Kyle Korver scored 19 points, while Derrick Rose had 15 as the Chicago Bulls closed the regular season with their ninth straight victory, beating the New Jersey Nets 97-92 on Wednesday.
The Bulls earned home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, earning the NBA’s best record later on Wednesday after San Antonio’s loss to Phoenix.
Joakim Noah finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the Bulls finish 62-20, equaling their best showing since the 1997 to 1998 championship season.
Chicago will face Indiana in the first round of the playoffs.
Jordan Farmar had 21 points and 12 assists for the Nets.
SUNS 106, SPURS 103
In Phoenix, Arizona, Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds as Phoenix denied San Antonio a chance for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Spurs, who at 61-21 finished a game behind Chicago for the best record in the NBA, lost Manu Ginobili to a hyperextended right elbow early in the game.
Of greater concern to San -Antonio could be the health of Ginobili, who went down with 9 minutes, 46 seconds left in the first quarter. X-rays for a more serious injury were negative. An MRI was planned yesterday.
LAKERS 116, KINGS 108, OT
In Sacramento, California, Kobe Bryant scored 36 points and forced overtime with a tying 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in regulation, and Los Angeles regrouped to beat Sacramento in what might have been the Kings’ last game in Sacramento.
A standing-room only crowd packed things beyond the 17,317-seat capacity, clanking cow bells and roaring louder than they had in years. With the team mulling a move to Anaheim, fans brought handmade signs and cheered their loudest to will the team back. And they nearly did.
Instead, the Lakers pulled away in overtime to take the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, setting up a first-round series against New Orleans.
HEAT 97, RAPTORS 79
In Toronto, Eddie House scored a career-high 35 points and Juwan Howard added 18 as Miami beat Toronto in the regular-season finale.
With the Heat assured of the second seed in the East, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra rested LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Miami will host Philadelphia in its postseason opener tomorrow.
House’s previous career best was 31, set against Utah on Nov. 18, 2005. He was 7 of 13 from 3-point range.
The Heat have won four straight and 15 of 18 heading into the playoffs.
Jerryd Bayless scored 21 points for Toronto.
CELTICS 112, KNICKS 102
In Boston, Avery Bradley scored a career-high 20 points to help Boston’s “B” team beat New York’s second string in a regular-season finale both teams.
Glen “Big Baby” Davis had 17 points and eight rebounds, while Sasha Pavlovic added a season-high 19 points as the Celtics snapped a two-game losing streak.
Amare Stoudemire played 20 minutes and scored 14 points for New York, which will return to Boston to open the Eastern Conference postseason on Sunday night.
MAGIC 92, PACERS 74
In Orlando, Florida, Ryan Anderson scored 14 points, while Dwight Howard had 13 points and 13 rebounds in a short night in Orlando’s victory over Indiana.
The Pacers open their first playoff series in five years tomorrow against top-seeded Chicago. The Magic will host Atlanta tomorrow night in a matchup of the fourth and fifth seeds.
BOBCATS 96, HAWKS 85
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Gerald Henderson scored 20 points and D.J. Augustin added 17 points and seven assists as Charlotte sent Atlanta to the playoffs on a six-game losing streak.
With no starter playing more than 25 minutes and only Kirk Hinrich (10 points) scoring in double figures, coach Larry Drew got the Hawks rest, but no momentum heading into their first-round game at Orlando tomorrow.
CLIPPERS 110, GRIZZLIES 103
In Los Angeles, Blake Griffin had 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the 82nd and final game of his spectacular rookie season for Los Angeles.
Griffin sat out all 82 games last season after hurting his knee in the final preseason game and having surgery.
He was the only player to appear in every game this season when injuries plagued the team.
Eric Gordon added 24 points and DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles. The Clippers finished 32-50 to miss the playoffs again.
In other NBA play, it was:
‧ Mavericks 121, Hornets 89
‧ Warriors 110, Trail Blazers 86
‧ Bucks 110, Thunder 106, OT
‧ Jazz 107, Nuggets 103
‧ Pistons 104, 76ers 100
‧ Cavaliers 100, Wizards 93
‧ Rockets 121, Timberwolves 102
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but