HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NBA GAMES PLAYED ON MONDAY (TUESDAY AEST)
HEAT 124 beat CAVALIERS 121 OT - Tyler Johnson scored 24 points, including the game's final four from the foul line, as the Miami Heat remained alive in the post-season chase by rallying to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Hassan Whiteside scored 23 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for Miami, who would have been eliminated with a loss. Josh Richardson scored 19 points while James Johnson had 16 and Goran Dragic added 15.
Deron Williams had a season-high 35 points, along with nine assists and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who fell to 0-7 this season when LeBron James doesn't play.
The Cavs were also without Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, and fell a game behind Boston in the race for No. 1 in the Eastern Conference.
CELTICS 114 bt NETS 105 - Isaiah Thomas scored 27 points to help Boston beat back a fourth-quarter charge and defeat Brooklyn to keep alive hopes of securing the Eastern Conference's top seed.
The Celtics clinched the Atlantic Division title and can finish with no worse than the No.2 seed.
With Cleveland's overtime loss at Miami, a Boston win in their regular-season finale against Milwaukee on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) would give the Celtics the No.1 seed. But if Boston lose to the Bucks and Cleveland win their finale against Toronto, the Cavs would own the tiebreaker by virtue of their 3-1 head-to-head record with Boston.
JAZZ 105 bt WARRIORS 99 - Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 18 rebounds while Joe Johnson added a key three-pointer with 80 seconds remaining as Utah snapped Golden State's 14-game winning streak.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr, his team already assured of the No.1 seed in the playoffs, opted to rest most of his starters for the entire fourth quarter and the Jazz (50-31) took advantage to end a seven-game losing streak at Oracle Arena.
Joe Ingles scored 11 points to go with seven assists and four rebounds, as Utah kept alive their shot at moving past the Clippers for the No.4 seed in the West.
CLIPPERS 125 bt ROCKETS 96 - Chris Paul scored 19 points and Blake Griffin added 18 as Los Angeles routed Houston to remain tied with Utah in the race for the No.4 playoff seed.
The Clippers earned their sixth consecutive victory shortly after the Jazz won at Golden State. Both teams are 50-31 with one game remaining before they meet in the playoffs with only home court yet to be decided.
Former Clipper Eric Gordon led the Rockets with 17 points. James Harden shot two of nine for 14 points, well under his 29.3 average. He missed five of six three-pointers.
TRAIL BLAZERS 99 bt SPURS 98 - Noah Vonleh made a layup at the buzzer as Portland beat San Antonio despite resting starters Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Shabazz Napier scored a career-high 32 points for Portland, who won their third straight a day after Denver's loss to Oklahoma City gave the Blazers the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
PACERS 120 bt 76ERS 111 - Paul George scored 17 of his 27 points in the opening quarter as Indiana inched closer to clinching a berth in the NBA playoffs.
Thaddeus Young added 20 points, Myles Turner scored 18 and Kevin Seraphin had 17 to give the Pacers (41-40) their fourth straight victory and push them one win away from guaranteeing a playoff spot for the sixth time in the past seven years.
The 76ers (28-53) lost for the seventh successive time and finished with a home record of 17-24.
BUCKS 89 bt HORNETS 79 - Tony Snell scored 16 points and Jason Terry had season highs of 15 points and five three-pointers as Milwaukee beat Charlotte.
Center Greg Monroe provided punch in the paint with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks, who clinched at least the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with the win.
BULLS 122 bt MAGIC 75 - Emergency starter Jerian Grant had 17 points and a career-high 11 assists as Chicago routed Orlando to move closer to a post-season berth.
The Bulls led by as many as 47 points in their largest margin of victory this season. They would have clinched a playoff berth with a Miami loss to Cleveland, but the Heat's rally means Chicago will have until their final regular-season game. The Bulls host the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
Chicago and Miami remained one game behind No.7 Indiana after the Pacers beat the 76ers in Philadelphia. The Bulls (40-41) would claim a three-way tie if the teams finish with the same record.
WIZARDS 105 bt PISTONS 101 - Bradley Beal scored 33 points as Washington beat Detroit in the final game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Markieff Morris added 20 points for the Wizards, while Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 22.
The highlight of the night for Detroit fans was a halftime ceremony that honoured the top players from the three championship teams, with Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman posing for pictures with Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups.
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