basketball
Celtics clinch East top seed
BOSTON, April 13, (AP): Gerald Green scored 18 points, 10 of them in a 25-2 fourth-quarter run, and the Boston Celtics beat the resting Milwaukee Bucks 112-94 in the regular-season finale on Wednesday to claim the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Celtics were assured of home-court advantage through the conference finals when Cleveland lost to Toronto minutes before the game ended.
Despite playing without star Giannis Antetokounmpo and two other starters, the Bucks led by as many as 13 points before Boston ran off 14 of the last 16 points in the first half. Isaiah Thomas, who was scoreless until then, had 10 of them, including eight straight.
Thomas finished with 13 points and eight assists, but he went to the bench with late in the third quarter and sat out the fourth as the Celtics backups pulled away.
Raptors 98, Cavaliers 83 In Cleveland, Jonas Valanciunas made his first career 3-pointer and the Toronto Raptors closed the regular season with a win over the Cavaliers, who didn’t play their “Big 3” AllStars so they’re playoff ready.
Norman Powell scored 25 points as the Raptors beat the Cavs for the first time in four tries this season and gave the defending champions something to think about if they meet in the postseason. Cleveland took Toronto down in six games in last year’s Eastern Conference finals.
Although there was still a chance to secure the No. 1 seed in the East, the Cavs put more value on rest and sat LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Cleveland fell to 0-4 in games this season without the trio and 0-8 minus James.
Bulls 112, Nets 73 In Chicago, Jimmy Butler scored 25 points, and the Bulls beat the depleted Nets in the regular-season finale to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Paul Zipser added a career-high 21 points off the bench as Chicago took advantage of a short-handed Brooklyn lineup to secure its first playoff appearance under coach Fred Hoiberg.
On Tuesday, the Nets, owners of the worst record in the league, announced Trevor Booker, Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez would be out due to rest, while Quincy Acy (ankle), Joe Harris (shoulder) and Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring) because of injuries.
Heat 110, Wizards 102 In Miami, Goran Dragic scored 28 points, Hassan Whiteside added 24 points and 18 rebounds, and the Heat defeated the Wizards while being eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
Miami needed a win, and either a loss by Indiana or Chicago, to reach the postseason. But Indiana downed Atlanta to clinch the No. 7 seed, and Chicago topped Brooklyn to grab the No. 8 spot.
Willie Reed scored 16, Josh Richardson had 15 and James Johnson scored 12 for Miami.
Trey Burke scored 27 for Washington, while Sheldon McClellan had 18, Marcin Gortat added 16 and Otto Porter Jr. finished with 11.
Pacers 104, Hawks 86 In Indianapolis, Paul George finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds, Jeff Teague added 19 points and the Pacers clinched a playoff spot, beating Atlanta.
The Pacers completed the regular season on a five-game winning streak to earn the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed. They will face Cleveland in the opening round.
Ersan Ilyasova scored 15 points and Jose Calderon had 12 on a night the Hawks rested five of their top six players. Thabo Sefolosha played 23 minutes but didn’t score as Atlanta to keep four-game winning streak ended.
Knicks 114, 76ers 113 In New York, Carmelo Anthony scored 17 points after deciding to play in what could be his final game with the Knicks, and New York beat the 76ers.
Anthony had missed the previous two games with a sore left knee and wasn’t expected to play Wednesday, but told Jeff Hornacek he wanted to go. He played 23 minutes, sitting out the final quarter while a couple of “We want Melo! We want Melo!” chants broke out.
The Knicks finished 31-51 in another dysfunctional and disappointing season that started with promise, but became a sideshow after a disconnect between team president Phil Jackson and Anthony led to trade rumors that engulfed the team. Rockets 123, Timberwolves 118 In Houston, James Harden had his 22nd triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to help the Rockets wrap up the regular season with a victory over the Timberwolves.
The MVP contender became the first player in NBA history to finish the regular season with at least 2,000 points (2,356), 900 assists (907) and 600 rebounds (659).
Harden, who also had four steals and a block, found Clint Capela on an alley-oop dunk after that, before hitting another 3-pointer to make it 11899 and spur Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau to call a timeout.
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 28 points and 21 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who end the season with a six-game losing streak. Towns also made NBA history by becoming the only player to have at least 2,000 points (2,061), 1,000 rebounds (1,007) and 100 3-pointers (101) in a season.