Rockets poised to make title run
Harden, Paul lead hot Houston team
HOUSTON — Chris Paul has a long history of playoff heartbreak. So does James Harden. And Mike D’Antoni has more than either of them combined.
Separately, they’ve never gotten it done at playoff time. Together, their fortunes might change. They’ve led the Houston Rockets to the NBA’s best record going into these playoffs, and in a league that Golden State and Cleveland have dominated in recent years, it may not be overly surprising to see the Paul-Harden-D’Antoni triumvirate win it all this spring.
With two regular-season games left, the Rockets have already piled up a franchiserecord 64 wins to secure the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. But this group — perhaps fueled by past playoff shortcomings — knows it has much more work to do.
“The ultimate goal is holding that trophy up,” Harden said. “So until we do that there’s no celebrations … we haven’t done anything yet.”
D’Antoni, who’ll turn 67 next month and would be the oldest coach to win an NBA title if Houston gets it done, has revived his career in Houston. He got the Rockets to the West semifinals in his first year with them last season. And on the eve of these playoffs, D’Antoni insists he won’t spend a second thinking about all the times
things went wrong in his previous postseason trips.
“Zero,” he said when asked how much he thinks about his playoff failures. “Twenty-nine teams look back every year. It’s hard to win.”
TIMBERWOLVES 113, GRIZZLIES 94:
In Minneapolis, Karl-Anthony Towns slammed his way to 24 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for Minnesota, who toughed out a victory over Memphis to move one step closer to a longsought spot in the playoffs.
Jeff Teague added 24 points and Jimmy Butler scored 15 points for the Timberwolves, who trailed by 10 points early before taking over against a depleted Grizzlies team that beat them 101-93 exactly two weeks ago in one of their worst losses of the season. Towns had five dunks to help ignite the crowd.
RAPTORS 108, PISTONS 98:
In Detroit, Jonas Valanciunas scored 25 points, and Toronto scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter before holding on for a victory over Detroit.
Detroit was without injured stars Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin for its home finale, but the Pistons still led by 17 in the first half. The margin was only three, however, at halftime, and Detroit managed only 38 points over the final two quarters.
CAVALIERS 123, KNICKS 109:
In New York, LeBron James had 26 points and 11 assists, Kevin Love scored 28 points, and Cleveland got its 50th win and another Central Division title by beating New York.
The Cavaliers pulled within a half-game of Philadelphia for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference.
SPURS 98, KINGS 85:
In San Antonio, Rudy Gay scored 18 points, Manu Ginobili had 17 and San Antonio rallied late to beat Sacramento and clinch its 21st straight postseason appearance.
Sacramento, which was eliminated from the postseason on March 11, led by 14 points before being outscored 38-19 in the fourth quarter.
THUNDER 115, HEAT 93:
In Miami, Paul George scored 27 points, Russell Westbrook got his 25th triple-double of the season and Oklahoma City clinched a playoff spot with a win over the Miami Heat.
Westbrook finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists for the Thunder, who were down 18 in the opening minutes before outscoring the Heat 39-12 in the fourth.
NETS 114, BULLS 105:
In New York, Allen Crabbe scored 20 of his career-high 41 points in the first quarter and Brooklyn beat Chicago for its first three-game winning streak this season.
D’Angelo Russell had 21 points and 11 assists, and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 20 points for the Nets, who had not won three straight since April 1-4, 2017.
NUGGETS 88, TRAIL BLAZERS 82:
In Denver, Nikola Jokic posted his 10th tripledouble of the season and Denver kept its playoff hopes alive by rallying past Portland.
The Nuggets have won a season-high six straight games and a seventh, on Wednesday night in Minnesota, would clinch their first playoff berth since 2012-13.
BUCKS 102, MAGIC 86:
In Milwaukee, Shabazz Muhammad scored a season-high 22 points and helped spark a key third-quarter run, Eric Bledsoe had a triple-double and Milwaukee beat Orlando in the final regular-season game at the Bradley Center.
The Bucks leapfrogged Miami for sixth in the Eastern Conference.
PELICANS 113, CLIPPERS 100:
In Los Angeles, Anthony Davis scored 28 points and New Orleans clinched a playoff spot by beating LA.
Nikola Mirotic added 24 points for the Pelicans, who remain tied for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference with San Antonio and Okalhoma City.