MIAMI (AP) Tyler Johnson scored 24 points, including the game’s final four from the foul line, and the Miami Heat remained alive in the postseason chase by rallying to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-121 on Monday night.
Hassan Whiteside scored 23 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for Miami, which would have been eliminated with a loss. Josh Richardson scored 19 points, James Johnson had 16 and Goran Dragic added 15.
Deron Williams had a season-high 35 points, along with nine assists and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who fell to 0-7 this season when LeBron James doesn’t play.
The Cavs were also without Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, and fell a game behind Boston in the race for No. 1 in the Eastern Conference. Kevin Love scored 25 points, Channing Frye had 21 and Kyle Korver had 18.
Miami survived despite Cleveland getting two four-point plays in overtime, including one by Williams with 34 seconds left that put the Heat on the brink. But Johnson scored the last four points, and Miami stayed in the No. 9 spot in the East.
CELTICS 114, NETS 105
BOSTON (AP) – Isaiah Thomas scored 27 points to help Boston beat back a fourth-quarter charge and defeat Brooklyn to keep alive 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.
With Cleveland’s overtime loss at Miami on Monday night, a Boston win in its regular-season finale against Milwaukee on Wednesday would give the Celtics the No. 1 seed. But if Boston loses to the Bucks and Cleveland wins its finale against Toronto, the Cavs would own the tiebreaker by virtue of their 3-1 head-to-head record with Boston.
Al Horford added 19 points and eight rebounds.
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.
JAZZ 105, WARRIORS 99
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 18 rebounds, Joe Johnson added a key 3-pointer with 80 seconds remaining and Utah snapped Golden State’s 14-game winning streak.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr, his team already assured of the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, opted to rest most of his starters for the entire fourth quarter and the Jazz (50-31) took advantage to end a seven-game losing streak at Oracle Arena.
George Hill had 20 points and Johnson finished with 19, including five 3s, as Utah also kept alive its shot at moving past the Clippers for the No. 4 seed in the West.
Stephen Curry had 28 points in three quarters for the Warriors (66-15), while Kevin Durant added 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his second game back from a knee injury.
CLIPPERS 125, ROCKETS 96
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Chris Paul scored 19 points, Blake Griffin added 18 and Los Angeles routed Houston to remain tied with Utah in the race for the No. 4 playoff seed.
The Clippers earned their sixth consecutive victory shortly after the Jazz won at Golden State. Both teams are 50-31 with one game remaining before they meet in the playoffs with only home court yet to be decided.
Former Clipper Eric Gordon led the Rockets with 17 points. James Harden shot 2 of 9 for 14 points, well under his 29.3 average. He missed 5 of 6 3-pointers.
Neither team led by more than eight points in the first half before the Clippers broke the game open in the third.
They outscored the Rockets 36-12 to take a 97-69 lead.
TRAIL BLAZERS 99, SPURS 98
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Noah Vonleh made a layup at the buzzer and Portland beat San Antonio despite resting starters Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Shabazz Napier scored a career-high 32 points for Portland, which won its third straight a day after Denver’s loss to Oklahoma City gave the Blazers the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 18 points.
Portland took an 88-87 lead on Napier’s 3-pointer before Bryn Forbes answered with a 3 for the Spurs. San Antonio extended the lead on Jonathon Simmons’ dunk and Kyle Anderson’s basket.
After Pat Connaughton’s long jumper for Portland, Jake Layman dunked to narrow the gap to 98-97 with 12 seconds to go. The Spurs threw an inbound out of bounds to give the ball back to Portland, and Vonleh’s layup fell amid the scramble under the basket.
PACERS 120, 76ERS 111
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Paul George scored 17 of his 27 points in the opening quarter and Indiana inched closer to clinching a berth in the NBA playoffs.
Thaddeus Young added 20 points, Myles Turner scored 18 and Kevin Seraphin had 17 to give the Pacers (41-40) their fourth straight victory and push them one win away from guaranteeing a playoff spot for the sixth time in the past seven years.
The 76ers (28-53) lost for the seventh straight time and finished with a home record of 17-24. They conclude their fifth straight season out of the playoffs Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot paced the Sixers with 24 points and Richaun Holmes had 17.
BUCKS 89, HORNETS 79
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Tony Snell scored 16 points, Jason Terry had season highs of 15 points and five 3-pointers, and Milwaukee beat Charlotte.
Center Greg Monroe provided punch in the paint with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks, who clinched at least the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with the win.
Giannis Antetokounmpo picked up his third triple-double of the season with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, clinching the feat after firing a pass with 54 seconds left to Khris Middleton for a 3.
The Hornets led for much of the first three quarters despite being without leading scorer Kemba Walker because of a hyperextended left knee.
Trailing 66-61 going into the fourth, Milwaukee asserted control in the final period with Terry hitting from the outside and Monroe controlling the middle.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 13 points for the Hornets.
BULLS 122, MAGIC 75
CHICAGO (AP) – Emergency starter Jerian Grant had 17 points and a career-high 11 assists, and Chicago routed Orlando to move closer to a postseason berth.
The Bulls led by as many as 47 points in their largest margin of victory this season. They would have clinched a playoff berth with a Miami loss to Cleveland, but the Heat’s rally means Chicago will have until its final regular-season game. The Bulls host the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
Chicago and Miami remained one game behind No. 7 Indiana after the Pacers beat the 76ers in Philadelphia. The Bulls (40-41) would claim a three-way tie if the teams finish with the same record.
Chicago scored 14 of the first 16 points en route to a 34-13 lead at the end of one quarter. Grant led the way with seven points, four assists and one steal.
Robin Lopez scored 18 points for the Bulls and Jimmy Butler added 17.
WIZARDS 105, PISTONS 101
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) – Bradley Beal scored 33 points and Washington beat Detroit in the final game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Markieff Morris added 20 points for the Wizards, while Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 22.
The highlight of the night for Detroit fans was a halftime ceremony that honored the top players from the three championship teams, with Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman posing for pictures with Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups.
Washington rested John Wall and Otto Porter Jr. in preparation for the postseason, but Scott Brooks brought his starters back to try to close out a tight game.
The Pistons tied the game early in the fourth quarter, but Stan Van Gundy decided not to match Brooks bringing back in his top players.
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