NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis had 31 points and 13 rebounds and the New Orleans Pelicans earned their first playoff berth since 2011 with a 108-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis had 31 points and 13 rebounds and the New Orleans Pelicans earned their first playoff berth since 2011 with a 108-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Davis, who’ll make his playoff debut against Golden State, came through in the waning minutes with two jumpers, two blocks and two rebounds to prevent the Spurs from pulling off a 23-point comeback.
Tyreke Evans had 19 points and 11 assists, and Eric Gordon added 14 points for New Orleans, which had to win to make the postseason because Oklahoma City also won in Minnesota. The teams finished with identical records, but the Pelicans held the tiebreaker on head-to-head results.
Jrue Holiday added 11 points, capped by game-sealing free throws with 9.5 seconds left.
Tony Parker had 23 points and Borris Diaw 20 for San Antonio, which needed to win to secure the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The loss ended the Spurs’ 11-game winning streak.
THUNDER 138, TIMBERWOLVES 113
MINNEAPOLIS — Russell Westbrook scored 37 points in Oklahoma City’s victory over Minnesota that was rendered moot by New Orleans’ playoff-clinching win over San Antonio.
The Thunder needed to a win in the regular-season finale and a loss from the Pelicans to make the playoffs. Westbrook locked up his first scoring title to hold up his end of the bargain, but the Pelicans beat the Spurs. That means the Thunder will miss the playoffs for the first time since Westbrook’s rookie season in 2008-09.
Andrew Wiggins had 23 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves (16-66), who finished with the worst record in the league. They will have a 25 percent chance at the No. 1 draft pick when the NBA lottery is held on May 19.
NETS 101, MAGIC 88
NEW YORK — Brooklyn clinched the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, beating Orlando and getting help when Memphis knocked off Indiana.
The Nets and Pacers tied at 38-44, and Brooklyn earned the No. 8 seed after winning the season series. The Nets will visit top-seeded Atlanta on Sunday for their playoff opener. If Indiana won, the Nets would have missed the postseason for the first time since moving to Brooklyn in 2012.
Rookie Bojan Bogdanovic scored a career-high 28 points for Brooklyn.
Nikola Vucevic had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic.
GRIZZLIES 95, PACERS 83
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Marc Gasol had 33 points and 13 rebounds and Memphis ended Indiana’s playoff hopes.
Memphis earned the Western Conference’s fifth seed with the victory and home-court advantage in a series with fourth-seeded Portland, winners of the Northwest Division.
Zach Randolph finished with 18 points for the Grizzlies.
C.J. Miles led the Pacers with 26 points, while George Hill added 20, but Indiana was edged out by Brooklyn for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
WARRIORS 133, NUGGETS 126
OAKLAND, Calif. — Klay Thompson scored 25 points before resting in the second half and Golden State wrapped up the best the regular season in franchise history.
Starters on both sides rested most of the game, with the Warriors tuning up for the playoffs and Denver long out of contention. The biggest developments for Golden State, which secured home-court advantage throughout the playoffs a couple weeks ago, came on the out-of-town scoreboard.
The top-seeded Warriors (67-15) learned they’ll face New Orleans in the first round after the Pelicans beat San Antonio to clinch a postseason berth. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Oakland.
Denver (30-52) ended with a loss to the Warriors for the third straight season, including the first round of the 2013 playoffs.
ROCKETS 117, JAZZ 91
HOUSTON — James Harden had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in just three quarters for his fourth triple-double of the season and Houston never trailed against Utah.
Houston won the Southwest Division and got the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference when San Antonio lost to New Orleans a few minutes later. The Rockets will face No. 7 seed Dallas in the first round.
Harden’s four triple-doubles this season are the most by a Rocket since Hakeem Olajuwon also had four in 1989-90.
Bryce Cotton had 14 points for the Jazz.
MAVERICKS 114, TRAIL BLAZERS 98
DALLAS — Tyson Chandler had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Dallas beat Portland.
