MIAMI — LeBron James scored 38 points, Mario Chalmers added 15 and the Miami Heat survived a 3-point barrage from New York’s J.R. Smith on the way to dealing the Knicks’ playoff hopes a big blow with a 102-91 victory on Sunday.
MIAMI — LeBron James scored 38 points, Mario Chalmers added 15 and the Miami Heat survived a 3-point barrage from New York’s J.R. Smith on the way to dealing the Knicks’ playoff hopes a big blow with a 102-91 victory on Sunday.
Chris Bosh added 14 points and Ray Allen had 12 for the Heat, who are a full game ahead of Indiana and two up in the loss column in the East race.
Smith made a Knicks-record 10 3-pointers, on an NBA-record 22 attempts, and finished with 32 points. Raymond Felton scored 14 for New York and Carmelo Anthony managed only 13, on 4 for 17 shooting.
Anthony had two points after halftime, while James had 22.
The Knicks (33-45) are two games behind Atlanta in the race for the final playoff spot, three in the loss column.
Trail Blazers 100, Pelicans 94
PORTLAND, Ore. — LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 18 rebounds and Portland clinched its first playoff appearance in three seasons with the win over New Orleans.
Wesley Matthews added 21 points, Damian Lillard 20 and Nicolas Batum had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Portland (50-28). The Blazers are in fifth place in the Western Conference with four games remaining.
Reserve Anthony Morrow had 17 for New Orleans and Anthony Davis had 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
Memphis’ loss to San Antonio earlier in the evening cleared the way for Portland to clinch. It appeared the Trail Blazers might fumble the chance when New Orleans took a 10-point second quarter lead. But the Blazers blew past the Pelicans with a 25-6 third quarter run and never trailed again.
Suns 122, Thunder 115
PHOENIX — Kevin Durant scored 38 points, his 41st consecutive game of 25 or more, but Phoenix got 26 points from Goran Dragic and 24 from Gerald Green to beat Oklahoma City.
Durant moved ahead of Michael Jordan with the third-longest such streak in NBA history and longest since Oscar Robertson did it for 46 in a row in the 1963-64 season.
P.J. Tucker scored a career-high 22 points, including a career-best four 3-pointers, for the Suns, who pulled a game ahead of Memphis for the No. 8 playoff spot in the West and took the season series from the Thunder 2-1. Eric Bledsoe added 18 points.
Russell Westbrook had 33 points and eight assists for Oklahoma City.
Hawks 107, Pacers 88
INDIANAPOLIS — Jeff Teague scored 25 points in Atlanta’s rout of reeling Indiana, which was held to a franchise-low 23 points in the first half of an embarrassing performance on its home floor.
The Hawks (34-42) have won three of four and extended their lead over the Knicks for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference to two full games.
The Pacers (53-25) have lost four of five and fell a full game behind Miami in their quest for the No. 1 seed in the East. Paul George scored 18 points and David West had 17 on a night All-Star center Roy Hibbert did not play the final 30 minutes.
Atlanta jumped to a 9-0 lead, extended the margin to 33-11 after one and 55-23 at the half.
Rockets 130, Nuggets 125, OT
HOUSTON — James Harden had 32 points and Chandler Parsons scored eight points in overtime to lift Houston over Denver.
Denver led by one in overtime when Houston made three consecutive 3-pointers to make it 130-122 with less than two minutes left. Parsons made the last two and high-fived with fans on the front row as he ran down the court after sinking the second.
The Rockets trailed by eight late in regulation before using a 9-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Harden under heavy pressure from Randy Foye, to tie it at 117 with 7.1 seconds remaining.
Evan Fournier scored 26 points and Aaron Brooks added 24 points and 15 assists against his former team.
Golden State 130, Jazz 102
OAKLAND, Calif. — Klay Thompson scored 33 points, Stephen Curry added 31 points and 16 assists, and Golden State rolled past Utah to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race.
The streaky shooting backcourt tandem helped the Warriors (48-29) eclipse last season’s win total and move 19 games over .500 for the first time in 20 years. Golden State remains 1½ games behind fifth-place Portland and 1½ games ahead of seventh-place Dallas in the crammed conference standings.
Trey Burke had 24 points and 15 assists, and Alec Burks added 24 points and five assists in the latest lopsided loss for the Jazz (24-53), who are in last place in the West.
Spurs 112, Grizzlies 92
SAN ANTONIO — Kawhi Leonard matched his career high with 26 points, Manu Ginobili had a season-high 26 and San Antonio eased past Memphis after losing Tony Parker to injury.
Parker’s status is unknown after he was forced to leave with back spasms early in the first quarter.
The All-Star point guard took a hard fall as he drove the lane, landing squarely on his back near the free throw line after being fouled by Memphis’ Mike Conley with 7:38 left. Parker remained on the court for about a minute, but rose and continued playing before exiting with 2:41 remaining in the first.
Tim Duncan added 13 points for San Antonio (60-17), which bounced back after its franchise-record, 19-game winning streak was snapped Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
James Johnson had 20 points and Conley added 18 points for Memphis (45-32), which is chasing a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol shot a combined 6 for 16, finishing with eight and six points, respectively.
Clippers 120, Lakers 97
LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin and Chris Paul scored 23 points apiece, and the Los Angeles Clippers hung another rout on the Lakers to take three of four games this season from their beleaguered Staples Center co-tenants.
It wasn’t quite the blowout of the Clippers’ previous two wins — 48 points on March 6 and 36 points on Jan. 10 — but they were easily in command as the designated home team.
J.J. Redick added 15 points and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacific Division-winning Clippers, who improved to 32-6 at home.
The injury-plagued Lakers were down to just eight players after guard Kent Bazemore got hurt in the second quarter. Jordan Hill led them with 22 points and Nick Young added 18 points off the bench.
Mavericks 93, Kings 91
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Monta Ellis scored eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and Dallas kept its playoff position by beating Sacramento for its third straight win.
The Mavericks won for the fourth time in five games to maintain seventh place in the Western Conference. It was Dallas’ fifth straight road win.
Rudy Gay had 32 points and tied a career high with eight assists for the Kings, and DeMarcus Cousins added 28 points and 10 rebounds.
The Kings played their sixth straight game without starting point guard Isaiah Thomas (right quadriceps contusion), who is averaging 20.7 points and 6.4 assists.
Vince Carter scored 17 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting for Dallas.