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Thompson, playing in just his 32nd game after returning from
Achilles surgery, scored more than 30 points for the fourth time
in his last six games and topped his previous high of 38 points.
He made 7 of 14 3-pointers as the Warriors (53-29) made 19 of 33
from beyond the arc.
Golden State won its fifth consecutive game and clinched the No.
3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The Warriors will
face sixth-seeded Denver in the first round.
The Pelicans (36-46), locked into ninth-place and a play-in home
game against San Antonio on Wednesday night, held out Brandon
Ingram (hamstring), Jonas Valanciunas (ankle), Herbert Jones Jr.
(tibia contusion) and Devonte' Graham (knee). Naji Marshall
scored 19 points, Gary Clark had 17, Trey Murphy III 15, Jose
Alvarado 12 and Jared Harper 10 for the Pelicans.
Cavaliers 133, Bucks 115
Kevin Love came off the bench to score a game-high 32 points and
pull down 10 rebounds as Cleveland beat visiting Milwaukee in
the regular-season finale.
The No. 8 Cavs will travel to No. 7 Brooklyn on Tuesday for an
Eastern Conference play-in game. Milwaukee (51-31) finished
third in the East after the second-place Boston Celtics beat the
Memphis Grizzlies 139-110 on Sunday night.
Lauri Markkanen fired in 23 points for the Cavs (44-38), while
Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Mobley contributed 18 points,
10 rebounds and four blocks. Sandro Mamukelashvili paced
Milwaukee with 28 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, Thanasis
Antetokounmpo had a career-high 27 points and Jordan Nwora added
24.
Nets 134, Pacers 126
Kyrie Irving scored 35 points as Brooklyn clinched the seventh
seed in the Eastern Conference with a victory over skidding
Indiana in New York.
Irving was 15 of 20 from the floor in his sixth home game of the
season as the Nets shot 64.2 percent and ended the regular
season with a four-game winning streak. Kevin Durant posted a
triple-double of 20 points, a career-high 16 assists and 10
rebounds despite 5-for-17 shooting.
Oshae Brissett scored 28 points and Buddy Hield added 21 as
Indiana ended the season on a 10-game losing streak. It was the
Pacers' worst season since finishing 28-54 in 1988-89 -- Reggie
Miller's second season.
Kings 116, Suns 109
Davion Mitchell posted 18 points and 15 assists, Justin Holiday,
Donte DiVincenzo and Damian Jones each scored 19 points, and
visiting Sacramento closed its season by beating NBA-leading
Phoenix.
Sacramento led throughout, pouncing on a short-handed Phoenix
lineup that was missing four starters and building a lead of as
many as 19 points. The Kings shot a red-hot 14-of-26 from
3-point range.
The only Suns starter to appear in the game was Mikal Bridges,
and he played fewer than six minutes in completing a regular
season with 82 starts. Landry Shamet led Phoenix with a
season-high 27 points, including 5-of-12 from 3-point range.
Magic 125, Heat 111
R.J. Hampton scored a career-high 21 points, making four of
Orlando's franchise-record-tying 23 3-pointers, and the host
Magic defeated Sunshine State rival Miami in the final
regular-season game for both teams.
Chuma Okeke's 17-point performance included five triples as
Orlando snapped a five-game losing streak against the Heat. The
Magic shot 23-for-58 from behind the arc -- a new franchise mark
for 3-point attempts -- as Hampton went 4-for-7 and center Mo
Bamba (21 points, 10 rebounds) made 5 of 9 attempts.
Miami, the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed heading into the
postseason, watched its six-game winning streak end despite 40
points from former Orlando first-round pick Victor Oladipo.
Knicks 105, Raptors 94
Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin each capped their season-ending
surges in style as Quickley posted a triple-double and Toppin
scored a career-high 42 points as New York beat visiting Toronto
in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Raptors are locked into the fifth seed in the Eastern
Conference and will open the playoffs against the fourth-seeded
Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks, who ended a seven-year
postseason drought last spring, finished 11th in the East, six
games out of a spot in the play-in tournament.
Chris Boucher scored 21 points off the bench for the Raptors
while Gary Trent Jr. had 17 points and Malachi Flynn added 10
points.
76ers 118, Pistons 106
Shake Milton came off of the bench to score a season-high 30
points to lead Philadelphia over Detroit in the regular-season
finale.
