Dallas locked up the second seed in the NBA’s Western Conference Wednesday as they closed the regular season with a 96-89 victory over a below-strength San Antonio side.
Jason Kidd and Jason Terry led a 16-2 run at the end of the first quarter, putting the Mavericks ahead for the game and setting up a first-round playoff matchup between these teams.
Dallas clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and San Antonio the seventh.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Before tipoff, Mavs owner Mark Cuban jokingly said this season finale was “Game Minus-1” of that series — and that was before the Spurs helped ensure the matchup by giving Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili the night off.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had Duncan and Ginobili on the initial lineup he turned in. Then he changed his mind, and neither even sat on the bench.
The Mavericks kept their stars in because they needed the second seed to guarantee home-court advantage in a possible second-round series.
The upcoming playoff series will be the third in five years between the Texas rivals.
Dallas won the last two, in the first round last year and in the second round on their way to the NBA finals in 2006.
BULLS 98, BOBCATS 89
At Charlotte, North Carolina, the Chicago Bulls clinched the NBA’s last unclaimed playoff spot as Derrick Rose scored 27 points and Joakim Noah added 21 points and 13 rebounds in a 98-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Bulls closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak to beat out Toronto for the right to face Eastern Conference top seed Cleveland.
Needing a win or a Raptors loss to New York to get in, the Bulls quickly took it to the Bobcats, never trailing and leading by as many as 18 points.
Tyrus Thomas scored 16 for the Bobcats, who had already locked up the seventh seed in the East and a first-round matchup with Orlando.
THUNDER 114, GRIZZLIES 105
At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 31 points to finish the season as the youngest scoring champion in NBA history.
The 21-year-old Durant finished with an average of 30.1 points, 0.4 ahead of LeBron James, and supplanted 22-year-old Max Zaslofsky of the 1947-1948 Chicago Stags as the youngest scoring champ in NBA history.
The Thunder let most of a 27-point lead dwindle away before closing out their 50th win of the season. They will meet the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
Rudy Gay scored 25 points and Zach Randolph had 21 points and 11 rebounds for his 57th double-double of the season as the Grizzlies lost for the ninth time in their final 11 games.
RAPTORS 131, KNICKS 113
At Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 24 points and Andrea Bargnani also scored 24 for Toronto, which owned the tiebreaker with Chicago and would have earned the No. 8 seed had the teams finished with the same record.
Amir Johnson scored 21 points, Sonny Weems had 18, Jose Calderon had 15 and Marco Belinelli 14 for the Raptors. Toronto’s 131 points were a season high.
CELTICS 106, BUCKS 95
At Boston, Jerry Stackhouse and Luke Ridnour scored 17 points apiece as the Milwaukee Bucks won their regular-season finale while Boston rested its Big Three in preparation for the playoffs.
With Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen sitting out to avoid possible injury, the lack of defense and excitement had spectators moving toward the exits midway through the fourth quarter.
Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 15 assists for the Celtics, who lost for the seventh time in 10 games.
MAGIC 125, 76ERS 111
At Orlando, Jameer Nelson had 21 points and Vince Carter scored 17 as Orlando broke the single-season record for 3-pointers made in a season.
Dwight Howard added 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Magic finish with 841 from beyond the arc and the NBA’s second-best record.
Marreese Speights’ 23 points capped a sorry Sixers season and perhaps the last game in Eddie Jordan’s tenure as coach.
HAWKS 99, CAVALIERS 83
At Atlanta, Jeff Teague set career highs with 24 points and 15 assists as Atlanta cruised past a Cavaliers lineup missing LeBron James.
The Cavs rested James and Shaquille O’Neal the night off. At the other end of the court, Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford watched in street clothes; the Hawks played only one regular starter, Marvin Williams.
Both teams were already locked into their playoff seedings.
In other games it was:
• Heat 94, Nets 86, 2OT
• Wizards 98, Pacers 97
• Pistons 103, Timberwolves 98
• Hornets 123, Rockets 115
• Suns 100, Jazz 86
• Warriors 122, Trail Blazers 116
• Clippers 107, Lakers 91
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