PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid (joh-EHL’ ehm-BEED’) had 40 points and 13 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers knocked off the Atlanta Hawks, 118-102, evening the NBA's Eastern Conference semifinal series at a game apiece. The Sixers also received big contributions from Shake Milton, who buried a 32-footer and scored 14 points in an electrifying stretch off the bench. Milton fueled a 14-0 run that blew the game open in the second half.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Jazz opened their NBA Western Conference semifinal series by getting 45 points from Donovan Mitchell in a 112-109 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Mitchell poured in 32 points in the second half to rally the Jazz from a 14-point deficit. Jordan Clarkson and Bojan (BOY’-ahn) Bogdanovic chipped in 18 points apiece, with Clarkson and Mitchell combining for 12 3-pointers.

DENVER (AP) — Denver Nuggets center Nikola jokic (nih-KOH'-lah YOH'-kihch) has been revealed as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, making him by far the lowest draft pick ever to win the award. The Serbian product has become a dominant force since being selected 41st overall in the 2014 draft. Jokic’s scoring average jumped from 19.9 points per game last season to 26.4.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning have reached the Stanley Cup semifinals with a 2-0 shutout of the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5. Andrei Vasilevskiy (va-sih-LEHV’-skee) stopped 29 shots for his second shutout of the postseason and third of his playoff career. Brayden Point snapped a scoreless tie with his eighth goal of the playoffs, a power-play tally just over four minutes into the second period.

DENVER (AP) — Mark Stone scored on a breakaway 50 seconds into overtime, sending the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-2 win at Colorado and a three-games-to-two lead in the NHL second-round series. Trailing 2-0 entering the third, the Golden Knights found another gear with Alex Tuch (tuhk) scoring 1:03 into the period and Jonathan Marchessault (MAHR’-sheh-soh) tying it up just 3:04 later. Marc-Andre Fleury was sensational at times while stopping 28 shots.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.