Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Mavs, Knicks on brink of elimination in NBA playoffs

Updated at 4:28 pm on 4 May 2012

The defending NBA basketball champions are on the verge of elimination in the first round of the playoffs.

The Dallas Mavericks came up even shorter on their home court in game three against Oklahoma City, the Thunder winning 95-79 to have the Mavericks trailing by three games to nil in their best-of-seven Western Conference series.

A big fourth quarter from LeBron James helped the Miami Heat edge closer to the NBA's Eastern Conference semi-finals, with an 87-70 road win over the New York Knicks.

James scored 17 of his 32 points in the last quarter as last year's losing finalists the Heat took a commanding 3-0 lead over the injury-depleted Knicks.

The Heat, seeded second in the Eastern Conference behind the Chicago Bulls, will try to complete the sweep on Monday at Madison Square Garden.

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