Heat rout Hornets, tie for 8th
Goran Dragic scored 33 points, and the Miami Heat made 21 3-pointers to beat the Hornets, 112-99, last night in Charlotte, N.C., and pull back into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
James Johnson shot 6-of-7 from 3-point range and had 26 points, while Hassan Whiteside had a strong second half and finished with 13 points and 20 rebounds as the Heat dealt a near-fatal blow to Charlotte’s playoff hopes. The loss drops the 10th place Hornets 2A games behind the Heat and Indiana Pacers with three games remaining.
Miami holds the head-to-head tiebreaker on Indiana for the final spot in the East.
The Heat broke open a tight game in the third quarter, building a 17-point lead behind Dragic and Whiteside.
Whiteside hadn’t scored and only had seven rebounds when he got into an altercation early in the third quarter. The 7-foot center threw an elbow in the direction of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, although it never landed. Cody Zeller stepped in to break things up, but a frustrated Whiteside shoved Zeller away, earning a technical. Nic Batum led Charlotte with 24 points. Raptors 105, Pistons 102 — In Auburn Hills, Mich., Kyle Lowry had 27 points and 10 assists in his return from a wrist injury and Toronto rallied to beat Detroit.
Toronto moved a half-game ahead of the Washington for third place in the East.
Thunder 103, Grizzlies 100 — Russell Westbrook fell a rebound short of an historic triple-double, but he scored 45 points, including a late 3-pointer that helped seal Oklahoma City’s victory in Memphis, Tenn.
Lakers 102, Spurs 95 — Tyler Ennis had 19 points in place of injured starter D’Angelo Russell and visiting Los Angeles never trailed against San Antonio, leading by as many as 26 and snapping an eight-game skid in the series.
Rockets 110, Nuggets 104 — James Harden scored 31 points and host Houston squandered a big early lead but held on to outlast Denver, securing the third seed in the West.
Warriors 120, Suns 111 — Stephen Curry scored 42 points and visiting Golden State held off Phoenix for its 13th straight win, clinching the best record in the Western Conference for the third straight season.
Elsewhere in the NBA — Atlanta Hawks forward Thabo Sefolosha is not yet ready to return from his right groin strain. He will miss his sixth straight game tonight at home against the Celtics. The Hawks, who have lost 9-of11 to fall to sixth place in the Eastern Conference, have had two other starters, Paul Millsap and Kent Bazemore, make recent returns from injuries.
Meanwhile, Sefolosha settled his lawsuit against New York City that stemmed from a police fracas outside a trendy Manhattan nightclub and reportedly will receive $4 million. Sefolosha was arrested in 2015 when authorities say he disobeyed orders to clear the street after another NBA player was stabbed outside the club. He said his leg was broken in the ensuing struggle, causing him to miss the playoffs. He claimed officers arrested him without cause. . . .
Derrick Rose had his latest knee surgery, and the New York Knicks say he could resume basketball activities in three weeks. Rose had arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.