Heat beat Cavs, keep playoff hopes alive
MIAMI — Tyler Johnson scored 24 points, including the game’s final four from the foul line, and the Miami Heat remained alive in the postseason chase by rallying to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 124121 on Monday night.
Hassan Whiteside scored 23 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for Miami, which would have been eliminated with a loss. Josh Richardson scored 19 points, James Johnson had 16 and Goran Dragic added 15.
Deron Williams had a season-high 35 points, along with nine assists and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who fell to 0-7 this season when LeBron James doesn’t play.
• Celtics 114, Nets 105 — At Boston: — Isaiah Thomas scored 27 points to help Boston beat back a fourthquarter charge and defeat Brooklyn to keep alive hopes of securing the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
The Celtics clinched the Atlantic Division title and can finish with no worse than the No. 2 seed.
With Cleveland’s overtime loss at Miami on Monday night, a Boston win in its regular-season finale against Milwaukee on Wednesday would give the Celtics the No. 1 seed. But if Boston loses to the Bucks and Cleveland wins its finale against Toronto, the Cavs would own the tiebreaker by virtue of their 3-1 head-to-head record with Boston.
• Clippers 125, Rockets 96 — At Los Angeles: Chris Paul scored 19 points, Blake Griffin added 18 and Los Angeles routed Houston to remain tied with Utah in the race for the No. 4 playoff seed.
The Clippers earned their sixth consecutive victory shortly after the Jazz won at Golden State. Both teams are 50-31 with one game remaining before they meet in the playoffs with only home court yet to be decided.
Former Clipper Eric Gordon led the Rockets with 17 points. James Harden shot 2 of 9 for 14 points, well under his 29.3 average. He missed 5 of 6 3-pointers.
• Trail Blazers 99, Spurs 98 — At Portland, Ore.: Noah Vonleh made a layup at the buzzer and Portland beat San Antonio despite resting starters Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Shabazz Napier scored a career-high 32 points for Portland, which won its third straight a day after Denver’s loss to Oklahoma City gave the Blazers the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 18 points.
• Pacers 120, 76ers 111 — At Philadelphia: Paul George scored 17 of his 27 points in the opening quarter and Indiana inched closer to clinching a berth in the NBA playoffs.
Thaddeus Young added 20 points, Myles Turner scored 18 and Kevin Seraphin had 17 to give the Pacers (41-40) their fourth straight victory and push them one win away from guaranteeing a playoff spot for the sixth time in the past seven years.
The 76ers (28-53) lost for the seventh straight time and finished with a home record of 17-24. They conclude their fifth straight season out of the playoffs Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
• Bucks 89, Hornets 79 — At Milwaukee: Tony Snell scored 16 points, Jason Terry had season highs of 15 points and five 3-pointers, and Milwaukee beat Charlotte.
Center Greg Monroe provided punch in the paint with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks, who clinched at least the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with the win.
• Bulls 122, Magic 75 — At Chicago: Emergency starter Jerian Grant had 17 points and a career-high 11 assists, and Chicago routed Orlando to move closer to a postseason berth.
The Bulls led by as many as 47 points in their largest margin of victory this season. They would have clinched a playoff berth with a Miami loss to Cleveland, but the Heat’s rally means Chicago will have until its final regular-season game. The Bulls host the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
• Wizards 105, Pistons 101 — At Auburn Hills, Mich.: Bradley Beal scored 33 points and Washington beat Detroit in the final game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Markieff Morris added 20 points for the Wizards, while Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 22.