Six players score in double figures as Pacers top Cavs 126-118 in 2OT
CLEVELAND (AP) — Quenton Jackson scored 21 points, RayJ Dennis had seven points in the second overtime and the Indiana Pacers rallied for a 126-118 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday after trailing by 23 with 7:35 remaining in regulation.
Tony Bradley added 14 points. His hook shot with 4:41 remaining in double overtime put Indiana up by two and gave it the lead for the first time since there was 4:21 left in the first quarter.
The Pacers (50-32), who’ll be the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference in the playoffs, reached 50 wins for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Indiana reached the milestone even though two starters and four regular rotation players didn’t play.
Jaylon Tyson scored a career-high 31 points for Cleveland (64-18), which ended the regular season with three straight losses after clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference. .
Cleveland sat out nine of its regular rotation players, including four starters. Jarrett Allen was the only Cavaliers starter to see playing time, marking the first time in his eight-year career he played in all 82 games.
The Cavaliers had a 27-point advantage during the third quarter and were up 96-73 until Indiana rallied with a 32-9 run to even it at 105 with 10.5 seconds remaining.
BUCKS 140, PISTON 133, OT
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pat Connaughton had a career-high 43 points and a season-high 11 rebounds as Milwaukee defeated Detroit in overtime to close the regular season on an eight-game winning streak.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and several other regulars didn’t play with both teams already locked into their playoff positions. The fifth-seeded Bucks face Indiana and the sixth-seeded Pistons take on New York in the opening round of the playoffs.
Milwaukee’s lone usual starter to play was Kyle Kuzma, who scored 22 points in the first quarter before sitting out the rest of the game. Tyler Smith added 20 points and Pete Nance had 19 for the Bucks.
Malik Beasley scored 23 points to lead six Pistons in double figures. Lindy Waters III and Marcus Sasser each added 18 points. Sasser also had 10 assists.
WIZARDS 119, HEAT 118
MIAMI (AP) — Tristan Vukcevic had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Justin Champagnie added 27 points and Bub Carrington banked in a game-winner as time expired to put Washington over Miami in both teams’ regular-season finale.
Carrington had 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a career high 41 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Miami, and Keshad Johnson and Josh Christopher each had 17 points.
Miami is already locked into 10th place in the Eastern Conference and will play an elimination game against Chicago, the No. 9 seed, on Wednesday.
Colby Jones also had 20 for the Wizards, who won just two of their final 10 games of the season.
KNICK 113, NETS 105
NEW YORK (AP) — Landry Shamet scored a season-high 29 points, playing starter’s minutes after replacing Mikal Bridges just 6 seconds into the game, as New York beats Brooklyn.
Bridges started the game to extend his consecutive games streak to 556, having never missed a game in his NBA or college career. After the Knicks lost the jump ball, he committed a foul and left the game.
Bridges was the only starter who played for the Knicks, who rested Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby before the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference opens the playoffs against No. 6 Detroit next weekend.
Cam Payne added 21 points and Precious Achiuwa had 18 for the Knicks, who beat the Nets for the 10th straight time and finished the season 51-31.
Tyrese Martin and Trendon Watford each scored 20 points for the Nets, who finished 26-56
MAGIC 117, HAWKS 105
ATLANTA (AP) — Keaton Wallace posted his first career triple-double and Atlanta beat Orlando to give the Hawks a split of their four-game, regular-season series and momentum for a rematch in the play-in tournament.
Wallace had 15 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds to become Atlanta’s first two-way player to record a triple-double. He added five steals.
Most starters were held out as the teams prepared for the play-in tournament. Atlanta, the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, will play at No. 7 Orlando on Tuesday. The winner advances to the playoffs.
Terance Mann scored 19 points for Atlanta.
The Hawks closed the regular season with three straight wins and ended the Magic’s five-game winning streak.
