WADE SCORES 30 IN FINAL HOME GAME
Tributes pour in during Dwyane Wade’s final game in Miami
DWYANE Wade scored 30 points in the tribute-filled final home game of his career, and the Miami Heat defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 12299 on Tuesday night.
Bam Adebayo scored 19, Justise Winslow scored 16 and Hassan Whiteside added 15 for the Heat, who were eliminated from playoff contention when Detroit beat Memphis — a result that went final during the third quarter of the Miami-Philly game.
Wade’s career will end Wednesday in Brooklyn, when Miami plays its regular-season finale. He checked out for the last time with 1:02 left, embracing teammates and his son Zaire — who was on the Heat bench.
Greg Monroe scored 18 points and Ben Simmons scored 16 for Philadelphia, which entered Tuesday already locked into the No. 3 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs and rested Joel Embiid and J.J. Redick. Simmons played only 21 minutes, Tobias Harris shot 3 for 16 in 20 minutes and Jimmy Butler scored only four points in 16 minutes.
MAVERICKS 120, SUNS 109
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 30 points and Dallas celebrated the final home game of the 40-year-old’s record 21st season with the same franchise. After the game, Nowitzki announced his retirement.
The 14-time All-Star had the first eight Dallas shots and scored his team’s first 10 points in the first three minutes and passed his previous season high of 21 on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.
Dallas’ season finale, and possibly the career-ender for Nowitzki, is Wednesday night in San Antonio.
Jamal Crawford scored 51 points, one off his career high, in the season finale for the Suns (1963). Phoenix had by far the worst record in the Western Conference in its fourth straight season with at least 58 losses.
Luca Doncic had his eighth triple-double with 21 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.
TRAIL BLAZERS 104, LAKERS 101
In Los Angeles, Maurice Harkless hit a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer, and Portland secured home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a win over Los Angeles, a few hours after Magic Johnson abruptly resigned as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations.
Johnson shocked the Lakers with his announcement about 90 minutes before tipoff of the last game in the Lakers’ sixth consecutive losing season. The Hall of Fame guard had been in charge of the Lakers for just 26 months, and his departure throws the 16-time NBA champion franchise’s offseason into turmoil even before it began.
Harkless scored 26 points and Enes Kanter had 22 points and 16 rebounds while the Blazers rallied in the fourth quarter to claim their 52nd win of the season. Damian Lillard had 20 points and eight assists while the Blazers clinched at least a fourth-place finish in the conference and wrapped up home court for their first-round playoff series. /