Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith produced a full line in Friday's victory over the Spurs. Finney-Smith scored a season-high 15 points on efficient shooting, but his contributions went far beyond his efforts in the scoring column. The Florida product also tallied seven rebounds, three assists, three triples, a trio of steals, and a blocked shot in 34 minutes of action. Finney-Smith has been inconsistent for fantasy purposes, though he could be a sneaky DFS play for those looking for defensive contributions, as he's averaged 1.6 steals and 0.8 blocks per game this year.

NEW YORK (AP) — Trae Young didn’t look like a postseason rookie in silencing a rocking road crowd in New York. “The moment wasn’t too big for him,” Atlanta teammate Lou Williams said. Nor for Ja Morant or Devin Booker, who were just as impressive in their debuts. Throw in Luka Doncic picking up where he left off last year, and the opening weekend of the playoffs may have proven that the time is now for some of the NBA’s best young guards. “The great players, in every era, that’s what they do,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “They pose problems.” Booker and Doncic will be back in action Tuesday, hoping to send the two Los Angeles teams into 2-0 holes. Phoenix beat the Lakers 99-90 on Sunday behind 34 points from Booker. In his sixth season, he's got much more NBA experience than Young, Morant or Doncic. But he's still only 24 years old, and no amount of regular-season games is preparation for LeBron James and the defending champions in the postseason. Phoenix coach Monty Williams said... [More]

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 24 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 23 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets 113-109 on Thursday night to finish a season sweep. Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 45 points for the Nets. They lost a season-high fourth straight game and dropped two games behind Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia. Dorian Finney-Smith scored 17 points as the Mavericks reached 10 games over .500 for the first time this season and held on to the fifth seed in the West. Dallas (38-28) is a game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland (both 37-29) with six to go after LA's 118-94 loss to the Clippers. The Mavericks hold the tiebreaker on the defending NBA champs but not the Trail Blazers. One of the three teams will be forced into the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed. “This is all experience we need,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “There’s a lot of situations that are new. Last year at this time we were locked into the seventh position and we weren’t going lower.... [More]

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 24 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 23 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets 113-109 on Thursday night to finish a season sweep. Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 45 points for the Nets. They lost a season-high fourth straight game and dropped two games behind Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia. Dorian Finney-Smith scored 17 points as the Mavericks reached 10 games over .500 for the first time this season and moved a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the fifth seed in the West. Dallas holds the tiebreaker on the defending NBA champs. “This is all experience we need,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “There’s a lot of situations that are new. Last year at this time we were locked into the seventh position and we weren’t going lower. This year is a whole different ballgame. There’s so much in play. The thing I’m most proud of with this group is they’re blocking out all the external noise.” Kevin Durant had 20 points and nine rebounds for... [More]

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 24 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 23 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets 113-109 on Thursday night to finish a season sweep. Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 45 points for the Nets. They lost a season-high fourth straight game and dropped two games behind Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia. Dorian Finney-Smith scored 17 points as the Mavericks reached 10 games over .500 for the first time this season and moved a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the fifth seed in the West. Dallas holds the tiebreaker on the defending NBA champs. Kevin Durant had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Nets with each team missing an injured star: James Harden for Brooklyn and Kristaps Porzingis for Dallas. In the Mavericks' 115-98 win at Brooklyn in February, Harden played while Durant and Irving were out. Doncic had 10 rebounds, and one of his eight assists came on a layup by Dwight Powell that put Dallas ahead for good at 94-92 and started a 7-0... [More]

DETROIT (AP) — Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic is out for Thursday night's game at Detroit because of a left elbow issue. Coach Rick Carlisle said Dorian Finney-Smith (left leg) is also out, but Kristaps Porzingis (left ankle) and Josh Richardson (right hamstring) are available. Detroit is without several players, including Jerami Grant (right knee), Mason Plumlee (rest) and Wayne Ellington (calf). Doncic is third in the NBA in scoring at 28.6 points per game. He is coming off a 39-point performance in a win over Golden State on Tuesday night. This will be the sixth game he's missed this season. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

DALLAS (AP) — Michael Porter Jr. tied his season high with 30 points and the Denver Nuggets overcame Jamal Murray's ejection for a shot to the groin of Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to beat the Mavericks 117-113 on Monday night. Porter was 6 of 10 from 3-point range, including a go-ahead bucket to start a decisive 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter after the Mavericks had rallied immediately following the incident involving Murray and Hardaway. Luka Doncic had 35 points, 11 rebounds and a season-high 16 assists for his league-leading sixth triple-double. The Dallas star broke a tie for the NBA lead with Nikola Jokic, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. The Nuggets improved to 3-0 on a five-game road trip with their fourth straight victory and are 7-2 since an overtime loss to the Mavericks in Denver. It was the third game in four days, and the first two went to overtime in Phoenix. “This was character,” coach Mike Malone said. “Coming off two overtime games in Phoenix. And... [More]

DALLAS (AP) — Michael Porter Jr. tied his season high with 30 points and the Denver Nuggets overcame Jamal Murray's ejection for a shot to the groin of Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to beat the Mavericks 117-113 on Monday night. Porter was 6 of 10 from 3-point range, including a go-ahead shot to start a decisive 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter after the Mavericks had rallied immediately following the incident involving Murray and Hardaway. Luka Doncic had 35 points, 11 rebounds and a season-high 16 assists for his league-leading sixth triple-double. The Dallas star broke a tie for the NBA lead with Nikola Jokic, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. Denver was setting up on offense early in the second half when Murray stumbled backward after colliding with Hardaway. Murray got up and reached between Hardaway’s legs with his right arm, prompting Hardaway to double over. The official closest to the contact blew the whistle to stop play with 4:51 left in the third quarter and... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Dallas Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis will miss Game 5 of a first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers because of right knee soreness.It will be the second straight game the 7-foot-3 Latvian is sidelined. He was ruled out a few hours before the game Tuesday night after being a late scratch for Game 4.It's not the same knee Porzingis had surgically repaired after an injury in what ended up being his final game with the New York Knicks in early 2018. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Dallas acquired him in a trade last year.The Mavericks pulled off the biggest playoff comeback in franchise history without Porzingis in Game 4, evening the series with a 135-133 overtime victory when young star Luka Doncic hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer. Dallas trailed by 21 points in the first half.The right knee gave Porzingis trouble before the pandemic-forced shutdown of the NBA in March. He missed 10 games in January. During the restart, he has been listed on the injury both with right knee soreness and a left heel contusion.The Mavericks might be without another starter in Game 5. Dorian Finney-Smith is questionable because of issues in each of his hips.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

DALLAS (AP) — The Mavericks have re-signed restricted free agent Dorian Finney-Smith to a $12 million, three-year contract, bringing back the undrafted forward for a fourth season in Dallas.Finney-Smith has been on the back end of coach Rick Carlisle's rotation while averaging 5.9 points and 3.7 rebounds in 183 career games, with 74 starts. The former Memphis player is a solid defender whose 3-point shooting has improved slightly each season, although still hovering around 30 percent.The 26-year-old Finney-Smith has played in 81 games twice, including last season when he also made 26 starts. He had a career-best 35 starts as a rookie in 2016-17. Last season Finney-Smith averaged career bests of 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds.Finney-Smith was one of three restricted free agents the Mavericks are bringing back. The others are the European pair of Kristaps Porzingis and Maxi Kleber. Dwight Powell opted in on the final year of his contract and signed a three-year extension.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports