Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, going 14-for-14 from the foul line, and former Philadelphia player Keith Van Horn added 15 points to help the Dallas Mavericks clinch a playoff spot with a 100-83 victory over the 76ers on Friday night.
The Mavericks, fourth in the Western Conference, won their fourth straight game to improve to 7-1 since Avery Johnson replaced Don Nelson as head coach on March 19.
"I haven't been around a playoff team, so I'm getting to learn what it's all about," said Jason Terry, who will make his first career playoff appearance after spending his first five seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. "It's huge for my career. I want to get out on a pedestal and show the world what I can do."
Allen Iverson scored 22 points for the 76ers before sitting out the fourth quarter because of a strained groin. Marc Jackson also had 22 points for Philadelphia.
Celtics 116, Hawks 100
In Atlanta, Ricky Davis scored a season-high 36 points, including 20 in the second period, and Boston beat Atlanta to end a four-game losing streak.
The Celtics shot 69 percent from the field in the first half and 60 percent overall. Josh Childress led Atlanta with a career-high 26 points. The Hawks have lost 11 straight and 24 of their last 25 games.
Wizards 111, Magic 102
In Orlando, Florida, Gilbert Arenas scored 31 points, and Larry Hughes added 30 and Washington withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally to beat Orlando.
Rookie Dwight Howard led the Magic with 22 points, 12 in the final period. Steve Francis added 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Raptors 119, Bobcats 107
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Chris Bosh scored 27 points and Jalen Rose had 23 to help Toronto down Charlotte and snap a two-game losing streak.
Donyell Marshall added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Rafer Alston also had 18 points for the Raptors. Emeka Okafor had 29 points and 14 rebounds -- his 39th double-double -- for the expansion Bobcats.
Pistons 97, Clippers 84
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points to help defending NBA champion Detroit defeat the Los Angeles Clippers to clinch a playoff spot in Larry Brown's return.
Brown was back on the bench after missing 10 games because of complications from surgery in early March related to his hip surgery in November. Detroit went 6-4 with Gar Heard directing the team in place of Brown.
Richard Hamilton added 14 points and a season-high 11 assists for Detroit. Marco Jaric led Los Angeles with 24 points.
Nets 93, Knicks 91
In New York, Vince Carter scored 31 points and New Jersey edged New York to move within a half-game of eighth place in the Eastern Conference -- the cutoff for a postseason berth.
Winning for the eighth time in 10 games, New Jersey passed Orlando in the standings and moved a game closer to Philadelphia as both the Magic and 76ers lost.
Jason Kidd added 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Nets.
Stephon Marbury led New York with 26 points, and Jamal Crawford had 23.
Kings 128, Cavaliers 109
In Cleveland, Peja Stojakovic, Cuttino Mobley and Mike Bibby each scored 22 points in the King's highest-scoring game of the season.
Kenny Thomas added 18 points, and Corliss Williamson had 17 to help the Kings beat the Cavaliers for the ninth straight time.
LeBron James had 35 points for Cleveland.
Hornets 76, Rockets 73
In Houston, Lee Nailon scored 16 points and fellow reserve Dan Dickau added 14, helping New Orleans rally from an 18-point second-half deficit to beat Houston.
P.J. Brown scored 13 points and Chris Andersen had 16 rebounds and nine points to lead an improbable fourth-quarter comeback by the Hornets' reserves, who feasted under the basket against an undersized Houston team that was missing center Yao Ming.
Ming sat out with a sore right calf. Tracy McGrady led the Rockets with 21 points.
SuperSonics 89, Trail Blazers 87
In Seattle, Ray Allen scored 19 points, and Damien Wilkins added 17 for Seattle in place of injured All-Star Rashard Lewis.
Portland's Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, but missed a 6-footer with 4.9 seconds to go in the Blazers' ninth straight road loss.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite