CELTICS 117,
PACERS 97
INDIANAPOLIS -- Jason Tatum scored 22 points and Gordon
Hayward added 21 in his return to Indianapolis on Friday night,
leading the Boston
Celtics to a crucial 117-97 victory over the Pacers.
The Celtics broke a tie with Indiana for the No. 4 seed in
the East and essentially took a two-game lead in the chase for home-court
advantage because they won the season series 3-1 -- giving them the tiebreaker,
too. Boston also is building postseason momentum with three straight wins and
five in their last six games.
Indiana's two-game winning streak ended. Myles Turner led
the Pacers with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Domantas
Sabonis and Tyreke Evans each
scored 12.
NUGGETS 119, TRAIL BLAZERS 110
DENVER -- Nikola Jokic scored
10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, Paul Millsap finished
with 25 points, and Denver clinched the Northwest Division title.
Jokic added 13 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Nuggets
to their first division title in six years. Jamal Murray scored
23 points and Torrey Craig had
18 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Denver.
The Nuggets are assured of at least the No. 3 seed in the
Western Conference and can clinch the second seed with two more wins.
Denver clinched its first Northwest Division title since
2012-13.
Enes Kanter had
24 points and Rodney Hood 17
for the Trail Blazers. Damian
Lillard scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime.
WARRIORS 120, CAVALIERS 114
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Curry scored
40 points to move into third place on Golden State's career list in the win
over Cleveland.
Draymond
Green had 20 points and eight rebounds, Kevin Durant added
15 points and eight assists, and Quinn Cook scored
14 to help the Warriors (55-24) inch closer to clinching the Western Conference
in their second-to-last regular season game at Oracle Arena.
With 16,283 points Curry trails only Wilt
Chamberlain (17,783) and Rick Barry (16,447)
on the Warriors career scoring charts.
Collin Sexton scored
27 points as Cleveland lost its seventh straight.
LAKERS 122, CLIPPERS 117
LOS ANGELES -- Alex Caruso scored
a career-high 32 points, Kentavious
Caldwell-Pope added 25 points, and the Lakers rallied to beat
the playoff-bound Clippers.
Rajon Rondo scored
11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter when he was the most veteran player
on the floor for the Lakers. He added 12 assists.
JaVale McGee had
18 points and 10 rebounds Lakers, who outrebounded the Clippers, 55-45.
Danilo
Gallinari led the Clippers with 27 points. Shai
Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and Lou Williams had
18.
SPURS 129, WIZARDS 112
WASHINGTON -- LaMarcus
Aldridge scored 24 points, Rudy Gay added
18 in San Antonio's win over Washington.
Bryn Forbes and Patty Mills each
scored 17 for the Spurs, who had lost five of eight. DeMar DeRozan scored
16 points.
Bradley Beal scored
25 points and Thomas Bryant had
19 for Washington, which has lost eight of its last 10.
The Spurs had eight players score in double figures and shot
66.7% in the first half for a 77-58 lead. San Antonio scored 12 straight points
midway through the second quarter for a 62-45 lead and never looked back.
San Antonio shot 56% overall and led by as many as 24 points
in the fourth quarter.
MAGIC 149, HAWKS 113
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando used a franchise-record 81 points
in the first half to cruise past Atlanta in its regular-season home finale and
take another step toward a playoff berth.
Nikola
Vucevic, Terrence Ross and Evan Fournier scored
25 points each for Orlando, which set a season high for points despite having
19 turnovers. Vucevic added 10 rebounds to compile his 59th double-double of
the season. Ross made six 3-pointers, and Fournier shot 11 for 14.
The Magic's 20th win in 29 games left them at 40-40. With
road games remaining at Boston and Charlotte, they are attempting to make the
playoffs for the first time in seven years. Orlando entered the night in the
eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Trae Young led
the Hawks with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
HORNETS 113, RAPTORS 111
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kemba Walker scored
29 points, and Jeremy Lamb made
another clutch 3-ponter as Charlotte beat Toronto.
Lamb's winning shot came less than two weeks after he hit an
improbable half-court buzzer-beater to shock the Raptors in Toronto. Lamb
finished with 22 points and Frank
Kaminsky added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Hornets (37-42),
who kept their slim postseason hopes alive and surpassed their win total of the
previous two seasons.
Kawhi Leonard had
29 points for Toronto, but missed a fall-away jumper with 1 second left.
GRIZZLIES 122, MAVERICKS
DALLAS -- Delon Wright set
career highs with 26 points and 14 assists in his first triple-double, and
Memphis topped Dallas.
Courtney Lee led
Dallas with 21 points, and Justin
Jackson added 19. Dirk Nowitzki finished
with 12 points and seven defensive rebounds. He needs one defensive rebound to
become the fifth NBA player with 10,000 for his career.
Justin
Holiday scored 20 points on his 30th birthday as Memphis won
again after blowing out the Mavericks by 30 on their home court in early March.
The Grizzlies will go for a four-game season sweep Sunday at home. The teams
came in with matching 31-47 records.
THUNDER 123, PISTONS 110
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Paul George scored
30 points to help Oklahoma City beat Detroit.
Russell
Westbrook added 19 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for
the Thunder, who have won two straight as they try to avoid the No. 8 seed in
the Western Conference playoffs.
Detroit's Blake Griffin finished
with 45 points, but he scored just one point in the fourth quarter as Oklahoma
City broke open a close game.
TIMBERWOLVES 111, HEAT 109
MINNEAPOLIS -- Karl-Anthony
Towns had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Minnesota slowed
Miami's push for a postseason berth.
Dario Saric scored
19 points for the Timberwolves, Andrew
Wiggins added 18 and Gorgui Dieng
finished with a season-high 19 off the bench.
Dwayne Wade scored 24 points for Miami. Dion Waiters scored
22 and shot 6 of 12 from 3-point range, but the Heat missed a chance to pull
into a tie with Brooklyn in the race for the eighth spot in the Eastern
Conference.
Miami, which has lost four of six, had 17 turnovers as
Minnesota rode a big second half to the win.
ROCKETS 120, KNICKS 96
HOUSTON -- James Harden had
26 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in just 29 minutes to lead Houston
past New York.
Chris Paul and Clint Capela both
had double-doubles for Houston, with Paul getting 11 points and 10 assists and
Capela adding 12 points and 15 rebounds.
With Knicks point guard Emmanuel
Mudiay sidelined with a sore left shoulder, Mario Hezonja
started, posting 16 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. Hezonja's triple-double
was the first for the Knicks since Jan. 11, 2018, when Jarrett Jack had one
against Atlanta.
Henry
Ellenson also had 16 points off the bench for the Knicks, who
lost their ninth straight on the road. Kevin Knox added
13 and Mitchell
Robinson had 12.
JAZZ 119, KINGS 98
SALT LAKE CITY -- Donovan
Mitchell and Grayson Allen each
scored 23 points to lead Utah to its seventh straight victory.
Allen had his first career 20-point game while shooting 10
of 14 from the field. Mitchell had nine assists, Rudy Gobert added
17 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots and Joe Inglesalso
had 17 points in Utah's 12th victory in 13 games.
Buddy Hield scored
17 points to lead the Kings, Marvin Bagley
III added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Yogi Ferrell also
scored 13 as Sacramento lost to Utah for the third time this season.
SUNS 133, PELICANS 126, OT
PHOENIX -- Josh Jackson scored
eight of his season-high 35 points in overtime, and Phoenix rallied from 15
points down to beat New Orleans in a matchup of short-handed teams.
Jackson swished a 28-foot 3-pointer with 1:23 left in the
extra period to seal the Suns' victory in their home finale.
Jamal
Crawford scored a season-high 28 points, Ray Spalding added
a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Dragan Bender had
three of his seven blocked shots in overtime.
Julius Randle had
31 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Pelicans, who have lost six of
seven. Ian Clark added
a season-high 24 points.
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