka Doncic had 33 points and 13 rebounds in his first home playoff game coming off a calf injury and the Dallas Mavericks routed the Utah Jazz 102-77 for a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Rudy Gobert gave Utah the lead with an alley-oop dunk with 11.0 seconds left and the Jazz held off the Dallas Mavericks 100-99 on Saturday in Game 4 to tie the first-round series.

Scoring has rarely looked so difficult for Kevin Durant.

Jalen Brunson scored 31 points playing with a bruised back and the Dallas Mavericks — without the injured Luka Doncic — beat the Utah Jazz 126-118 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.

The Dallas Mavericks are buying time to get Luka Doncic involved in their first-round series against Utah after winning Game 2 at home without their star.

Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 41 points, Maxi Kleber had 25 with eight of Dallas’ playoff-record 22 made 3-pointers and the Mavericks won Game 2 against Utah 110-104 to even the first-round series.

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 of his 32 points after halftime, Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 26 and the Utah Jazz opened the playoffs with a 99-93 victory over Dallas.

Luka Doncic won’t play for the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of their playoff series against Utah because of the calf injury the All-Star guard suffered in the regular-season finale.

Luka Doncic strained his left calf in Dallas’ 130-120 win over San Antonio in what turned out to be a meaningless regular-season finale, putting the superstar’s status in question for the playoff-bound Mavericks.

Luka Doncic scored 32 points and matched a season high with 15 assists to help the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-112.

Spencer Dinwiddie made a 3-pointer at the buzzer against his former team, giving the Dallas Mavericks a 113-111 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Dorian Finney-Smith hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 3.3 seconds left and the Dallas Mavericks, playing without All-Star guard Luka Doncic, overcame a 19-point deficit for the second time this week to beat the Sacramento Kings 114-113 on Saturday.

Luka Doncic had 49 points and 15 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks never trailed in a 125-118 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, their sixth victory in seven games.

Luka Doncic scored 28 of his career-high 51 points in the first quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-105.

Luka Doncic had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his 40th career triple-double, and the Dallas Mavericks used a second-half rally to rout Memphis 112-85 and end the Grizzlies’ winning streak at 11 games.

RJ Barrett scored 32 points, Mitchell Robinson had a season-high 19 and the New York Knicks snapped the Dallas Mavericks’ six-game winning streak with a 108-85 victory.

Luka Doncic scored 26 points and the Dallas Mavericks celebrated before a ceremony to retire Dirk Nowitzki’s number by beating cold-shooting Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors 99-82 on Wednesday night.

Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points and the Utah Jazz beat the COVID-19-depleted Dallas Mavericks 120-116.

Rookie Austin Reaves swished a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 107-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Mikal Bridges and Devin Booker each scored 19 points, Chris Paul added 18 points and 14 assists and the Phoenix Suns ran their winning streak to 11, rallying to beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-104 on Friday night.

Cam Reddish scored 20 points, Trae Young added 19 and the Atlanta Hawks opened the season with a 113-87 rout of the Mavericks to ruin the debut of Dallas coach Jason Kidd.

Kawhi Leonard scored 36 points, Paul George added 29 and the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled Luka Doncic’s home playoff debut, beating the Dallas Mavericks 118-108 to get back in the first-round playoff series.

Utah’s Jordan Clarkson, the only player to come off the bench and score 40 points in a game this season, was announced Monday as the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.

Luka Doncic scored 24 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 23 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets 113-109 to finish a season sweep.

Buddy Hield scored 27 points, Marvin Bagley III had 23 points and nine rebounds and Sacramento beat Dallas 111-99, giving the also-ran Kings a season sweep of the playoff-contending Mavericks.

Dallas Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis (6) shoots against Brooklyn Nets forward Jeff Green (8) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)NEW YORK – Luka Doncic scored 27 points, Kristaps Porzingis added 18 in his return from injury and the Dallas Mavericks snapped the Brooklyn Nets' eight-game winning streak with a 115-98 victory Saturday night. James Harden had 29 points for the Nets, but only four after halftime while playing as Brooklyn's solo superstar. Kevin Durant missed his seventh straight game with a left hamstring strain and Kyrie Irving rested his surgically repaired right shoulder. Dallas put it away with 12 straight points early in the fourth, making it 106-84 and soon after Harden was removed for good.

Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen (24) shoots over Dallas Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein (33) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)DALLAS – Lauri Markkanen had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Garrett Temple scored 15 of his season-high 21 points in the second quarter and the Chicago Bulls ended a four-game losing streak with a 117-101 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Markkanen, in his second game back after missing seven games because of COVID-19 protocols, was 10 of 19 from the field while recording season highs in points and rebounds. Mavericks: Dallas travel to the Raptors' temporary home in Tampa, Florida, on Monday in the second back-to-back of the season. The Mavericks lost at Chicago in the first game of their other back-to-back before winning at Houston.

The league's general managers met Monday to discuss the virus situation, with involvement from the National Basketball Players Association. The latest postponements came one day after Miami’s game in Boston was called off because of contact-tracing issues within the Heat. The Celtics would have been without seven players for virus-related issues for that game. Another three Heat players are on the injury list, raising the question if they will have the eight required players to start games. Philadelphia played at home against Denver on Saturday with seven players — eight were available — because of a combination of virus issues and injuries.

The people say one was because of a positive test for COVID-19 and the other two for contact tracing protocols. On the women’s side, the Cavaliers remain in COVID-19 protocols and haven’t played since Dec. 13 with four straight games postponed. LSU will visit Mississippi on Saturday night after both teams had their originally scheduled games postponed. ___Defender Matthijs De Ligt is the third Juventus player to test positive for COVID-19 in a week. ___The Georgia State men’s basketball team postponed games against Troy on Friday and Saturday and paused all team activities following multiple positive COVID-19 tests.

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives on Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)PHOENIX – Devin Booker scored 22 points, Mikal Bridges added 18 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-102 on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams. Luka Doncic cut the Suns' lead to three with a dunk but after a Booker miss, Bridges grabbed the offensive rebound and Phoenix closed out the victory. Suns: Forward Dario Saric, who missed all four of the Suns preseason games, sat out the opener with a sore right quad ... In 39 games last season with the Suns, Kaminsky averaged 9.7 points and 4.5 rebounds.