CELTICS 93, HORNETS 86
BOSTON (AP) — Payton Pritchard scored 34 points and Boston swept consecutive home games against Charlotte Hornets with a victory despite blowing a 21-point first-half lead in a regular-season ending matchup of all reserves.
Sam Hauser added 15 points for Boston (61-21), which begins the defense of its NBA title in the playoffs next weekend. Pritchard scored 12 in the final quarter.
Josh Okogie and Jusuf Nurkic each scored 14 points for the Hornets (19-63), who lost their seventh straight.
Neither team played any of their regular starters.
The Celtics played all their regulars Friday — except Jaylen Brown — and won by 36 points. Brown missed the final two games to rest his troublesome right knee that’s been bothering him for a month or so.
Charlotte’s Seth Curry didn’t play and finished the season hitting 45.6% on 3s. On Friday, he slipped ahead of Sacramento’s Zach LaVine and became eligible for the league’s top percentage by making his 82nd.
It was the second time this week the Celtics sat out their top six players. They also did in a 20-point loss at Orlando on Wednesday.
BULLS 122, 76ERS 102
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kevin Huerter hit five 3-pointers and scored 18 points and Chicago warmed-up for the play-in game with a win over Philadelphia.
The Bulls are the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference for the second straight season and will make their third straight appearance in the play-in tournament. The Bulls play the Heat on Wednesday night.
Talen Horton-Tucker scored 17 points in a largely meaningless game for both teams.
The Bulls had been locked in to their play-in spot. The 76ers finished with only 24 wins and finished the season on a 5-31 stretch.
Lonnie Walker IV hit eight 3-pointers and scored 31 points for the Sixers. Jared Butler added 19 points.
NUGGETS 126, ROCKETS 111
HOUSTON (AP) — Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic added 18 each and Denver clinched the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference with a win over Houston.
The victory gives the Nuggets homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs and puts them in the postseason for a seventh straight season.
The Nuggets were up by 13 at halftime and used a 10-2 run, with five points from Gordon, to make it 86-63 with about five minutes left in the third quarter.
The Rockets, who had nothing to play for having long since clinched the No. 2 seed, pulled their starters after that big run.
The Nuggets had extended the lead to 111-78 with about nine minutes left when they cleared their bench.
KINGS 109, SUNS 98
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas each had a double-double, and Sacramento clinched homecourt advantage for its first play-in game, beating Phoenix.
Sabonis had 20 points and 12 rebounds for his 61st double-double of the season while Valanciunas had 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Zach LaVine added 20 points as the Kings (40-42) ended a two-game skid.
Sacramento, ninth in the Western Conference standings, hosts the No. 10 Dallas Mavericks in a loser-out play-in game on Wednesday.
The Suns rested their top three players and finished the season 36-46, their worst record since going 34-39 during the Covid-shortened season 2019-20.
Grayson Allen paced the Suns with 20 points. Tyus Jones scored 17 points while Ryan Dunn and Colin Gilespie each had 12 points.
TRAIL BLAZERS 109, LAKERS 81
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Dalano Banton scored 23 points and Portland ended their season with a victory over playoff-bound Los Angeles, playing without Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
Rookie Dalton Knecht had 27 points for the Lakers (50-31), who had won the last six meetings with Portland.
The Lakers had already locked up the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 win over Houston on Friday. The Lakers will face Golden State, Denver or Minnesota in the opening round, depending on the outcome of Sunday’s other games.
With a postseason berth secured, James (left groin strain) and Doncic (left quad soreness) were among those that did not play. Bronny James made his first start of the season, finishing with four points.
The Blazers were earlier eliminated from the postseason for the fourth straight season. But Portland, with the second-youngest roster in the league, surpassed expectations to finish 36-46.
GRIZZLIES 132, MAVERICKS 97
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Lamar Stevens scored a career-high 31 points, Marvin Bagley III had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Memphis defeated Dallas.
