SALT LAKE CITY – Rudy Gobert gave Utah Jazz the lead with a dunk with 11.0 seconds left and the Jazz held off the Dallas Mavericks 100-99 in Game 4 to tie the first-round series.
Spencer Dinwiddie missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Dallas.
Jordan Clarkson scored 25 points for Utah, Donovan Mitchell added 23 points and seven assists, and Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 15 rebounds – 10 off the offensive glass. Gobert was 3 of 8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and 9 of 18 overall.
Dallas star Luka Doncic scored 30 points, 10 rebounds four assists in his return from a three-game absence because of strained left calf.
Jalen Brunson added 23 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell and Reggie Bullock had 11 points apiece.
Game 5 is Monday night in Dallas.
After going 3 1/2 minutes without a basket, the Jazz took a 95-94 lead on Mitchell´s layup with 1:27 remaining. Doncic answered with back-to-back baskets to put Dallas up 99-95, AP reported.
Mitchell converted a three-point play to bring Utah within one. Powell missed a pair of free throws with 19.8 seconds left, opening the door for Gobert´s winner.
Elsewhere, Pascal Siakam scored 15 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, Gary Trent Jr. added 24 points and Toronto Raptors beat Philadelphia 76ers to a avoid a series sweep.
Game 5 is Monday night in Philadelphia. No team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series.
Philadelphia´s Joel Embiid started despite a right thumb injury that required him to wear a brace. Embiid shot 3 for 10 in the first half.
He finished 7 for 16 and scored 21 points in 39 minutes. Before the game, 76ers coach Doc Rivers said Embiid is expected to undergo an MRI.
James Harden had 22 points for the 76ers.
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series. Fans briefly chanted “Raps in seven” after both coaches emptied their benches in the final minutes.
Embiid said he injured his thumb in the first half of Wednesday´s Game 3, and had it taped at halftime. He finished that game with a decisive 3-pointer in overtime, but wore a brace afterward, and at Friday´s practice.
Although 76ers coach Doc Rivers said the Sixers don´t believe the injury can get worse, Embiid was seen shaking his hand in pain several times, occasionally doubling over as he squeezed the area.
“It´s going to be something he´s going to have to deal with throughout the playoffs from this point on,” Rivers said. “It´s not going to go away. He´ll get better and better at figuring out how to use it.”
Embiid shot 3 for 10 in the first half. He finished 7 for 16 and scored 21 points in 39 minutes.
Embiid said he expects to undergo an MRI in Philadelphia Monday but will likely keep playing even if doctors recommend surgery.
“I want to play,” he said. “I would imagine that I keep playing and probably do something after the season.”
Rivers said the Sixers, who made 16 turnovers and were outrebounded 46-41, didn´t deserve to win Saturday.
“We just made so many mistakes,” he said. “You can´t win an NBA regular season game with the mistakes we made, let alone a playoff game.”
Thaddeus Young scored 13 points, OG Anunoby had 10, and newly crowned NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes had six points and 11 rebounds off the bench as Toronto overcame an injury to All-Star guard Fred VanVleet to stave off elimination.
After being called for a foul with 4:57 to go in the second quarter, VanVleet ripped his jersey apart in frustration and walked off the court to the locker room because of a strained left hip.
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