Mavericks, Heat secure final berths for playoffs
THE Miami Heat rallied to beat the Boston Celtics 106-98 and clinched an NBA playoff berth on Wednesday as the post-season picture began to get clearer.
Dallas also secured a playoff spot after Luka Doncic scored 35 points and handed out 13 assists to lead the Mavericks to a 120-112 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavs’ defeat meant either the Eastern Conferenceleading Heat or Celtics would be sure of a berth, and it was a tense finish in Boston.
Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, and Kyle Lowry added 23 as Miami came out on top in a game that featured 16 lead changes.
Bam Adebayo finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat, who pushed a onepoint halftime lead to as many as 11, but trailed 83-79 going into the final quarter.
Jaylen Brown scored 28 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, and Jayson Tatum added 23 points and six assists.
But the Celtics couldn’t hold off Miami, who took a 102-96 lead on Butler’s dunk with 1:43 remaining.
Tatum answered with a layup but on his next attempt was called for an offensive foul, and the Heat finally sealed it with a string of free throws.
The Mavs’ playoff spot was assured with the win as well as the Toronto Raptors’ 125-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Doncic scored 20 points in the third quarter, when Dallas out-scored Cleveland 39-22 to claw back from a six-point half-time deficit.
He finished one rebound shy
of his second 30-point tripledouble in as many nights, and Dorian Finney-Smith added a career-high 28 points, including six three-pointers for the Mavericks, who are in the playoffs for a third straight year.
The Cavs were led by Caris LeVert’s 32 points. But they were without rookie of the year contender Evan Mobley, who will miss at least three games with a sprained ankle. Cleveland are seventh in the East,
two games behind the Raptors and Chicago Bulls in the battle for the last direct entry into the playoffs.
Toronto’s Pascal Siakam had a triple-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in the
win over Minnesota to help the Raptors’ cause.
The seventh- through 10thplaced teams will battle in a play-in tournament for the remaining two spots from each conference.