Suns, 76ers, Mavericks advance into 2nd round

Chris Paul went 14 for 14 in the best shooting night in NBA playoff history, Devin Booker returned from a hamstring injury to hit a late 3-pointer and the Phoenix Suns beat the New Orleans Pelicans 115-109 on Thursday night to finish off the first-round series in six games.

Paul had the most field goals without a miss in a playoff game, hit all four of his free throws and had eight assists as the topseeded Suns overcame a 10-point halftime deficit.

Phoenix will face the Dallas-Utah winner in the second round.

Paul helped put the Suns up for good, at 102101, on an assist on Deandre Ayton’s dunk with 2:12 left. Ayton had 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting.

The Suns erased the 10-point halftime deficit by making 13 of their first 14 shots in the third quarter to take a 77-74 lead. At that point, Paul was 10 of 10 from the field and Ayton was 6 of 6. Paul had 13 points in the quarter, but

New Orleans used an 11-5 run to take an 85-82 lead into the final period.

Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 21 points.

76ERS 132, RAPTORS 97 »

Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds, James Harden added 22 points and 15 assists and Philadelphia beat Toronto in Game 6 to end the firstround series.

Philadelphia will face Miami in the second round. The top-seeded Heat beat Atlanta in five games.

Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points, going 5 for 12 from 3-point range, and Tobias Harris had 19 points and 11 rebounds, to help the 76ers finish off the Raptors with a blowout after losing the past two games.

MAVERICKS 98, JAZZ 96 »

Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson each scored 24 points and Dallas beat Utah in Game 6 to wrap up the first-round series.

After Brunson hit a 3-pointer from the corner, Mike Conley was called for traveling with five seconds remaining, and Brunson made one of two free throws with 4.3 seconds to play.