Heat beat Celtics to clinch playoff berth
BOSTON >> Tyler Herro scored 24 points and the Miami Heat clinched a playoff spot and locked the Boston Celtics into the play-in tournament Tuesday night with a 129-121 victory.
Miami moved into a tie with idle Atlanta for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The surging Heat won for the 10th time in 13 games. They have three games left in the regular season.
NUGGETS 117, HORNETS 112 >> Michael Porter Jr. and Nikola Jokic each scored 30 points, and Denver held off Charlotte to snap a twogame slide.
PACERS 103, 76ERS 94 >> Domantas Sabonis had his ninth triple- double of the
season and Caris LeVert added 24 points to help Indiana past Philadelphia, ending the 76ers’ eightgame winning streak. GRIZZLIES 133, MAVERICKS 104 >> Ja Morant had 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as Memphis
used a third- quarter burst to beat Dallas.
CLIPPERS 115, RAPTORS 96 >> Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points, Paul George added 16 and Los Angeles led all the way in a win over Toronto.
TIMBERWOLVES 119, PISTONS 100 >> Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points and Anthony Edwards added 22 as Minnesota beat undermanned Detroit in a game with significant lottery implications.
Minnesota’s second straight win was its 22nd in 69 games, while the Pistons dropped to 20- 50. The Houston Rockets (1653) are the only team with fewer wins than Detroit. BUCKS 114, MAGIC 102 >> Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 27 points and Milwaukee kept up its chase of the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a victory over Orlando.
The Bucks (44-25) remained a game behind Brooklyn (45-24) for the second spot in the East. The Nets defeated Chicago 115-107.