Mavs clinch with win over Jazz
Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 and the Dallas Mavericks clinched the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a 101-92 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night, leaving one remaining postseason slot.
Utah (40-41) lost control of its own destiny and needs to beat the Lakers on Wednesday and for the Rockets (40-41) to lose to the Kings. Houston holds the tiebreaker against the Jazz if they finish with the same record.
Dallas rode its two biggest stars to victory as Nowitzki hit four 3-pointers and added 11 rebounds. Deron Williams scored 23 of his own against his former team.
Gordon Hayward finished with 26, but was 1 for 9 from 3-point range. The Jazz struggled to shoot the ball and were 2 for 18 from behind the arc in the second half.
The Mavs took a 50-46 lead into halftime after leading by as much as eight in the first half. The Jazz struggled to keep up with Nowitzki in the first quarter, in which he scored 10, and Williams in the second, when he scored 16.
OTHER GAMES
Cavaliers 109, Hawks 94 at Cleveland: LeBron James scored 34 points in three quarters, Kyrie Irving added 35 and Cleveland clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a win over Atlanta.
James scored 19 in the third quarter and only sat for four of the first 36 minutes as the Cavs ensured they’ll have home-court advantage until the NBA Finals.
Magic 107, Bucks 98 at Orlando, Fla.: Ersan Ilyasova scored 22 points and Mario Hezonja added 19 to help Orlando defeat Milwaukee in the Magic’s home finale.
Wizards 120, Nets 111 at New York: Ramon Sessions had 21 points and 12 assists, and Washington recovered after blowing all of its 20-0 lead to beat Brooklyn.
Hornets 114, Celtics 100 at Boston: Jeremy Lin scored 19 of his 25 points in Charlotte’s big second quarter, carrying the Hornets to a win over Boston.
The Hornets are in a tight race with Boston and Miami in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
Rockets 129, Timberwolves 105 at Minneapolis: James Harden scored 34 points and Dwight Howard had 19 points and eight rebounds to keep Houston’s playoff hopes alive with a victory over Minnesota.
Houston (40-41) entered the game in ninth place in the Western Conference and one game behind Utah for the final spot.
Bulls 121, Pelicans 116 at New Orleans: Jimmy Butler scored 12 of his 23 points in the last six minutes and short-handed Chicago beat injury-riddled New Orleans.
Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol sat after Chicago was eliminated from the playoffs when Indiana won Sunday.
Thunder 112, Lakers 79 at Oklahoma City: Kevin Durant scored 34 points and Russell Westbrook had a triple-double by halftime to help the Thunder beat Los Angeles in the final road game of Kobe Bryant’s 20-year career.
Kobe looked vintage in the first quarter with 13 points, but he went scoreless the rest of the way.
The Thunder honored him with a video before the tip.
Westbrook stole the show in the second quarter, cinching his leagueleading 18th triple-double of the season, and the 37th of his career. He finished with 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.