LDN - Sports

NBA roundup: Heat top Hawks, seal playoff bid

[April 04, 2018] Josh Richardson blocked two shots in the final two seconds to cap a Miami rally as the Heat earned a playoff berth with a 101-98 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.

Trailing by eight with 2:50 left, Miami went on a 9-0 run and took a 99-98 lead on center Hassan Whiteside's layup with 58 seconds left.

Goran Dragic scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Miami, and Whiteside had 18 points and 12 boards. John Collins led Atlanta with 19 points.

Clippers 113, Spurs 110

Tobias Harris had 31 points and nine rebounds, and Lou Williams scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles erased a 19-point deficit to beat visiting San Antonio.

Austin Rivers added 18 points, Montrezl Harris 16 and DeAndre Jordan totaled 10 points and 17 rebounds for the Clippers, who snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the fourth time in six games to keep their playoff push alive.

Los Angeles moved within 1 1/2 games of the New Orleans Pelicans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. San Antonio dropped into a tie for fourth with Utah after the loss, though the Jazz hold the tiebreaker.

Rockets 120, Wizards 104

James Harden scored 24 of his game-high 38 points in the first half as Houston put up 71 in the first two quarters and went on a lopsided victory over visiting Washington.

The Rockets will go into the playoffs with the NBA's best record -- they are now 63-15 -- for the first time in team history. Houston saw its 11-game winning streak end on Sunday with a loss to the San Antonio Spurs, but the Rockets came out firing on Tuesday.

Clint Capela added a double-double for the Rockets with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Bradley Beal paced the Wizards with 27 points.

Cavaliers 112, Raptors 106

LeBron James recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Cleveland knocked off Toronto for its ninth win in the past 10 games.

Jose Calderon scored 19 points, and Kevin Love added 18 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, which has won four consecutive games. The Cavaliers maintained possession of third place in the Eastern Conference by a half-game over the Philadelphia 76ers.

DeMar DeRozan had 19 points and seven assists for the Raptors, who have lost back-to-back games and five of their past eight. Toronto's Jonas Valanciunas registered 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Serge Ibaka added 16 points and 12 boards.

Warriors 111, Thunder 107

Kevin Durant poured in 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Damian Jones had two key baskets in the final two minutes as Golden State outlasted host Oklahoma City.

Klay Thompson added two points for the Warriors.

Russell Westbrook (44 points, 16 rebounds) and Paul George (20 points) did what they could to keep the Thunder close, with the two combining for 11 points in the final three minutes. Sixth-place Oklahoma City is now a half-game behind both Utah and San Antonio in the Western Conference playoff race.

Bucks 106, Celtics 102

Giannis Antetokounmpo totaled 29 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as Milwaukee moved within one win of clinching the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot with a victory against visiting Boston.

Khris Middleton had 20 points, nine assists and eight boards for Milwaukee, which holds a 4 1/2-game lead on the Detroit Pistons for the No. 8 seed. With four games to play, the Bucks could finish as high as the No. 6 seed.

Jaylen Brown scored 24 points and Jayson Tatum added 20 for the Celtics, whose six-game winning streak ended. Boston remains two games behind East-leading Toronto ahead of a Wednesday matchup with the Raptors.

76ers 121, Nets 95

JJ Redick scored 19 points, Marco Belinelli added 17 and Philadelphia cruised past visiting Brooklyn for its 11th straight win.

Ben Simmons contributed 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and Robert Covington had 12 points for the surging Sixers. Philadelphia last won 11 straight games in 1989-90.

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Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets with 16 points while Jahlil Okafor added 15 and Joe Harris had 13. Nik Stauskas scored 13 points and DeMarre Carroll had 10 before leaving with an apparent injury in the third quarter.

Nuggets 107, Pacers 104

Nikola Jokic scored 30 points on 11-for-17 shooting to power Denver over visiting Indiana.

The Nuggets, a half-game behind New Orleans for the final Western Conference playoff spot, have won three in a row. The Pacers, who saw a five-game winning streak end, are fifth in Eastern Conference and 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia.

Jokic chipped in with six rebounds and seven assists. Will Barton added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Denver. Victor Oladipo led the Pacers with 25 points.

Mavericks 115, Trail Blazers 109

Dennis Smith Jr. led a balanced Dallas scoring attack with 18 points in a victory over visiting Portland.

Six players scored in double figures -- including Harrison Barnes, J.J. Barea and Yogi Ferrell with 15 points apiece -- for the Mavericks, who had lost eight of their previous nine games.

Damian Lillard scored 29 points and was 15 of 15 from the free-throw line for the Trail Blazers, who had won in 17 of their previous 20 outings.

Jazz 117, Lakers 110

Ricky Rubio scored 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting, dished out eight assists and collected six rebounds to lead Utah past Los Angeles in Salt Lake City.

Donovan Mitchell added 26 points while Rudy Gobert chipped in 12 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. Six players scored in double figures to lead the Jazz to their third straight win.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 28 points and Kyle Kuzma had 26 for the Lakers.

Suns 97, Kings 94

Josh Jackson scored a game-high 28 points as host Phoenix snapped a franchise-record 15-game losing streak by beating Sacramento. The Suns won for just the second time in the past 27 games.

Bogdan Bogdanovic had 22 points and Justin Jackson added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Kings, who lost for the fifth time in six games.

The Suns survived a furious late rally by Sacramento, which trimmed an 11-point lead with 3:19 left in the game to three points with 13.4 seconds to go. Justin Jackson missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left.

Bulls 120, Hornets 114

Sean Kilpatrick made a pair of 3-point baskets in the final four minutes as Chicago knocked off visiting Charlotte, an outcome that gave the Bulls their first three-game winning streak since mid-January.

Chicago's Lauri Markkanen, who made five 3-pointers, scored 24 points, and Kilpatrick finished with 21 off the bench. Justin Holiday added 19 points for the Bulls.

Dwight Howard's 23 points and 17 rebounds paced the Hornets, who lost their fourth game in a row. Malik Monk added 21 points off the Charlotte bench.

Magic 97, Knicks 73

Mario Hezonja had 19 points and Jamel Artis added 16 off the bench to lead Orlando over host New York, whose offensive output tied for its worst of the season.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 16 points and Trey Burke added 15 points to lead the Knicks, who lost their fourth straight game and fell for the sixth time in seven games. Orlando entered the game having lost 11 of its previous 13 games.

The Magic, up by one at halftime took control in the third quarter, holding the Knicks to just 16 points, and then outscored New York 29-12 in a furious fourth-quarter rally. Orlando was spurred on in the fourth by Khem Birch, who had nine of his 11 points in the final quarter. Birch also finished with 10 rebounds.

--Field Level Media

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