Final day to decide some seeds, matchups
There will be final-night intrigue in the NBA. The two remaining playoff berths will be decided, along with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the site for Game 1 of the series that starts this weekend between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers. Most individual stat races are already sewn up, barring something that would be most improbable. Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook will become the 16th player in NBA history to win two scoring titles, Houston’s James Harden will lead the league in assists for the first time and Miami’s Hassan Whiteside should be able to wrap up his first rebounding crown.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry is a lock to lead the league in 3-pointers made for the fifth straight year, and his Warriors teammate Klay Thompson will finish second in that category for the fourth consecutive season.
Top of the East
Boston controls the race for the top seed in the East playoffs.
The Celtics will be No. 1 in the East if they beat Milwaukee, or if Cleveland loses to Toronto. The Cavaliers won’t have LeBron James on Wednesday night, and are 0-7 this season when he doesn’t play.
Depending on perspective, James will either be resting, recovering or revving for the start of the playoffs. It’s part of his usual playoff preparedness, since he hasn’t appeared in a regular-season finale in a decade.
Cleveland can still be No. 1 with a win and a Boston loss.
Bottom of the East
Dwyane Wade helped Miami win three championships. Now, he might help keep the Heat out of the playoffs. It’s three teams — Indiana, Chicago and Miami — for the last two spots in the East field. Indiana (which plays Atlanta) and Chicago (which plays Brooklyn) control their destinies.
If the Pacers win, they’re in. If the Bulls win, they’re in. If either loses, the door opens for Miami.
The Heat would reach the playoffs with a win over Washington, and a loss by either Indiana or Chicago.
East matchups
The 1-8 and 2-7 matchups in the East cannot be finalized until Wednesday. But the other two first-round series are now set, after Atlanta wrapped up the No. 5 seed with a win over Charlotte on Tuesday night.
No. 3 Toronto plays No. 6 Milwaukee in the first round. No. 4 Washington gets the fifth-seeded Hawks.
Indiana controls its destiny for No. 7. There are scenarios where the Heat, Bulls and Pacers all could be No. 7 or No. 8.
However it shakes out, this much is certain: LeBron James will go up against longtime postseason nemesis Indiana, or his close friend Dwyane Wade, or his former
Heat team in the opening round. And that will be made-for-TV stuff.
Clippers-Jazz
Utah hasn’t started the playoffs at home since 2001.
The Jazz could change that this year, if they beat San Antonio on Wednesday while the Clippers lose at home to Sacramento. That’s the only scenario where the Jazz would be seeded No. 4 in the Western Conference playoffs.
Otherwise, the Clippers will get homecourt for the first-round series against Utah.
All the other seeds and matchups out West for the first round are set: No. 1 Golden State vs. No. 8 Portland, No. 2 San Antonio vs. No. 7 Memphis, and No. 3 Houston vs. No. 6 Oklahoma City.
In Tuesday’s games:
HAWKS 103, HORNETS 76
In Atlanta, Dwight Howard had 19 points and 12 rebounds as the resurgent Hawks won their fourth straight game, routing listless Charlotte to wrap up the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks will face the Washington Wizards in the opening round of the playoffs.
A week ago, Atlanta’s playoff hopes were in jeopardy after a dismal stretch that included two losses to Brooklyn, the worst team in the NBA.
Then, in a sudden turnaround that epitomized the team’s maddening inconsistency this season, the Hawks knocked off East-leading Boston and recorded two straight stunning victories over the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, including Sunday’s comeback from a 26-point deficit.
This one was never in doubt. Charlotte played its regular-season finale already eliminated from the playoffs and without its best player, Kemba Walker. It showed. Atlanta raced out to a 63-44 lead by halftime, shooting 71 percent (24 of 34) over the first two quarters.
All 13 players scored for the Hawks, who were able to rest their starters in the second half. Paul Millsap and Ersan Ilyasova added 10 points apiece.
Jeremy Lamb led the Hornets with 21 points.
NUGGETS 109, MAVERICKS 91
In Dallas, Gary Harris scored 20 points and Denver beat Dallas with the Mavericks honoring retiring Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo as a ceremonial player.
With nothing at stake in a lost season that will be the worst for Dallas (32-49) since going 20-62 in 1997-98, the Mavericks followed through with an idea hatched in part by star Dirk Nowitzki weeks ago when it was clear Romo wasn’t returning to the Cowboys.
Romo was honored exactly a week after announcing he was leaving football to become the No. 1 NFL analyst at CBS.
The soon-to-be-37-year-old had the crowd on its feet in the final minute hoping he could play, but Romo wasn’t on the roster or under contract.
After breaking a bone in his back last preseason, the career passing leader for the storied Cowboys franchise lost the starting job he held for 10 years to rookie Dak Prescott and decided not to play for another team.
Mason Plumlee and Malik Beasley scored 16 apiece in the first game for the Nuggets (39-42) since getting eliminated from the postseason. Nowitzki scored 21 for Dallas.
THUNDER 100, TIMBERWOLVES 98
In Minneapolis, Victor Oladipo scored 20 points and hit a jumper with 6.3 seconds to play to lift Russell Westbrook-less Oklahoma City over Minnesota.
With Westbrook resting for the first time this season, Oladipo also had nine rebounds and six assists, and the Thunder outrebounded Minnesota 54-35. Starters Taj Gibson and Andre Roberson also sat out as the Thunder prepare for a first-round series against Houston. Domantas Sabonis added 19 points and nine rebounds.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and 12 rebounds, while Andrew Wiggins overcame a 1-for-11 start to finish with 18 points for the Minnesota. But the Timberwolves again struggled to get stops down the stretch and Wiggins missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as they lost their fifth straight game.
After consulting with coach Billy Donovan and the team’s medical staff, Westbrook made the decision to rest on Tuesday night for the first time this season. He was one of just six players in the league to have started every game. But after a break-neck year in which he broke Oscar Robertson’s record for most tripledoubles in a season and helped the Thunder turn the page after Kevin Durant left for Golden State, the most relentless player in the league finally took a night off.
LAKERS 108, PELICANS 96
In Los Angeles, Metta World Peace scored a team-leading 18 points during what might have been his final home game for the Lakers, and Los Angeles extended its late-season winning streak to five games with a victory over New Orleans.
World Peace made his 840th career NBA start and hit four 3-pointers while scoring all of his points in the second half, thrilling his younger teammates and setting off chants of his name from the Staples Center crowd.
Although he hasn’t announced his retirement, the 37-year-old veteran of 17 NBA seasons got several standing ovations down the stretch.
Cheick Diallo scored 19 points for the Pelicans, who lost their fifth straight while playing without big men Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
KINGS 129, SUNS 104
In Sacramento, Calif., Buddy Hield scored a career-high 30 points and Ty Lawson had his first career triple-double, getting 22 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds as Sacramento beat Phoenix.
The Kings never trailed, scoring the game’s first nine points, leading by 19 at halftime and keeping a double-digit lead the entire second half.
Ben McLemore, Willie Cauley-Stein and Georgios Papagiannis all had 13 points for the Kings. Skal Labissiere and Anthony Tolliver had 12 points apiece. The Kings snapped a twogame losing streak, beating the Suns for the third time in four games this season.