Brooklyn center Andre Drummond chases a loose ball against Dallas center Dwight Powell, below, in the first half  Wednesday night in New York. John Minchillo/Associated Press

NEW YORK — 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 on Wednesday night.

Dinwiddie hit the winning basket with nine seconds left Sunday in Boston and came through in the clutch again after Kevin Durant had given the Nets a one-point lead with a 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play.

The Mavericks took time and Luka Doncic brought the ball up before the Mavericks got it to Dinwiddie, who nailed the jumper from the right side, right in front of Brooklyn’s bench. He then ran across the court to the other sideline in celebration.

Doncic finished with 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the Mavericks’ eighth win in nine games. Dinwiddie scored 22 points, 15 in the fourth quarter.

Durant had 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, but Brooklyn had its four-game winning streak snapped. Goran Dragic scored a season-high 21 points and Bruce Brown had 17.

A night after a 150-108 romp in Orlando, when Kyrie Irving scored a career-high 60 points, the Nets were searching for offense with the guard unable to play because of New York City’s coronavirus vaccine mandate.

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KNICKS 128, TRAIL BLAZERS 98: RJ Barrett scored 31 points, Julius Randle added 20 points and nine rebounds, and New York beat visiting Portland.

Immanuel Quickley had 18 points and Evan Fournier chipped in 14 for the Knicks, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

It was New York’s first win at home in more than a month after losing five straight. Their last Madison Square Garden victory was on Jan. 31 over Sacramento.

Jason Hart scored 17 points and Drew Eubanks had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have lost 8 of 9 and six in a row on the road.

76ERS 118, CAVALIERS 114: Joel Embiid had 35 points and 17 rebounds, James Harden scored 21 points and added 11 assists and Philadelphia won at Cleveland.

Embiid was a game-time decision with a sore back, but showed no signs of the injury on his 28th birthday. The All-Star center and MVP candidate shot 13 of 19 from the field, including 1 of 3 from 3-point range, and was 8 of 10 from the foul line, adding five assists in 35 minutes.

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Darius Garland had 22 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers.

TIMBERWOLVES 124, LAKERS 104: Karl-Anthony Towns scored 16 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to help Minnesota beat visiting Los Angeles.

Anthony Edwards had 20 of his 27 points in the second quarter to lead the early surge by the Timberwolves, who never trailed on their way to their ninth victory in 10 games.

LeBron James, playing through knee soreness, had just 19 points to lead the Lakers, who fell to 5-16 in their last 21 games.

HORNETS 116, HAWKS 106: LaMelo Ball had 22 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, P.J. Washington scored 13 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, and host Charlotte won its third straight.

Montrezl Harrell chipped in with 20 points off the bench and Terry Rozier and Miles Bridges each had 18 points for Charlotte.

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Clint Capella had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Hawks, who had their three-game win streak snapped. Trae Young had 15 assists but was held to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting.

NUGGETS 127, WIZARDS 109: Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 13 rebounds in an efficient 26-minute performance to help visiting Denver beat struggling Washington.

Jokic reached 10,001 career NBA points – all with Denver – and added eight assists while falling two shy of his 19th triple-double the season.

The four-time All-Star shot 10 of 14 from the floor, hitting both 3-pointers and all seven foul shots he attempted as the Nuggets improved to 2-0 on their three-game East Coast trip.

Deni Avdija scored 19 points for Washington, which has lost five straight.

SUNS 129, ROCKETS 112: Devin Booker scored 36 points, including 15 in the third, Mikal Bridges added 26 and NBA-leading Phoenix  won at Houston for its third straight victory.

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Booker shot 15 of 24 from the field and scored at least 30 points for the second time in the last three games. He had 15 points in the third quarter.

Jalen Green scored 22 points for Houston.

JAZZ 125, BULLS 110: Donovan Mitchell scored a team-record 25 of his 37 points in the third quarter, Jordan Clarkson added 26 and Utah won in Salt Lake City.

Mitchell made a franchise-record seven 3-pointers in the third quarter on nine attempts. He broke Karl Malone’s team mark of 22 points in a quarter. Mitchell finished with nine 3-pointers, besting his previous career best of seven.

Chicago’s Zach LaVine, who has been affected by a sore left knee, made five 3s and had 33 points in tying his highest scoring output in four months. DeMar DeRozan added 25 points. The Bulls have dropped seven of nine.

SPURS 122, THUNDER 120: Lonnie Walker IV made a a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds as San Antonio won at home, salvaging a victory after blowing a 16-point lead.

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Dejounte Murray had 26 points and 12 assists for the Spurs.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 34 points.

NOTES

KNICKS: A source confirmed owner James Dolan gave team president Leon Rose permission to fire Coach Tom Thibodeau. However, Rose is expected to retain Thibodeau “beyond this season,” according to Bleacher Report, despite a disconnect between the coach and team executives William Wesley and Brock Aller.

Thibodeau, who has three years remaining on his contract, is the reigning coach of the year who oversaw a dramatic Knicks fall this season, prompting speculation about his job security as the front office maintained silence.

Wesley, a senior advisor, was privately blaming Thibodeau for the team’s struggles, according to sources.

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Rose has a longstanding relationship with Thibodeau as his former agent. And if the coach is fired, the heat inevitably moves to the front office — especially if the owner is paying off multiple years of a contract.

Rose’s front office has adopted a patient and careful posture in its two years, which, at times, has been in conflict with Thibodeau’s win-now personality. Rose, according to a source, underbid in free agency for DeMar DeRozan, who took a bigger offer from the Bulls and became an All-NBA candidate. The Knicks were also outbid for Gordon Hayward in 2020 and never seriously pursued Fred VanVleet that same summer.

Still, Thibodeau’s installation of a defensive identity led a nondescript group to a shocking fourth seed last season, raising expectations beyond the roster’s means.

NETS: Ben Simmons had an epidural this week that the Brooklyn Nets hope it will help improve his back pain so he can play sometime this season.

Coach Steve Nash said Wednesday that Simmons had the injection while the Nets were in Orlando, where they beat the Magic on Tuesday night. Nash said the goal of the procedure was to relieve some of the irritation and accelerate Simmons’ recovery.

Simmons’ back began bothering him as he tried to build up his conditioning after joining the Nets in February. He had been sitting out all season before the Philadelphia 76ers traded the former No. 1 pick to Brooklyn in a swap for James Harden.

Nash said the Nets will see how Simmons responds to the epidural before making a plan for the next steps in his rehab. He added that the Nets still expect Simmons back at some point, with the last game of the regular season scheduled for April 10.


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