The Mavericks have been locked into the seventh seed in the Western Conference for a week. They had to wait until the final night of the regular season to find out their opponent, which was settled with the Rockets’ win over Utah and San Antonio’s loss to New Orleans.
The Blazers have the fourth seed as Northwest Division champions, but will open the postseason at fifth-seeded Memphis.
LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 19 points after missing two games with a left foot sprain.
CAVALIERS 113, WIZARDS 108, OT
CLEVELAND — LeBron James sat out Cleveland’s regular-season finale to rest for the playoffs and the Cavaliers rallied to beat Washington.
James spent the night dressed as if he was headed to a business meeting, not the postseason, and the Cavs only played their other starters in the first half.
Matthew Dellavedova had 18 points and 12 assists for Cleveland. His two free throws with 9.1 seconds gave Cleveland a 111-108 lead, and Shawn Marion sealed it with a steal and dunk.
Martell Webster scored 20 points for the Wizards.
RAPTORS 92, HORNETS 87
TORONTO — Kyle Lowry scored 26 points and Toronto wrapped up the regular season with their franchise record 49th victory, beating Charlotte.
Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points, DeMar DeRozan had 16 and Terrence Ross 13 for the Raptors. They will open the playoffs at home Saturday against Washington.
Tory Daniels scored a season-high 24 points for Charlotte. Kemba Walker had 17 points, and Gerald Henderson 15 for the Hornets. They lost their last six games to finish at 33-29.
BULLS 91, HAWKS 85
CHICAGO — Aaron Brooks scored 23 points and Chicago rallied from 18 down to beat Atlanta.
The Bulls locked up the third seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round matchup with Milwaukee with their fourth straight win.
The Hawks, who won a franchise-record 60 games and earned the top seed, matched a season high with their third straight loss. They will open the playoffs against Brooklyn.
Jimmy Butler scored 21 points, Pau Gasol added 18 points and 13 rebounds for his 54th double-double, and the Bulls hit the 50-win mark.
Dennis Schroder came off the bench to score 21 points for Atlanta.
CELTICS 105, BUCKS 100
MILWAUKEE — Gigi Datome scored 22 points, including two key baskets in the final 3 minutes, and Boston ended the regular season with its sixth straight victory.
Kelly Olynyk added 16 for the Celtics, the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Ersan Ilyasova had 21 to lead Milwaukee, the sixth seed in the East.
KINGS 122, LAKERS 99
LOS ANGELES — Ben McLemore scored 24 points, Derrick Williams added 22 and Sacramento sent Los Angeles to the worst record in franchise history.
Ray McCallum had 19 points for Sacramento, which missed the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year. The Kings (29-53) finished with one more victory than they managed in each of the previous two seasons by sweeping a season-ending, two-game series with their once-mighty California rivals.
Jabari Brown scored 32 points for the Lakers, who dressed only eight players for the final game in their 21-61 season. That’s the worst in the 16-time champions’ history by both losses and winning percentage. Los Angeles lost eight of its final nine games.
PISTONS 112, KNICKS 90
NEW YORK — Reggie Jackson had 24 points and 11 assists and Detroit beat New York.
Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each had 17 points for Detroit.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with 25 points, and Cole Aldrich added a career-high 24.
The Pistons (32-50) finished with their most wins since going 39-43 in 2008-09, the last season that they made the playoffs. The Knicks (17-65) set a franchise record for fewest wins and finished with the second-worst record in the NBA. They have a 19.9 percent chance of getting the first pick in the lottery and can’t pick lower than fifth.
HEAT 105, 76ERS 101
PHILADELPHIA — Henry Walker hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 9 seconds left and Miami ended the season with two wins in one game.
The Heat’s win paired with Brooklyn’s win meant Miami is all but assured of keeping its top-10 draft pick. If Miami owns the No. 10 pick or better after the draft lottery, the Heat keep that selection.
Had the Heat lost and the pick fell to 11th or worse, it would have gone to Philadelphia under the conditions of a trade. The 76ers have a slim chance of earning that pick if a team from 11 to 14 jumps the Heat in the lottery.