Hardaway leads Hawks past Cavaliers, 114-100
CLEVELAND—Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Atlanta Hawks, despite resting center Dwight Howard and missing three other key starters, stunned the Cleveland Cavaliers 114100 on Friday night.
The Hawks, who beat Boston on Thursday night, outworked and outgunned the defending NBA champions.
With the loss, however, the Cavaliers blew a chance to move closer to securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Mike Dunleavy added 20 points for Atlanta and got a little revenge against the Cavs, who tossed him in as part of a trade for Kyle Korver in February. The Hawks had 39 assists.
It was a shocking letdown by the Cavs, who were so impressive in a win over the Celtics on Wednesday night. But they lacked energy from the outset and the Hawks took advantage.
LeBron James scored 27 points, and Kyrie Irving had 18 for Cleveland.
RAPTORS 96, HEAT 94
TORONTO—DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points and Toronto beat Miami in the Raptors’ final home game of the regular season.
DeRozan broke Vince Carter’s franchise record with his 31st 30-point game of the season, shooting 14 of 32 from the floor. Carter set the mark in 2000-01.
Cory Joseph added 14 points, and Kyle Lowry had 12 in his second game back form an injury.
James Johnson had 22 points for Miami against his former team. The Heat remained ninth in the Eastern Conference with three games to play.
GRIZZLIES 101, KNICKS 88
MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Mike Conley scored 31 points and Memphis warpped up the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference with a victory over short-handed New York.
Conley was 12 of 17 from the field, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range. The Grizzlies will face the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
Wayne Selden scored a career-high 13 points and Vince Carter added 12, including a trio of 3-pointers as the Grizzlies pulled away with a 16-2 rally in the fourth quarter.
Courtney Lee led the Knicks with 16 points.
PISTONS 114, ROCKETS 109
HOUSTON—Stanley Johnson hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 32.4 seconds left and added two free throws to lift Detroit past Houston.
The Rockets led by two after a dunk by Montrezl Harrell before Ish Smith made a basket to tie it. James Harden missed a 3-pointer on the other end, and Johnson’s 3-pointer made it 110107. Harden missed another 3-point attempt, and Johnson added the free throws to make it 112-107.
Harden finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with 33 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Boban Marjanovic, Detroit’s 7-foot-3 backup center, led the Pistons with a career-high 27 points with 12 rebounds off the bench.