Hornets take advantage of resting Pacers for win
INDIANAPOLIS » Dwight Howard finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds and Frank Kaminsky tied his career high with 24 points Tuesday night to lead the Charlotte Hornets past the Indiana Pacers, 119-93.
Charlotte ended the season with two wins in its last seven games.
The Pacers, who are locked into the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, lost for the second time in three games with three starters sitting out. Darren Collison, T.J. Leaf and Glenn Robinson III all scored 13 points for Indiana.
With Bojan Bogdanovic, Victor Oladipo and Thaddeus Young all resting, the Hornets quickly took advantage of the shorthanded Pacers.
WIAZARDS 113, CELTICS 101 » John Wall surpassed 5,000 career assists and Washington beat Boston despite Jaylen Brown’s 21 first-quarter points to remain in play for the No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
For now, the Wizards are eighth in the East, and potentially more worrisome is this: Starting small forward Otto Porter Jr. left at halftime with a right lower leg strain and did not return.
Washington ended its four-game losing streak and will wrap up the regular season at Orlando on Wednesday.
That result, along with how Miami fares against Toronto and what Milwaukee does at Philadelphia, will determine where the Wizards, Heat and Bucks all wind up in the standings ahead of the playoffs.
SUNS 124, MAVERICKS 97 » Rookie Alec Peters scored a career-high 36 points and Phoenix beat Dallas in a reserve-filled finale for two teams headed to the lottery.
The Mavericks (24-58) entered the game tied for the third-worst record in the NBA and stayed that way while sitting eight players. That included star Dirk Nowitzki, whose 20th season ended last week when he had ankle surgery.
Atlanta finished with the same record after losing at home to Philadelphia 121113. Orlando can join the Mavericks and Hawks with a loss at home to Washington on Wednesday.
Phoenix (21-61), which had already clinched the worst record and best lottery odds for the No. 1 pick in the draft in June, also didn’t dress eight players. The Suns won for the second time in 19 games to wrap up their third straight season with at least 58 losses.
JAZZ 119, WARRIORS 79 » Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points and set an NBA rookie record for 3-pointers, Derrick Favors added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Utah cruised to a victory over Golden State.
Jonas Jerebko scored 14 points, and Rudy Gobert and Ricky Rubio added 13 points apiece for the Jazz. Utah (48-33) won its sixth straight game and went 3-1 in the season series with Golden State. The Jazz can claim the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with a win over Portland on Wednesday night.