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• NBA: Doncic dominates early as Mavs cruise into NBA Finals

  Luka Dončić scored 20 of his 36 points in the first quarter and Kyrie Irving also scored 36 as the Dallas Mavericks booked a trip to the NBA Finals with a 124-103 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.

  Dallas was never threatened in Game 5 as it built a 29-point halftime lead on 61 percent shooting and led by as many as 36 points in the third quarter.

  The Mavericks will have a full week to rest before the NBA Finals begin in Boston on June 6 for the franchise’s first appearance since winning the title in 2011. The Celtics have been off since finishing a sweep of Indiana on Monday.

  Irving improved to 15-1 in his career in closeout games in the playoffs.

  Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 with 12 rebounds for the Wolves, who were unable to build on Tuesday’s Game 4 win in Dallas.

  Doncic hit his first four shots and drained a 32-footer later in the first quarter. The Mavs closed on a 17-1 spurt, a run they pushed to 28-5 over a nine-minute stretch.

  It was Doncic’s second 20-point quarter in his postseason career, following a 21-point fourth quarter in the Western Conference finals loss to Golden State in 2022.

  Dallas got backup center Dereck Lively II back from a sprained neck that sidelined him the previous game. He had nine points and eight rebounds and Daniel Gafford added 11 points and nine boards.

   

• Wizards hire interim head coach Keefe on full-time basis

  The Washington Wizards gave interim head coach Brian Keefe the permanent job on Wednesday.

  “We are excited for Brian to become our next head coach. Brian is a proven motivator and connector of people,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said.

  “As a leader in the organisation, he will continue to positively grow and invest into the development of our players.

  “His wealth of experience will help move our team forward as we build for long-term sustained success.”

  Keefe was promoted to head coach on January 25 after Wes Unseld Jr. left the sidelines and moved into a front office advisory role.

  Washington was 7-36 at the time and went 8-31 under Keefe to finish with the second-worst record in the NBA at 15-67.

  The Wizards own the No. 2 overall selection in June’s NBA Draft.

• Los Angeles Clippers extend head coach Lue

  Tyronn Lue is staying with the Los Angeles Clippers after agreeing to a new long-term contract, the team announced Wednesday. 

  Terms of the agreement are not yet known, though ESPN reports Lue's new deal will make him among the NBA's highest-paid coaches.

  Lue, who has compiled a 184-134 record in four seasons with the Clippers, was rumoured to be a candidate for the head coaching vacancy of Los Angeles' other franchise, the Lakers. That speculated scenario would have reunited the 47-year-old with LeBron James, whom Lue previously coached during a successful run with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

  The Cavaliers' lone NBA championship came during the 2015-16 season, when Lue replaced David Blatt at mid-season and guided a team anchored by James and Kyrie Irving past the Golden State Warriors in seven games in a memorable NBA Finals.

  Lue also found immediate success after replacing Doc Rivers with the Clippers prior to the 2020-21 season, as the team reached the Western Conference finals before bowing out to the Phoenix Suns in six games.

  The Clippers have not won a play-off series in Lue's subsequent three seasons, though they finished fourth in the West with a 51-31 record in 2023-24. The Clippers were defeated in six games in the opening round by the Dallas Mavericks, who later advanced to the conference finals and currently own a 3-1 lead on the Minnesota Timberwolves in that series.

  Lue is 312-217 during the regular season and 54-37 in play-off games over eight overall seasons as a head coach. The former NBA point guard also helped the Cavaliers reach the NBA Finals in 2017 and 2018, when they lost to the Warriors both times.

  Cleveland fired Lue following an 0-6 start to the 2018-19 season, the team's first after James left the Cavaliers for a second time to sign with the Lakers.

  With Lue now under contract, the Clippers can now turn their attention towards attempting to keep their star core of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden together. Harden is a free agent this offseason and George could become one by declining his $48.8 million player option, which he's widely expected to do.