76ers clinch playoff spot with win over Cavaliers
CLEVELAND » Joel Embiid had 44 points and 17 rebounds, James Harden recorded his second tripledouble with Philadelphia and the 76ers locked up a playoff spot with a 112-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.
Embiid was questionable coming into the game with a sore ankle. But not only did the 7-footer play, Embiid dominated down the stretch, scoring 12 points in a key sequence of the fourth quarter.
He also made 17 of 20 free throws, added five blocks and three assists in 38 minutes of another MVP resume builder. Embiid also made three 3-pointers.
THUNDER 117, SUNS 96 »
Backup center Olivier Sarr scored a career-high 24 points and Aleksej Pokuveski recorded his first career triple-double to lead Oklahoma City over NBAleading Phoenix.
Sarr came off the bench to shoot 9 of 12 from the field, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range. The other 7-footer, Pokuveski, had 17 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds while playing point guard for the bulk of the game.
MAVERICKS 118, BUCKS 112 » Luka Doncic scored 32 points and matched a season high with 15 assists to help Dallas defeat Milwaukee.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Milwaukee was essentially at full strength Sunday after resting all of its usual starters in a 153-119 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
CELTICS 144, WIZARDS 102 » Jaylen Brown scored 32 points, Jayson Tatum had 22 and Boston cruised past Washington in the Celtics’ regular-season home finale.
Jockeying for one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, Boston posted its 13th win in 16 games with three games left in the regular season.
NUGGETS 129, LAKERS 118 »
Nikola Jokic had 38 points, 18 rebounds and six assists, and Denver moved into fifth place in the Western Conference with a victory over Los
Angeles.
Will Barton scored 25 points and Aaron Gordon added 24 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who capitalized on LeBron James’ absence with a fourth-quarter surge to grab their fourth win in five games. Denver moved a half-game ahead of Utah for the fifth spot in the playoff picture, getting further insurance against being forced into the play-in tournament.
PISTONS 121, PACERS 117 » Saddiq Bey scored 31 points and Fred Jackson had 19 to lead sharpshooting Detroit past Indiana.
Bey hit 11 of 18 shots, including shooting 7 of 9 on 3-pointers, in 23 minutes. The Pistons, who have won three games in a row, sank 21 of 41 3-pointers and set a team record for 3s in a half with 13 in the opening two quarters.
KNICKS 118, MAGIC 88 » RJ Barrett scored 27 points, Obi Toppin matched his career high with 20 and New York routed Orlando.
Toppin and Alec Burks scored 12 points each in a 37-point third quarter for the Knicks, who made 12 of their first 13 shots in the period. Burks finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, and Immanuel Quickley had his first triple-double (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) in 34 minutes off the bench.
TIMBERWOLVES 139, ROCKETS 132 » Anthony Edwards scored 33 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 28 and Minnesota built a huge lead and held to beat Houston.
It’s the second straight
victory for Minnesota, which is in seventh place in the Western Conference with three games remaining. The Timberwolves led by as many as 25 in the fourth and were up by 16 with about five minutes to go before Houston scored the next eight points, with five from Josh Christopher to get within 132-124 a couple of minutes later.
HEAT 114, RAPTORS 109 » Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 10 assists against his former team, Max Strus scored all of his 23 points in the second half, and Miami topped Toronto.
Victor Oladipo scored 21 points, Tyler Herro had 18 and Bam Adebayo 16 as the Heat won their fourth straight and remained two games ahead of Boston atop the Eastern Conference standings. Each team has three games remaining.
SPURS 113, TRAIL BLAZERS 92 » Keldon Johnson scored 28 points and San Antonio defeated short-handed Portland.
Coupled with the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to Denver, San Antonio’s magic number for clinching 10th place in the Western Conference is two games. The Spurs (3345) also hold the tiebreaker over the Lakers (31-47) with a better conference record.
CLIPPERS 119, PELICANS 100 » Marcus Morris Sr. scored 22 points, Ivica Zubac got his 22nd double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers prevented the New Orleans Pelicans from clinching a spot in the play-in tournament with a victory.