Tyrese Maxey and Paul Reed each scored 25 points for
Philadelphia (51-31) in a game that saw each team rest their
best players. Detroit didn't dress its leading scorer in Cade
Cunningham, while Philadelphia didn't play the NBA's leading
scorer, Joel Embid, or James Harden.
Luka Garza had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Isaiah Livers had
14 points for Detroit (23-59), which solidified one of the three
worst records in the league and has a 14% chance of winning the
top overall pick in the draft lottery next month.
Celtics 139, Grizzlies 110
Jayson Tatum scored 26 of his 31 points in the first half in a
blowout of host Memphis that, coupled with Milwaukee's loss at
Cleveland earlier in the day, powered Boston to the Eastern
Conference's No. 2 seed.
Boston closed out a strong final two-plus months to the 2021-22
regular season with a wire-to-wire win over the Western
Conference's No. 2 seed, albeit a short-handed Grizzlies bunch.
Tatum finished at 11-of-14 shooting from the floor in just 26:03
played, leading the Celtics to a 54.5 percent performance at 54
of 99.
Memphis, having clinched its playoff position more than a week
ago, did not play the usual starting five of Ja Morant, Desmond
Bane, Steven Adams, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dillon Brooks. The
Grizzlies instead started Ziaire Wiliams, Kyle Anderson, Xavier
Tillman, De'Anthony Melton and John Konchar.
Bulls 124, Timberwolves 120
Patrick Williams scored 35 points and rookie Ayo Dosunmu added
26, both career highs, as Chicago ended a four-game losing
streak with a victory over Minnesota in Minneapolis to close out
the regular season for a pair of teams headed into postseason
play.
Troy Brown Jr. added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls,
who already were locked into the No. 6 seed in the Eastern
Conference playoffs and are scheduled to face the Milwaukee
Bucks in the first round.
Nathan Knight scored 17 points for the Timberwolves, who already
had clinched the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference and will
face the Los Angeles Clippers in a play-in game on Tuesday.
Mavericks 130, Spurs 120
Luka Doncic scored 26 points despite sitting the entire fourth
quarter, leading Dallas to a win over visiting San Antonio on
the final day of the NBA's regular season.
Dallas blew open a game that was tied 59-59 at halftime and at
66-66 with 8:50 to play in the third period with Dorian
Finney-Smith scoring all 16 of his points in the quarter and
Jalen Brunson hitting for 10, allowing the Mavericks to carry a
97-82 lead into the final 12 minutes. The Mavericks finished
fourth and will face fifth-seeded Utah in the first round of the
playoffs.
The Spurs had little to play for in the season finale after
having secured the 10th seed in the West and a spot in the
play-in tournament at New Orleans on Wednesday. Keldon San
Johnson led the Spurs with 24 points in the loss.
Jazz 111, Trail Blazers 80
Juancho Hernangomez scored 22 points with eight rebounds and
Rudy Gobert totaled 18 points and 13 boards to lead Utah past
host Portland in the regular-season finale.
Utah, playing without starters Donovan Mitchell (non-COVID
illness) and Bojan Bogdanovic (rest), clinched the No. 5 seed
with the easy victory. The Jazz, who clinched the Northwest
Division title, will face the No. 4 Dallas Mavericks in the
first round of the playoffs beginning next weekend.
Reggie Perry led the Blazers with 20 points, eight rebounds and
five assists. Portland (27-55) finished with the sixth-worst
record in the NBA. Portland was missing its seven leading
scorers.
Clippers 138, Thunder 88
Amir Coffey scored a career-high 35 points to lead Los Angeles
to a home blowout win over Oklahoma City.
The Clippers closed the regular season on a five-game winning
streak and won two of three meetings with the Thunder this
season. Los Angeles will play at Minnesota on Tuesday in the
play-in tournament after finishing above .500 for the 11th
consecutive season.
Oklahoma City finished its season on a three-game losing streak,
to finish with the fourth-worst record in the league.
Lakers 146, Nuggets 141 (OT)
Austin Reaves established career highs of 31 points, 16 rebounds
and 10 assists and excelled in overtime as Los Angeles overcame
a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to knock off host Denver.
Malik Monk scored a career-best 41 points and made seven
3-pointers for Los Angeles, which won its second straight game
following an eight-game slide. Wayne Ellington had 18 points in
a game that was contested primarily with second- and
third-teamers.
Markus Howard scored a career-high 25 points and Bryn Forbes
added 24 points for the Nuggets, who are the sixth-seeded team
in the Western Conference and will meet the third-seeded Golden
State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.
--Field Level Media
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