Starters sit as Nets lose to Cavaliers

Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd sat his starters for the playoffs and the Nets closed the regular season with a 11485 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Although the Nets could have clinched the Eastern Conference’s No. 5 spot with a win, Kidd elected to rest Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, Deron Williams and Shaun Livingston, who spent the night on the bench as the world’s highest-paid cheerleading squad.

Kidd also limited the minutes of key reserves and used only seven players.

With Washington’s win at Boston, the Nets finished tied with the Wizards but lost the tiebreaker and will be the No. 6 seed. Brooklyn will face Toronto in the first round. The Nets and Raptors split four games.

“I like right where we are,” Kidd said. “A good place.”

Tyler Zeller scored 22 points with 11 rebounds and Dion Waiters scored19 for the Cavaliers, who finished a disappointing 33-49 in coach Mike Brown’s first season back and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year. All-Star Kyrie Irving scored 15. Marcus Thornton and Andray Blatche scored 20 apiece for Nets.

Before the game, a defensive Kidd dismissed the notion the Nets were “tanking” down the stretch so they wouldn’t have to play Chicago in the first round. Brooklyn lost to the Bulls in the first round last year.

Kidd started Thornton, Blatche, Jorge Gutierrez, Marquis Teague and Jason Collins — a group that had made a combined seven starts. It was the first start with Brooklyn for Collins, the league’s first openly gay player. WIZARDS 118, CELTICS 102: Bradley Beal scored 27 points and Washington clinched the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference with a win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.

The Wizards will be facing Chicago in their first playoff appearance since 2008.Trevor Booker scored 20 points, Marcin Gortat had 15 with 10 rebounds and John Wall15 points for Washington, which finished the regular season 44-38. It’s the most wins for the franchise since 45 in 2004-05.

The Wizards jumped over Brooklyn and into fifth place after the Nets lost in Cleveland.