Three stars from Friday’s NBA playoff games

The Pacers star has 13 threes in the last two games. He may have done most of his scoring damage before halftime on Friday, but Haliburton turned up his passing in the second half. His outside shot deserted him as he shot 1 for 6 from behind the arc, but he dished six assists.

And when things looked darkest for Indiana, down nine in the final quarter, Haliburton went on a personal 7-0 run to get the Pacers right back in the game.

Still, Haliburton wants to do better in Sunday’s Game 4, because it’s Mother’s Day. And that means a chance to make his mother proud in person.

New York Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo | 35 points, 7 3PM

DiVincenzo tried to compensate for a missing OG Anunoby and a limited Jalen Brunson by playing like he was an NBA Jam character who’d made three shots on a row. In other words, DiVincenzo was on fire in Game 3.

He made seven three-points, put up 35 points and did so while committing only one single turnover. DiVincenzo also turned in the highlight performance with what must be tired legs, playing nearly 44 minutes per game in this series. But he’s answering the bell and becoming an Italian-American hero for New York City in this series, redeeming some of the damage done by the Andrea Bargnani Knicks era.

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic | 24 points, 14 rebounds

Jokic collected his third MVP this week and performed like the best player in the NBA Friday night. He finished one assist short of a triple-double in a 24-point, 14-rebound effort with nine assists as the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-90.

Jokic’s 14 rebounds were more than Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid had combined, with the Wolves’ big men finishing with only 10 boards. He was only three points short of the Wolves trio’s 27 points, and he beat their combined assist total, nine to five.

That’s because Jokic made a living controlling the interior, which let Jamal Murray (24 points) and Michael Porter Jr. (21 points) hurt the Wolves from the perimeter. That duo combined to short 6 for 10 from three-point range and over 50 percent overall.

It turns out the best way to shut up MVP critics is to win a playoff game by 27 points. And Jokic did it Friday with style.