Mavericks, Lakers suffer NBA playoffs blow

Charlotte have overcome a 40-point outing from Luka Doncic to defeat Dallas 110-104, their second win over the Mavericks in three days and another costly blow to Dallas' NBA playoff hopes.

Gordon Hayward scored 22 points and P.J. Washington added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who have been eliminated from playoff contention.

The Mavs began Sunday tied with Oklahoma City for the 10th-best record in the Western Conference but were still outside of the Play-In tournament bubble because the Thunder hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Doncic picked up his 16th technical foul of the season in the third quarter, meaning he will face a one-game suspension on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers unless it is rescinded by the league office.

Kyrie Irving had 18 points for Dallas (36-39), who have now lost four in a row, while Australian Josh Green had a quiet night with just one bucket in his 14 minutes on court.

"Losing in basketball is very frustrating, especially when we have as talented a group as we do," Irving said.

Dallas fell behind 30-12 in the first quarter after missing 15 of their first 18 shots from the field with Doncic going 0-for-6.

Down 19 with four minutes left in the first half, the Slovenian began to turn it up a notch by connecting on four triples and assisting on another three to spearhead a 19-7 run to trim Charlotte's advantage to seven at the break.

With 5:44 remaining Dallas had their first lead of the game but Dennis Smith Jr, a former Maverick, snuck behind the Dallas defence and dunked off an alley-oop feed from Washington to put Charlotte up by five with 1:05 left.

In Los Angeles, LeBron James scored 19 points off the bench in his return from a monthlong injury absence, but Zach LaVine had 32 points to lead Chicago to a 118-108 victory over the Lakers.

DeMar DeRozan added 17 points for the Bulls (36-38), who easily overcame James' return with an impressive performance in their seventh win in nine games. LaVine hit 11 of his first 14 shots to lead an offensive effort that snapped the Lakers' three-game winning streak, despite the return of the NBA's career scoring leader.

James sat out 13 games with right foot soreness, missing four weeks during the Lakers' run at a playoff berth.

And for only the second time in his 20-year, 1958-game NBA career, James wasn't a starter. He came in as a reserve midway through the first quarter, still doing his standard pre-game chalk toss while receiving a standing ovation from Lakers fans.

Troy Brown Jr. and Malik Beasley scored 18 points apiece, but Anthony Davis managed just 15 points and nine rebounds as the Lakers (37-38) dropped to ninth in the West, while the Bulls improved to ninth in the East.

With AP.