|
 Celtics 99, Cavaliers 90
Guard Marcus Smart scored 19 points, forward Evan Turner passed for
a career-high 13 assists and Boston remained seventh in the Eastern
Conference with a victory over short-handed Cleveland.
The Cavaliers played without guards Kyrie Irving (hip) and Iman
Shumpert (thigh), who were resting non-serious injuries.
The Cavs have already won the Central Division and clinched the
second seed in the East.
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.
- -
Nets 117, Wizards 80
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 six-of-six from three-point range,
leading the Nets to a critical victory.
Brooklyn, who won for the 10th time in their last 13 games and have
the same 37-42 record as seventh-seeded Boston, need to win one of
their final three games to clinch a playoff berth.
- - -
Pacers 107, Pistons 103
C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey scored 24 points apiece as 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.
- - -
Hawks 104, Hornets 80
The 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, who unveiled their
Southeast Division championship banner before the game.
- - -
Raptors 101, Magic 99
Reserve guard Lou Williams hit a game-winning three-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.
- -
Mavericks 144, Nuggets 143 (2OT)
Raymond Felton's driving layup with 1.5 seconds left gave Dallas a
double-overtime victory over Denver.
Denver's Kenneth Faried missed a hook shot in the lane over Felton
as time expired.
Dallas, who are locked into the seventh seed in the Western
Conference, rested their starters at the start of the second
overtime, while guard Rajon Rondo missed the whole game.
- - -
[to top of second column] |
Spurs 104, Rockets 103
Tim Duncan blocked a driving layup attempt by James Harden at the
rim in the final seconds, enabling San Antonio to hang on for a
victory over Houston.
Harden, who missed 14 of 19 shots from the field, nailed a
three-pointer with 28.4 seconds left to cut the Houston deficit to
one point and then harassed Spurs guard Manu Ginobili into a
turnover, giving the Rockets possession with 6.1 seconds left.
- -
Grizzlies 89, Jazz 88
Center Marc Gasol scored 22 points and guard Beno Udrih added 20 to
help Memphis rally late for a 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.
- -
Thunder 116, Kings 103
Oklahoma City summoned just enough playoff-level intensity to earn a
win over Sacramento.
Sacramento (27-52), playing without three starters due to injury,
did not have enough firepower to keep up with the equally banged-up
Thunder (43-36).
- -
Pelicans 90, Suns 75
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.
They hold the playoff tie-breaker against the Thunder based on a 3-1
regular series edge.
- -
Bucks 99, Knicks 91
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 loss to
Cleveland.
(Editing by Cameron French)
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