|
 The Cavaliers played without guards Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert,
who were resting injuries. Irving sat with a right hip that was
bothering him at the morning shootaround and Shumpert rested a
bruised thigh.
The Cavs officially called Shumpert's injury a right quad contusion,
but neither his injury nor Irving's are considered serious.
The Cavs have nothing left to gain during the regular season, having
already won the Central Division and clinched the second seed in the
East. As a result, coach David Blatt rested his starters in the
fourth quarter, allowing the Celtics to escape after they blew a
16-point lead in the third quarter.
Forward LeBron James had 14 points, seven assists and three rebounds
in 26 minutes in the court. Forward Kevin Love had 19 points and six
rebounds -- including 4-of-8 shooting on 3-pointers.
The Celtics remain tied with the Nets for the seventh playoff spot
in the Eastern Conference.
Nets 117, Wizards 80
NEW YORK -- Center Brook Lopez continued his brilliant late-season
play with 26 points and nine rebounds and reserve guard Bojan
Bogdanovic added a career-high 22 points, including a perfect 6-of-6
from 3-point range, leading the Nets to a critical victory.
With the victory, the Nets (37-42) remained tied with Boston for
seventh place in the East.
Brooklyn won for the 10th time in its last 13 games. The Nets now
need just one win in their final three games to clinch a playoff
berth.
The Wizards (45-34) saw their four-game winning streak come to an
end, losing a chance to move into fourth place with Toronto in the
conference standings. The Wizards were led by guard Bradley Beal,
who scored 24 points.
Pacers 107, Pistons 103
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey scored 24
points apiece and the Pacers extended their winning streak to four
games.
The Pacers (36-43) remained one game behind Boston and Brooklyn for
the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
Point guard George Hill had 13 points and nine assists and small
forward Paul George added 10 points in his third game back after
recovering from a broken leg.
Point guard Reggie Jackson's 21 points and nine assists led the
Pistons (30-49).
Hawks 104, Hornets 80
ATLANTA -- The banked-up Hornets were officially eliminated from
playoff contention with the loss to the Hawks, who have won four in
a row.
Guard Kyle Korver finished with 16 points, and forward Al Horford
added 15 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta, which unveiled its
Southeast Division championship banner before the game.
Guard Troy Daniels came off the bench to lead the Hornets with 15
points. Charlotte shot 36.1 percent from the field.
Reserve forward Thabo Sefolosha, who suffered a fractured fibula and
ligament damage in his right leg during an arrest in Manhattan on
Wednesday, is out for the playoffs.
Raptors 101, Magic 99
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Reserve guard Lou Williams hit a game-winning
3-point basket with 9.2 seconds remaining to give the Raptors the
victory.
Guard DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 29 points for the Raptors
(47-32), who are trying to assure home-court advantage in the first
round of the playoffs.
Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry, who returned after missing the
previous seven games with back spasms, had 10 points, seven assists
and eight rebounds in 33 minutes.
The Magic were led by guard Victor Oladipo, who had 19 points and
hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining for the 99-98 lead.
Pelicans 90, Suns 75
NEW ORLEANS -- After absorbing a blow to the throat that sidelined
him for half the game, All-Star forward Anthony Davis had a
team-high 19 points and nine rebounds to pace the Pelicans' victory.
The victory allowed the Pelicans (43-36) to remain in the eighth
playoff position in the Western Conference with three games left.
Even though Oklahoma City defeated Sacramento to improve its record
to 43-36, the Pelicans hold the playoff tiebreaker against the
Thunder based on a 3-1 regular series edge.
Davis took an inadvertent elbow to the throat from forward Earl
Barrow early in the second quarter. Davis left the game, but he
returned to start the fourth quarter with the Pelicans holding a
70-60 lead.
The Suns (39-41) were led by guard Eric Bledsoe with 19 points.
Bucks 99, Knicks 91
NEW YORK -- Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a one-game benching
to score 23 points and grab nine rebounds in the Bucks' win.
Antetokounmpo had played in all 77 games this season and made 64
consecutive starts before not playing a minute in a 104-99 loss to
the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
[to top of second column] |
The Bucks' magic number for clinching a playoff spot in the Eastern
Conference is one. They entered the night in sixth place in the
conference after going 15-67 last season.
New York (15-64) was led by guard Langston Galloway's 20 points. The
Knicks committed 26 turnovers.
Spurs 104, Rockets 103
HOUSTON -- Tim Duncan blocked a driving layup attempt by James
Harden at the rim in the waning seconds, enabling the Spurs to hang
on for the road win.
Harden, who missed 14 of 19 shots from the field while scoring 16
points, nailed a 3-pointer with 28.4 seconds left to cut the Houston
deficit to one point and then harassed Spurs guard Manu Ginobili
into a turnover on the defensive end, giving the Rockets possession
with 6.1 seconds left.
Duncan responded with his third block of the night to go with 29
points and 10 rebounds.
The Spurs passed Houston in the standings and now own the No. 3 slot
in the Western Conference. The Rockets slipped all the way to sixth.
Thunder 116, Kings 103
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Sacramento, playing without three starters,
including forwards Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins, due to injury, did
not have enough firepower to keep up with the equally banged-up
Thunder.
The win was necessary for the Thunder to maintain a tie in the
Western Conference standings with the New Orleans Pelicans, who beat
the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. New Orleans holds the tiebreaker
after taking head-to-head series.
Oklahoma City relied on a balanced scoring attack, led by point
guard Russell Westbrook, with 27 points and 10 assists.
Shooting guard Ben McClemore scored 20 points for the Kings.
Grizzlies 89, Jazz 88
SALT LAKE CITY -- Center Marc Gasol scored 22 points and guard Beno
Udrih added 20 to help Memphis rally for a late victory over Utah.
All five starters scored in double-figures for Memphis (54-25) --
highlighted by 14 points and 10 rebounds from forward Zach Randolph.
The Grizzlies won four of their last five contests.
Forward Gordon Hayward scored 25 points and Rodney Hood added 18 to
lead Utah. Center Rudy Gobert finished with 14 points and 14
rebounds for his 24th double-double this season, but it wasn't
enough to help the Jazz (36-43) extend a two-game winning streak.
Mavericks 144, Nuggets 143 (2 OT)
DENVER, Colo. - Raymond Felton's driving layup with 1.5 seconds left
in the second overtime period gave Dallas the victory. Denver's
Kenneth Faried missed a hook shot in the lane over Felton as time
expired.
Denver forward Danilo Gallinari scored a career-high 47 points,
including 17 in the two overtimes. It was the most by a Nuggets
player since Carmelo Anthony had 50 on Feb. 7, 2011.
Dallas, which is locked into the seventh seed in the Western
Conference, pulled its starters at the start of the second overtime.
Dallas also rested guard Rajon Rondo for the whole game.
Lakers 106, Timberwolves 97
LOS ANGELES -- In a matchup of two of the NBA's worst clubs, the Los
Angeles Lakers had the upper hand.
Forward Ryan Kelly scored 21 points and guard Jabari Brown added 20,
leading the Lakers over the Minnesota at Staples Center.
Center Tarik Black scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed 10
rebounds. Point guard Jordan Clarkson also scored 18 and dished out
nine assists for Los Angeles (21-58), which ended five-game losing
streak.
Forward Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and
handed out six assists to pace the Timberwolves (16-63), who dropped
their ninth in a row. Guard Zach LaVine, who played college ball at
nearby UCLA, scored 18 points.
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