MAVS BOOK PLAYOFF SPOT, WIZARDS IN PLAY-IN
LOS ANGELES: Luka Doncic’s 11th tripledouble of the season propelled the Dallas Mavericks to a 114-110 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday (Saturday in Manila) and into the NBA playoffs.
Doncic scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out 11 assists, and the Mavs held off a late challenge from the shorthanded Raptors, whose seven absentees included stars Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 21 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith drained two late three-pointers for the Mavs, which saw a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter dwindle to two points with
4.9 seconds remaining.
A pair of free-throws from Josh Richardson pushed the Mavericks’ lead back to four with 3.9 seconds left, and Dallas notched a sixth win in its last seven games to assure itself a playoff spot.
The Mavs avoided the NBA’s play-in tournament in which the seventh through 10th-placed teams in each conference battle for the final two postseason berths.
“Avoiding the play-in is significant,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s important. There’s too many advantages to not being in the play-in situation.”
But the Washington Wizards team was delighted to clinch a play-in spot.
Fueled by
Russell
Westbrook’s latest tripledouble, the
Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120105, to secure a play-in berth and eliminate the Chicago Bulls from contention.
Westbrook scored 21 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and handed out 17 assists for the 183rd triple-double of his career, extending the all-time record he claimed when he surpassed Oscar Robertson with his 182nd on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).
Davis Bertans scored 17 points while Japanese forward Rui Hachimura and Robin Lopez chipped in 14 apiece as seven Washington players scored in double figures.
“We’re thankful to have the opportunity to make the playoffs,” Westbrook said. “Our job now is to take care of business for one more game and move
up in the standings.”
Sixers No. 1 in East
Elsewhere, the pieces of the playoff puzzle continued to fall into place.
The Philadelphia 76ers secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a dominant 12297 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Seth Curry scored 20 points, and stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons added 13 apiece for the 76ers, which out-scored the Magic, 39-19, in the second quarter to take control of the contest.
Cameroonian big man Embiid, a Most Valuable Player candidate, added 11 rebounds while Australia’s Simmons handed out nine assists.
Bojan Bogdanovic led Utah with 22 points. Jordan Clarkson added 18 off the bench, and center Rudy Gobert scored 16 points and pulled down 18 rebounds for a Jazz team that had lost two straight.
The Utah Jazz can clinch top seed in the West with a victory against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday or a loss by second-placed Phoenix in either of the Suns’ two weekend games against San Antonio.