Celtics beat Brooklyn to clinch Atlantic Division title
Isaiah Thomas scored 27 points to help the Boston Celtics beat back a fourth-quarter charge and defeat the visiting Brooklyn Nets 114-105 on Monday night to keep alive their hopes of securing the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
The Celtics clinched the Atlantic Division title and can finish with no worse than the No. 2 seed. Al Horford added 19 points and eight rebounds.
Brooklyn trailed by 27 in the third quarter before an 18-5 run got it back into the game. The Nets got as close as six in the fourth, but Thomas and Horford combined for 15 points in the period to help secure the victory.
Jeremy Lin led the Nets with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Brook Lopez finished with 25 points, and passed Buck Williams to become the franchise’s career leading scorer with a jumper late in the fourth quarter.
l Tyler Johnson scored 24 points, including the game’s fi- nal four from the foul line in overtime, and the Heat kept their postseason hopes alive by rallying past the visiting Cavaliers 124121. The Heat (40-41) remained No. 9 in the Eastern Conference, a game behind No. 7 Indiana (41-40) and a tiebreaker behind No. 8 Chicago (40-41).
FORMER BRAVE SAFE
Former Atlanta Braves player Otis Nixon, who went missing last weekend, has been located, police said Monday.
Nixon has been found and he’s “safe,” said Brittany Duncan, a spokeswoman for police in Woodstock, Ga.
Nixon, 58, had been last seen around 10 a.m. Saturday leaving his home in Woodstock, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta, police said. Nixon, an outfielder, played for nine teams in 17 major league seasons, with his best years coming in Atlanta. He had 1,379 hits and 620 stolen bases.
THISCLOSE TO MILLIONS
A person with direct knowledge of Jack Eichel’s contract confirmed to The Associated Press the Buffalo Sabres forward missed out on collecting a $2 million performance bonus in his contract by a decimal point.
Eichel would have collected the bonus by finishing in the top 10 in points per game.
Eichel had 57 points in 61 games to finish 11th by averaging 0.934 points per game. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl edged him out by averaging 0.939 points per game with 77 points in 82 games.