WARRIORS TO BEGIN PLAYOFFS SANS CURRY
Kerr says star won’t be ready
Golden State star Stephen Curry has been ruled out of the first round of the NBA playoffs
OAKLAND, Calif. — Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 15 rebounds and the Utah Jazz pulled away from the undermanned, injury-plagued Golden State Warriors in the third quarter on the way to a 11091 victory Sunday night.
Quinn Cook had 17 points and eight assists as defending champion Golden State played without its four injured All-Stars and was forced to use yet another makeshift starting lineup.
Before the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr ruled out Stephen Curry for the first round of the playoffs because of a sprained left knee — while Curry vowed to do everything in his rehab power to prove Kerr wrong and return sooner.
The Warriors are likely to be the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
CAVALIERS 121, NETS 114:
In New York, LeBron James had 37 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for Cleveland, which grabbed its fifth straight victory.
James kept up his latest sensational stretch by going 14 for 19 from the floor, highlighted by a soaring slam over Joe Harris. He reached 2,000 points in a season for the 10th time, joining Karl Malone and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to do that.
Kevin Love added 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Jordan Clarkson had 18 points, George Hill scored 17 and Rodney Hood finished with 16.
Harris scored a careerhigh 30 points for the Nets.
ROCKETS 118, HAWKS 99:
In Houston, James Harden had a triple-double with 18 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in three quarters and Houston rolled to its 60th victory of the season.
It was the second straight game where the Rockets never trailed after a rout of New Orleans on Saturday night that set a franchise record for wins in a season. The NBA-leading Rockets have won nine straight and became the 18th team in NBA history to reach 60 wins in the 74th game of the season.
Taurean Prince scored 28 and Isaiah Taylor had 26 for the Hawks.
Harden, who had 12 assists by halftime, had his fourth triple-double this season and the 35th of his career.
BUCKS 106, SPURS 103:
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a one-game absence with an ankle injury to score 25 points, and the Bucks held on after building a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.
San Antonio trailed by 15 points with 8 minutes left before rallying to get within three with 35 seconds left on Pau Gasol’s putback.
The loss snapped the Spurs’ six-game winning streak.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 34 points for the Spurs. Gasol had 22 on 10-of-15 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds.
PACERS 113, HEAT 107 (OT):
In Indianapolis, Victor Oladipo scored 23 points, Thaddeus Young added 22 and Bogdan Bogdanovic went for 18 to lead the Pacers.
In losing for the 11th time in their last 12 road games, the Heat fell to No. 8 in the Eastern Conference behind Milwaukee, which defeated San Antonio earlier in the day.
Tyler Johnson scored 19 points to lead the Heat, which got 15 from James Johnson, and backup center Kelly Olynyk had 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
The Heat were without center Hassan Whiteside for the eighth consecutive game with what the team is listing as a strained left hip flexor, with Bam Adebayo again starting in his place.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra missed the game, as he was in South Florida for the birth of his son.
CLIPPERS 117, RAPTORS 106:
In Toronto, Lou Williams scored 26 points against his former team, Tobias Harris had 20 and Los Angeles overcame an 18-point first-quarter deficit.
Montrezl Harrell scored 19 points and Milos Teodosic had 15 as the Clippers boosted their playoff hopes by winning for the second time in seven games and snapping a three-game losing streak north of the border. Austin Rivers scored 11 points and D’Andre Jordan had 14 rebounds to help the Clippers wrap up a four-game road trip on a winning note. Los Angeles went 2-2 on the trip.
Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto, which dropped to 30-7 at home, the best mark in the NBA.
KNICKS 101, WIZARDS 97:
In Washington, Trey Burke scored 19 points in his first start in exactly three years, leading eight players in double figures for New York.
Courtney Lee added eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter to send the Wizards to a third straight loss.
Bradley Beal scored 14 points, but shot just 5 of 17 for Washington, which led only once after the early stages of the second quarter. Otto Porter Jr. added 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Wizards remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, but lost for the eighth time in their last 12 games.
Enes Kanter had 11 points and 10 rebounds for New York, which won for the third time in five games after losing 18 of 19 in a stretch that dropped the Knicks out of realistic playoff contention.
TRAIL BLAZERS 108, THUNDER 105:
In Oklahoma City, C.J. McCollum scored 34 points to lead Portland.
Damian Lillard scored 24 points, and Jusuf Nurkic added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who swept all four games with the Thunder this season. Portland doubled its lead to two games over Oklahoma City for third place in the Western Conference.
Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Steven Adams had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jerami Grant added 17 points.
CELTICS 104, KINGS 93:
In Sacramento, Calif., Terry Rozier scored a seasonhigh 33 points and nearly matched Boston’s franchise record for 3-pointers, Jaylen Brown made consecutive buckets to break open a close game in the fourth quarter, and the Celtics held on for the win.
Making his sixth start in place of injured All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, Rozier shot 12 of 16, including 8 of 12 on 3s, in his most impressive game of the season. Rozier, who had been averaging 16.2 points in Irving’s absence, also had five rebounds and three assists.
Buddy Hield scored 24 points for Sacramento, and Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere had 14 points apiece.