DALLAS (AP) — Coby White scored 24 points and the short-handed Chicago Bulls rallied past the depleted Mavericks 115-112 on Friday night, eliminating Dallas from play-in contention a year after the club reached the Western Conference finals.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd said before the game an “organizational decision” was made to limit Luka Doncic to the first quarter while sitting fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving and four other regulars before the club was eliminated from the postseason.
The loss clinched the 10th seed and final play-in spot in the Western Conference for Oklahoma City.
Irving was out for right foot injury recovery. The others sitting with him were Tim Hardaway Jr. with left ankle soreness, Maxi Kleber for right hamstring injury recovery and Josh Green and Christian Wood for rest.
The Bulls sat their top two scorers in DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, but they are already locked into the 10th seed in the East. Patrick Williams scored 23 points, and Nikola Vucevic had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Doncic, who scored 13 points, ended up playing a few seconds into the second quarter on a night when the Mavericks paid tribute to his home country of Slovenia.
LAKERS 121, SUNS 107
LOS ANGELES (AP) — DeAngelo Russell scored 24 points, Austin Reaves had 22 and Malik Beasley 21 and Los Angeles kept its hopes alive of avoiding a spot in the play-in tournament with a victory over resting Phoenix.
LeBron James had 16 points and Anthony Davis finished with 14 points and 21 rebounds, helping Los Angeles pull away in the fourth quarter. The Lakers remained the seventh seed and in a play-in spot in the Western Conference after Golden State’s victory over Sacramento. Los Angeles has won eight of nine.
The Suns, who are locked into the fourth spot in the West, rested starters Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. It was the second game of a back-to-back set after Phoenix beat Denver on Thursday. Torrey Craig led Phoenix with 18 points.
NETS 101, MAGIC 84
NEW YORK (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored 22 points and Brooklyn, shortly after wrapping up the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, beat Orlando.
The Nets no longer needed the victory by the time the game was over, having secured a playoff spot when Miami lost at Washington while their game was in the fourth quarter.
Brooklyn earned the final guaranteed spot in the East and will face the No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. First, those teams meet on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn for what is now a meaningless regular-season finale.
Cole Anthony had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Magic.
WIZARDS 114, HEAT 108
WASHINGTON (AP) — Daniel Gafford had 22 points and eight rebounds and Washington beat Miami in a meeting of short-handed teams.
Corey Kispert scored 19 points for Washington, and Jordan Goodwin added 16. The Wizards have been without three-time All-Star Bradley Beal for the last nine games because of a sore left knee.
Victor Oladipo scored 30 points and hit seven 3-pointers for Miami.
CELTICS 121, RAPTORS 102
BOSTON (AP) — Sam Hauser scored a career-high 26 points and Boston cruised past Toronto.
Jayson Tatum finished with 21 points and sat out the entire second half as the Celtics posted a 4-0 sweep in the season series.
The Celtics played without All-Star Jaylen Brown after he accidentally cut a finger on his shooting hand Thursday.
Pascal Siakim led Toronto with 19 points.
GRIZZLIES 137, BUCKS 114
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jaren Jackson had 36 points, Luke Kennard added 19 and Memphis beat short-handed Milwaukee to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season.
Memphis entered the game with a two-game lead over Sacramento for second place in the West, but the Kings owned the tiebreaker. Denver took the No. 1 seed in the West on Wednesday night.
Lindell Wigginton had 25 points for Milwaukee. The Bucks, who clinched the NBA’s best record and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a victory over Chicago on Wednesday, sat out Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Grayson Allen and Pat Connaughton.
WARRIORS 119, KINGS 97
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Klay Thompson scored 29 points, Stephen Curry added 25 and Golden State closed in on a playoff berth by beating short-handed Sacramento.
The defending-champion Warriors missed a chance to clinch the postseason when New Orleans won earlier in the night, but can still get in as one of the top six seeds in the Western Conference by winning at Portland in the season finale Sunday.
Golden State could get in with a loss Sunday depending on other results, but could be relegated to the play-in tournament instead.
Donte DiVincenzo added 18 points for the Warriors, who have won seven of nine games. Trey Lyles and Chimezie Metu each scored 15 points to lead the Kings, who were locked in as the No. 3 seed in the West.
PELICANS 113, KNICKS 105
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Trey Murphy scored 31 points, C.J. McCollum added 23 and New Orleans beat New York to improve its chances of avoiding the play-in round.
The Pelicans will need to beat Minnesota on the road in their regular-season finale Sunday and get some help from some combination of Golden State and the Los Angeles Lakers and the Clippers to climb higher than the seventh seed.
The Knicks, locked into the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, were without leading scorer Julius Randle (ankle injury), second-leading scorer Jalen Brunson (right hand) and center Mitchell Robinson (rest). RJ Barrett led New York with 28 points.
ROCKETS 112, HORNETS 109
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green each had 26 points and Houston beat Charlotte.
Kenyon Martin Jr. added 14 points, Alperen Sengun had 14 points and 21 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 13 points. The Rockets won consecutive games for the fifth time this season, improving to 21-50.
The Hornets played their home finale without injured starters LaMelo Ball (right ankle surgery), Gordon Hayward (left thumb sprain), Terry Rozier (right foot injury), P.J. Washington (right foot sprain) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (left shoulder sprain) and top reserve Dennis Smith (right toe sprain).
Svi Mykhailiuk led Charlotte with 25 points.
76ERS 136, HAWKS 131, OT
ATLANTA (AP) — Georges Niang scored 24 points, including a decisive 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in overtime, as Philadelphia rested all its starters and still beat Atlant.
Jalen McDaniels scored 24 points with 11 rebounds for the 76ers, who were already locked into the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Hawks got the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with Toronto’s 121-102 loss to Boston.
Trae Young scored 27 points and set a career high 20 assists but he also committed nine turnovers in a disappointing showing by Atlanta.
PISTONS 122, PACERS 115
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jaden Ivey had 29 points and nine assists, Killian Hayes scored a career-high 28 points and Detroit beat Indiana.
Detroit won for the second time since the All-Star Break — beating the Pacers both times to end 11-game losing streaks.
Buddy Hield made five 3-pointers and had 22 points for Indiana in the home finale.
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The Associated Press
