ORLANDO, Fla. — Victor Oladipo had 23 points and scored on a layup with 1.5 seconds left to give the Orlando Magic a 105-103 victory over Chicago on Wednesday night, spoiling Derrick Rose’s return to the Bulls. ADVERTISING ORLANDO, Fla.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Victor Oladipo had 23 points and scored on a layup with 1.5 seconds left to give the Orlando Magic a 105-103 victory over Chicago on Wednesday night, spoiling Derrick Rose’s return to the Bulls.
Nik Vucevic added 22 points in the Magic’s third straight win.
Rose started and played for the first time in more than a month since undergoing surgery on his right knee. The point guard was 3 of 9 from the field and finished with nine points in 19 minutes.
The Bulls had a final chance with 1.5 seconds remaining, but an inbounds pass by Mike Dunleavy to Pau Gasol at the rim sailed out of bounds.
Jimmy Butler had 19 points for Chicago. Gasol, Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic each added 15.
CAVALIERS 104, BUCKS 99
MILWAUKEE — Kyrie Irving scored 27 points and the Cavaliers clinched the Central Division title and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
LeBron James scored 21 points with nine rebounds and eight assists for the Cavs, including 10 points in the fourth quarter. Kevin Love added 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Michael Carter-Williams scored 30 points for the Bucks, while Zaza Pachulia added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Milwaukee played without Giannis Antetokounmpo, although it wasn’t immediately clear why he sat out.
SPURS 110, ROCKETS 98
SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker scored 27 points and the Spurs got their ninth straight victory.
The Spurs moved within a half-game of the Southwest Division lead shared by Houston and Memphis.
San Antonio will face Houston on Friday night in the closing game of a home-and-home set.
Kawhi Leonard added 20 points, Boris Diaw had 15 points and Manu Ginobili 13 for San Antonio. The Spurs led by as many as 22 points after a slow start.
Jason Terry led Houston with 22 points and Trevor Ariza added 19 points. James Harden had 16 points, but only three after the first quarter.
WIZARDS 119, 76ERS 90
PHILADELPHIA — Bradley Beal scored 21 points and Washington shot a franchise-record 65.3 percent from the field in a blowout victory over Philadelphia.
The Wizards rested All-Star guard John Wall, ending his consecutive games streak at 208.
Ramon Sessions added 19 points, and Marcin Gortat had 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four blocks to help Washington win its fourth straight game.
Trying to earn home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1979, Washington remained a game behind fourth-place Toronto in the Eastern Conference.
Robert Covington scored a career-high 27 points on 8-for-11 shooting for the Philadelphia. The 76ers have dropped seven straight.
RAPTORS 92, HORNETS 74
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points and Toronto beat Charlotte for the first time in seven games.
Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez each scored 16 points for Toronto, and Tyler Hansbrough added 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Kemba Walker had 15 points for Charlotte. The Hornets are 11th in the Eastern Conference, three games behind eighth-place Boston for the final playoff spot.
CELTICS 113, PISTONS 103
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Isaiah Thomas had a season-high 34 points as the Celtics picked up a key victory and eliminated Detroit from playoff contention.
Thomas needed only 17 shots to put up his huge numbers, going 10 for 17 from the floor. He hit four of his eight 3-pointers, and went 10 for 11 from the line.
The victory moved Boston into a tie for seventh with Brooklyn in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit’s Stan Van Gundy, who had already been guaranteed the first losing season of his coaching career, will also miss the postseason for the first time.
Jae Crowder added 17 for Boston, while Reggie Jackson had 21 points and 15 assists. Greg Monroe had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, and Andre Drummond added 22 points and 14 rebounds.
HAWKS 114, NETS 111
NEW YORK — Al Horford made the go-ahead basket on a dunk with 19 seconds remaining, and the Hawks completed a season sweep.
Playing without injured All-Star Paul Millsap and further short-handed after Pero Antic and Thabo Sefolosha were arrested early Wednesday and didn’t play, the Hawks recovered after blowing a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead.
Horford scored 24 points and Mike Scott had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Hawks. They won their third straight and improved to 59-19.
Brook Lopez had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets.
GRIZZLIES 110, PELICANS 74
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Zach Randolph had 15 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for Memphis.
The victory came at a time when Memphis seemed to be reeling, having lost four of its last six to drop to the third seed in the West.
Jeff Green and Marc Gasol also each had 15 points, and Gasol added six assists and eight rebounds. Beno Udrih finished with 14 points, and Vince Carter and Mike Conley had 10 each.
Anthony Davis scored 12 points for the Pelicans. They dropped back into a tie with Oklahoma City for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot. Quincy Pondexter had 11 points, and Tyreke Evans 10 in the Pelicans’ most-lopsided loss of the season.
PACERS 102, KNICKS 86
NEW YORK — The Pacers stayed close to the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. George Hill led the Pacers (35-43) with 20 points. Roy Hibbert had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The win tied the Pacers with the Miami Heat, one game off the final playoff spot behind the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets.
Langston Galloway led the Knicks (15-63) with 19 points.
The Pacers road a suffocating defense that held the Knicks to 34.5 percent shooting and outrebounded New York 54-34.
NUGGETS 119, LAKERS 101
DENVER — Kenneth Faried scored a season-high 29 points and had 11 rebounds, while Danilo Gallinari added 27 points.
Ty Lawson had 16 points for the Nuggets in the matchup of teams headed for the lottery for the second straight year. Denver has the seventh-worst record in the NBA and the Lakers the fourth worst.
Rookie Jordan Clarkson had 21 points, and Ryan Kelly added 17 for the Lakers. They have lost four in a row and 17 of 21.
JAZZ 103, KINGS 91
SALT LAKE CITY — Derrick Favors scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots in a matchup of non-playoff teams. The Jazz have won five of six.
Favors was a steady force in a choppy game between teams missing their best players. DeMarcus Cousins sat with a foot injury for the Kings, while Gordon Hayward played just 19 minutes for the Jazz.
Rodney Hood finished with 20 and a career-high seven rebounds, Rudy Gobert had 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. The Jazz erased a six-point halftime deficit in the third quarter and started the fourth with an 18-5 run.
Omri Casspi led the Kings with 16 points, while Jason Thompson added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
MAVERICKS 107, SUNS 104
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 points, including the go-ahead basket and a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks eliminated the Suns from playoff contention.
Phoenix will miss the postseason for the fifth straight season.
The Mavericks were locked into the seventh seed with the Pelicans’ loss at Memphis. But Dallas didn’t play like it, withstanding a tight game that had 14 lead changes and 16 ties.
Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 23 rebounds, two off his season high, for Dallas.
Gerald Green had a season-high 30 points to lead the Suns, who battled the Mavericks for the final playoff spot in the West into the final week of the season last year before finishing a game behind Dallas.
TRAIL BLAZERS 116, TIMBERWOLVES 91
PORTLAND, Ore. — LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 13 rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter. Robin Lopez added 18 points for the Blazers, who have already captured the Northwest Division title but continue to battle for home-court advantage in the playoffs with four games left.
Andrew Wiggins had 29 points for the injury-depleted Timberwolves, who have lost eight straight and remain in the basement of the Western Conference.
Portland led by as many as 28 points and the Timberwolves, with just nine players available and playing the second of back-to-back games, were simply overwhelmed.
