Pacers top Heat to help Sixers clinch playoff spot
INDIANAPOLIS » Victor Oladipo had 23 points and five assists to help the Indiana Pacers clinch a playoff berth with a 113-107 win over the Miami Heat Sunday.
The Heat’s loss also guarantees that the Philadelphia 76ers clinched a playoff spot, sitting just ahead of the Pacers in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Thaddeus Young had 22 points, nine rebounds and five steals, and Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who secured their seventh appearance in the postseason in the last eight seasons.
Tyler Johnson made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, James Johnson had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Bam Adebayo added 14 points for the Heat, who split the four-game season series. ROCKETS 118, HAWKS 99 » James Harden had a tripledouble with 18 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in three quarters and Houston rolled to its 60th victory, beating Atlanta.
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.
Houston was up by 24 at halftime and the Hawks cut into the lead with a solid third quarter, but never really threatened, allowing Harden to watch the final quarter from the bench for the second night in a row. CAVALIERS121,NETS114» LeBron James had 37 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Cleveland beat Brooklyn for its fifth straight victory.
James kept up his latest sensational stretch by going 14 for 19 from the floor. 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, who came in averaging 122.5 points during the streak and just about reached that even with a slow start. BUCKS 106, SPURS 103 » Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from an ankle injury to score 25 points, and Milwaukee held on in the final few minutes after building a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter against San Antonio.
Antetokounmpo added 10 rebounds to pick up his 37th double-double of the season.
The Spurs trailed by 15 points with 8 minutes left before rallying to get within three with 35 seconds left on Pau Gasol’s putback. Eric Bledsoe missed a 3-pointer on the other end for the Bucks. San Antonio rushed down court to get one last shot off, but Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton blocked Dejounte Murray’s 3-point attempt from the right wing with 3.7 seconds left. CELTICS 104, KINGS 93 » Terry Rozier scored a season-high 33 points and nearly matched the Celtics’ franchise record for 3-pointers, Jaylen Brown made consecutive buckets to break open a close game in the fourth quarter, and Boston held on to beat the Sacramento Kings.
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 the rookie’s 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. The eight 3s were one shy of the Celtics’ single-game record of nine shared by Isaiah Thomas and Antoine Walker. JAZZ 110, WARRIORS 91 » Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 15 rebounds and the Utah Jazz pulled away from undermanned, injury-plagued Golden State.
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. KNICKS 101, WIZARDS 97 » Trey Burke scored 19 points in his first start in exactly three years, leading eight players in double figures as New York defeated wavering Washington.
Courtney Lee added eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter to send the Wizards to a third straight loss. It’s the second three-game skid of the season for Washington and both have come in the latter portion of a 26game stretch without AllStar point guard John Wall, who underwent surgery on his left knee in late January. Wall returned to full-contact practice Saturday. CLIPPERS 117, RAPTORS 106 » Lou Williams scored 26 points against his former team, Tobias Harris had 20 and Los Angeles overcame an 18-point first-quarter deficit to beat Toronto.
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 DeAndre Jordan had 14 rebounds to help the Clippers wrap up a fourgame road trip on a winning note. Los Angeles went 2-2 on the trip, and has won 13 of 20 on the road. TRAIL BLAZERS 108, THUNDER 105 » C.J. McCollum scored 34 points to help Portland Trail edge Oklahoma City.
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 games over the Thunder 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.