The Oklahoma City Thunder maintained their late bid to claim a higher Western Conference playoff seeding with a 120-112 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday.
League leading scorer Kevin Durant tallied 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 30 to give the Thunder their fifth straight win and a chance to climb as high as number two in the West for the post-season.
Oklahoma City (55-26), fourth in the conference, sit a half-game behind third-placed Los Angeles Lakers and one behind the Dallas Mavericks with one regular season game remaining.
The Thunder will need to win their season finale and hope for at least one loss from teams in front of them to climb higher than fourth.
“We’re all excited that we have an opportunity to play for a championship,” Durant told reporters. “I didn’t know what to expect for the playoffs [last year]. But now I know. I should be ready, locked in and focused.”
Oklahoma City found themselves in a six-point hole at halftime, but outscored Sacramento 36-26 in the third to take control.
Durant made four free throws in the last 41 seconds to clinch the win and give the Thunder their sixth straight win over the Kings.
Sacramento rookie DeMarcus Cousins scored a career-high 30 points and had nine rebounds, while the Kings got 21 points apiece from Beno Udrih and Marcus Thornton.
The Thunder were coming off a win over the defending champion Lakers on Sunday and appear poised to challenge in the West this post-season after bowing out in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
HEAT 98, HAWKS 90
At Atlanta, Georgia, LeBron James scored 34 points as Miami locked up second spot in the Eastern Conference with a win over the Atlanta Hawks, who nearly rallied from a 20-point deficit while going with their backups in the fourth quarter.
Miami played their starters all the way, looking to clinch second place behind Chicago in the East. Shortly after beating the Hawks, the Heat got the news they wanted: third-place Boston lost at Washington in overtime.
The Hawks went with a makeshift lineup with the fifth seeding already locked up.
Atlanta leveled the game at 88 in the closing minutes, but Miami outscored the Hawks 10-2 the rest of the way, with James Jones making two huge 3-pointers — including one that turned into a four-play when he was fouled by a leaping Josh Powell.
CAVALIERS 110, PISTONS 101
At Auburn Hills, Daniel Gibson scored 17 points, including a five-point play late in the third quarter, as the Cavaliers won a testy game in which two players were ejected after a skirmish.
Ryan Hollins and the Pistons’ Charlie Villanueva became entangled with 5:47 left in the game, and appeared to push each other in the face. Both were ejected, and Villanueva had to be restrained as he headed off.
Later, Villanueva came out of the Pistons’ locker room and sprinted toward Cleveland’s locker room, but was stopped by police on a loading dock.
MAGIC 95, 76ERS 85
At Philadelphia, Dwight Howard returned from a suspension to score 19 points and grab 13 rebounds, while Ryan Anderson added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Magic.
Howard served an NBA suspension on Sunday after picking up his 18th technical foul.
Jameer Nelson also scored 13 for Orlando, who used a 16-2 run in the third quarter to shake off the Sixers.
Elton Brand led the Sixers with 22 points. Philadelphia are stuck on 41 wins and need one in today’s finale for their first winning record since 2004-2005.
JAZZ 90, HORNETS 78
At New Orleans, C.J. Miles and Devin Harris each scored 18 points and Paul Millsap added 16 as the Jazz won for only the second time in 12 games.
Chris Paul, who went scoreless for the first time in his career in a loss at Memphis a night earlier, had 15 points. Marco Belinelli, who had 13 points, was the only other starter in double figures for New Orleans.
BUCKS 93, RAPTORS 86
At Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings broke free for three straight fast-break scores to give Milwaukee the lead in the fourth quarter, and the Bucks held on to beat undermanned Toronto.
John Salmons scored 24 points and Jennings added 21 for the Bucks in their final home game of what has been a disappointing season.
It may have been the final game at the Bradley Center in a Bucks uniform for Michael Redd, the team’s longest-tenured player. Redd played 14 minutes, scoring two points on 1-for-6 shooting.
Jerryd Bayless scored 20 for Toronto in a matchup between two teams eliminated from playoff contention. The injury-riddled Raptors used only eight players.
BOBCATS 105, NETS 103
At Newark, D.J. Augustin hit a jumper with 1.1 seconds remaining, leading Charlotte over New Jersey.
Nets guard Sasha Vujacic, who finished with 19 points, hit a long 3-pointer to tie the game at 103 with 10.9 seconds remaining.
Augustin, who had 19 points and 11 assists, brought the ball down the floor. With five seconds left, he used a crossover dribble to get some distance, then made the 19-foot jumper while falling down.
Nets center Brook Lopez, who scored a game-high 31 points, heaved a desperation shot at the buzzer that was wide left.
WIZARDS 95, CELTICS 94, OT
At Washington, Boston didn’t play four usual starters, essentially setting aside a bid for a better playoff seed for the chance to give their top players some rest, and the result was an overtime loss to Washington that handed the Miami Heat the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference.
With Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo watching from the bench, Celtics coach Doc Rivers made it clear that a fresh crew ready for the postseason was more important that using up energy to try to climb one rung in the standings in the season’s final days.
Boston’s loss, combined with Miami’s 98-90 win over Atlanta, guaranteed the Heat will finish second and the Celtics will place third.
John Wall had 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists to lead the lottery-bound Wizards in their home finale.
Jeff Green scored 20 points and tied his career high with 15 rebounds in his first Celtics start. Glen Davis also had 20 points. Jermaine O’Neal, who needed the playing time after missing much of the season with a sore knee, had seasons highs in both points (15) and rebounds (13).
MAVERICKS 98, ROCKETS 91, OT
At Houston, Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Mavericks beat the Rockets and moved a half game ahead of Los Angeles for second spot in the Western Conference.
Shawn Marion and Jason Terry scored 21 points each, and Tyson Chandler had 12 rebounds for the Mavs, who snapped a three-game road losing streak by beating Houston for the fourth straight time.
Kevin Martin scored 28 for the Rockets, who were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday.
Terry had a chance to win the game in regulation, but missed the second of two free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining. The Rockets missed their first four shots of overtime, and Chandler dunked and Terry hit a jumper from the wing to put Dallas in front to stay.
NUGGETS 134, WARRIORS 111
At Denver, J.R. Smith’s 22 points led nine Nuggets in double figures and Kosta Koufos equaled his career high with 18 points in Denver’s win over Golden State.
The injury-riddled Nuggets reached 50 wins for the fourth straight season and clinched the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Yet, they’re limping into the playoffs.
On the same night forward Arron Afflalo and center Chris “Birdman” Andersen returned to action, center Nene strained his groin and missed the second half. The Nuggets said he’s day to day.
Stephen Curry and Dorell Wright each scored 27 for Golden State.
SUNS 135, TIMBERWOLVES 127, OT
At Phoenix, Channing Frye scored a game-high 33 points and hit a 3-pointer with 2:05 left in overtime to start an 8-0 run as Phoenix handed Minnesota their 14th consecutive loss.
After Anthony Randolph missed an 18-footer, Grant Hill scored on a 12-foot jumper with 1:27 remaining to give the Suns a four-point lead. Jared Dudley added a 3-pointer from the right corner with 47.2 seconds left to make it 131-124.
Hill had a chance to end the game in regulation but his catch-and-shoot 6-footer at the buzzer rolled off the back of the rim to keep the game tied at 121-121.
Dudley scored 26 points and Hill had 21 for the Suns, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Michael Beasley scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime and Randolph added 24 for the Timberwolves, who led by 12 in the first half.
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