Shai Gilgeous-Alexander produced 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117-95 win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 8 of 19 from the floor but 11 of 13 from the free-throw line in his first career second-round playoff game. The Thunder became the youngest team in NBA history to win a conference semifinal game. Kyrie

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Anthony Edwards also had 27 points and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 106-80 on Monday to take a 2-0 lead in a Western Conference semifinal series. Minnesota won without center Rudy Gobert, who was away from the team for the birth of his first child. The Timberwolves, holding a decisive edge on the reigning NBA champions, head back to Minneapolis for Game 3

Donovan Mitchell scored 39 points to fuel the host Cleveland Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 106-94 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday in Game 7 of their first-round series. Mitchell, who scored 17 points in the third quarter, made 15 of 17 free-throw attempts and added nine rebounds and five assists. His scintillating performance came on the heels of a 50-point effort in Cleveland’s 103-96 loss in Orlando on Friday. Caris

Jalen Brunson poured in a game-high 41 points, Josh Hart broke a late tie with a 3-pointer and the New York Knicks eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers from the NBA playoffs with a 118-115 victory in Game 6 of their best-of-seven series on Thursday. By virtue of their 4-2 win, the second-seeded Knicks will move on to face the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers in an Eastern Conference best-of-seven semifinal series. Game 1 is set for Monday in

Luka Doncic scored 35 points and handed out 10 assists as the visiting Dallas Mavericks moved one win away from a spot in the Western Conference semifinals with a 123-93 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Maxi Kleber contributed 15 points as the Mavericks took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is set for Friday in Dallas. “Game 5 is over and we have to prepare for Game 6 and

Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis scored 29 points apiece and the injury-riddled Milwaukee Bucks stayed alive with a 115-92 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. Portis made 14 of 24 field-goal attempts and collected 10 rebounds. Middleton had 12 rebounds and five assists as Milwaukee cut its deficit to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. The Bucks controlled the contest despite both Giannis

Jamal Murray hit a tiebreaking 14-footer with four seconds left to send the host Denver Nuggets to the Western Conference semifinals with a 108-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series on Monday. The second-seeded Nuggets won the best-of-seven series 4-1 and will face the third-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals beginning Saturday in Denver. “This series definitely got us ready for the next series,” Nuggets

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams scored 24 points each, Gilgeous-Alexander added 10 rebounds and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder completed a first-round playoff sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans with a 97-89 victory on Monday. Williams put up eight of his points during a pivotal 10-0 fourth-quarter run for the top-seeded Thunder, who advance to face either the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers or the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals. Oklahoma City’s Chet

Anthony Edwards scored 31 of his 40 points in the second half and the Minnesota Timberwolves completed a four-game sweep of the host Phoenix Suns with a 122-116 victory on Sunday night in their Western Conference first-round series. Edwards made seven 3-pointers and had nine rebounds and six assists for the third-seeded Timberwolves. Karl-Anthony Towns added 28 points and 10 rebounds as Minnesota won a playoff series for the first time in 20 years. “I