Clutch Doncic helps Mavericks down Celtics

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  • 2021-02-24 HKT 11:58″ title=”Luka Doncic steps back before launching his game winner. Photo: Reuters”>


    Luka Doncic steps back before launching his game winner. Photo: Reuters
    Luka Doncic steps back before launching his game winner. Photo: Reuters

Luka Doncic hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining — the Dallas sensation’s second go-ahead 3 in the final minute — and the Mavericks avoided a fourth-quarter collapse in a 110-107 victory over the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics trailed by 11 points with three minutes to go before Jaylen Brown put them in front in the final minute with a short jumper. Doncic answered with a 3 before Brown pulled Boston even at 107-all with another bucket.

Doncic scored 31 points, while Brown had 29 and Jayson Tatum added 28 in an All-Star matchup for the trio after Brown and Tatum were named Eastern Conference reserves earlier in the day. Doncic is a West starter for the second straight season.

Playing without Kristaps Porzingis for a second straight night on a back-to-back because of a tight lower back, Doncic was steady to help Dallas build a fourth-quarter lead before another spectacular finish five days before the his 22nd birthday.

The Mavericks won for the seventh time in nine games to get back to .500 for the first time in almost a month while dropping the Celtics below the break-even mark for the first time since the third game of the season.

Brown was 12 of 20 from the field on the same day he made his first All-Star team, while Tatum earned his second straight selection, just like Doncic.

Elsewhere, James Harden posted another triple-double as the Brooklyn Nets finished strong down the stretch and extended their winning streak to seven games with a 127-118 victory over the skidding Sacramento Kings in New York.

Harden finished with 29 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds for his sixth triple-double as a Net.

Tobias Harris had 12 his 23 points in the fourth quarter to lead a balanced attack as the visiting Philadelphia 76ers held on to defeat the Raptors 109-102 and ended a string of 16 straight regular-season road losses to Toronto.

Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid added 18 points and 12 rebounds to end a streak of 14 straight games in which he had scored at least 25 points. (AP)