Brooklyn rolls past Cleveland
Kevin Durant scored 36 points, leading a pair of fourth-quarter surges that carried the Brooklyn Nets into a tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 118-107 victory Friday against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Nets caught the Cavaliers at 43-38 with a game remaining and clinched the tiebreaker. They will finish seventh if they beat Indiana Sunday in their final regularseason game. The No. 7 team hosts No. 8 on Tuesday, moving into the playoffs with a victory.
The loser of the 7-8 game has a second shot at the postseason by beating the winner of the game between the Nos. 9 and 10 teams on Friday.
Kyrie Irving shook off a poor shooting night to finish with 18 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Bruce Brown had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists for the Nets. Andre Drummond had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Darius Garland scored 31 points for the Cavaliers, who dropped their third game in a row. They got rookie Evan Mobley back after a fivegame absence with a sprained left ankle but are still missing All-Star center Jarrett Allen because of a broken finger that has sidelined him nearly a month.
Mobley and Lauri Markkanen both had 17 points.
Other games
Bucks 131, Pistons 101: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists to help visiting Milwaukee rout Detroit.
Knicks 114, Wizards 92: Obi Toppin scored a careerhigh 35 points as visiting New York beat Washington. RJ Barrett scored 14 points for the Knicks before leaving the game with a sprained right knee.
Raptors 117, Rockets 115: Pascal Siakam scored 29 points with 12 rebounds and Gary Trent Jr.added 26 points including a game-winning jumper with 4.8 seconds remaining as host Toronto defeated Houston.
Hornets 133, Bulls 117: LaMelo Ball scored 24 points and visiting Charlotte buried Chicago early in the win. The Hornets led, 79-51, through the first two quarters, the most points allowed in a half this season by Chicago.
Heat 113, Hawks 109: Jimmy Butler scored 20 points and B Adebayo had 24 as host Miami edged Atlanta.
Mavericks 128, Trail Blazers 78: Luka Doncic scored 39 points with 11 rebounds and 7 assists and center Dwight Powell added 18 as Dallas routed visiting Portland.