Both the Grizzles and Mavericks will play in the Western Conference play-in tournament. With both teams’ positions pretty well set, many of the starters sat out with soreness, injury recovery or rest.
That left Sunday’s game as a contest between bench players.
Cam Spencer scored 23 points and Jay Huff had 22 for Memphis.
Daniel Gafford led the Mavericks with 20 points and seven rebounds. Jaden Hardy scored 17 points and Max Christie finished with 14 points.
Memphis increased the lead to 23 points in the second quarter, but Dallas scored the final 10 points of the half to cut the Mavericks’ deficit to 67-54. Gafford scored 18 points, missing on one of his eight shots.
THUNDER 115, PELICANS 100
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Rookie center Branden Carlson scored a season-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds and three blocked three shots, and Oklahoma City wrapped up the best regular season in franchise history with a victory over injury-depleted New Orleans.
Andrew Wiggins scored a game-high 28 points and Kenrich Williams had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder (68-14), who never trailed and led by as many as 23 points despite resting all of their usual starters.
Dillon Jones added 13 points and 10 rebounds in just his third start this season and Isaiah Joe scored 17 for Oklahoma City, which won its last five regular-season games and 16 of its last 17.
Rookie Antonio Reeves scored 20 points, Jamal Cain added 18 and Lester Quinones 17 for the Pelicans, who had just eight available players as they closed out the season on a seven-game skid.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 10 points and 16 rebounds, and his 3-pointer briefly pulled the Pelicans as close as six at 71-65 before the Thunder pulled away again.
CLIPPERS 124, WARRIORS 119, 0T
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — James Harden hit consecutive 3-pointers in overtime, a pair of free throws and scored on Jimmy Butler’s goaltending to finish with 39 points and 10 assists, Kawhi Leonard added 33 points, and Los Angeles secured the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoffs by beating Golden State.
Leonard missed a free throw with 6.1 seconds but made the next, and the Warriors had one last chance, but Buddy Hield missed a 3 to tie it.
Stephen Curry scored 36 points and made a 3-pointer with 2:06 left in OT, but turned the ball over the next time down swarmed by two defenders. Butler had 30 points and nine assists. He and Curry now will have to lead seventh-seeded Golden State in a play-in game at home against Memphis on Tuesday night.
Ivica Zubac added 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Clippers, who will take on the Denver Nuggets in the first round.
After Leonard traveled with 36.7 seconds left in overtime, Draymond Green missed a layup. Green defended Leonard’s missed last shot of regulation.
TIMBERWOLVES 116, JAZZ 105
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards had 18 of his 43 points in the third quarter to help Minnesota pull away from Utah for a victory to secure a spot in the playoffs and stay out of the play-in games.
Rudy Gobert had 19 points and 18 rebounds and Donte DiVincenzo added 16 points for the Timberwolves (49-33), who have the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and will face the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.
Edwards initially faced a suspension for this game for a technical foul on Friday that would’ve given him an NBA -high 18 this season, but the league rescinded that penalty after a review. Edwards went 7 for 18 from deep to finish with an NBA-leading 320 made 3-pointers.
Brice Sensabaugh scored 22 points for the Jazz (17-65), who finished with the worst record in the NBA and the worst mark in franchise history by six games.
SPURS 125, RAPTORS 118
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Keldon Johnson had 23 points, Stephon Castle added 20, and San Antonio rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat Toronto.
Scottie Barnes had 35 points as Toronto ended its season on a two-game skid. Jamison Battle had 25 points and Jonathan Mogbo added nine points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.
San Antonio veterans Harrison Barnes had 18 points and Chris Paul 15. Barnes and Paul along with Julian Champagnie played all 82 games this season.
Castle, a leading contender for rookie of the year, added eight rebounds and six assists.
Toronto missed the postseason for the third straight season and fourth time in five seasons. San Antonio has not made the postseason since 2019, when they tied an NBA record with 22 straight playoff appearances.