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Associated Press 10y

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NBA, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, East East, West West, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz

MIAMI -- LeBron James scored 36 points, and the Miami Heat moved back atop the Eastern Conference standings by running past the Indiana Pacers 98-86 on Friday night.

The Heat scored the first 16 points of the second half and weren't in trouble again. Miami (54-25) leads the Pacers (54-26) by a half-game in the East race.

Mario Chalmers scored 13, Udonis Haslem added 11 and Chris Bosh and Ray Allen each scored 10 for the Heat.

Paul George scored 22 for Indiana, which got 18 from David West, 12 from Luis Scola and 11 from Lance Stephenson. Pacers center Roy Hibbert had only five points and one rebound, grabbing it with just over 2 minutes left in the game.

Miami has games against Atlanta, Washington and Philadelphia left. Win them all, and the Heat would have home-court advantage through at least the East finals -- which went seven games against Indiana last season.

SPURS 112, SUNS 104

SAN ANTONIO -- Danny Green had a career-high 33 points and San Antonio rallied from a 21-point deficit to clinch the league's best record.

Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points and Tony Parker added 18 points and three assists in his return from a two-game absence due to a back injury.

Green was 7 for 10 on 3-pointers in pushing San Antonio (62-18) to victory without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, who both sat out the second game of a back-to-back for rest.

Eric Bledsoe had 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead Phoenix (47-32), which fell into a tie with Memphis for the West's eighth seed. Gerald Green scored 27 points, Markieff Morris added 20 points and Channing Frye had 13.

KNICKS 108, RAPTORS 100

TORONTO -- Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points, Amare Stoudemore had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and New York preserved its slim playoff hopes.

J.R. Smith had 15 points, Raymond Felton 12 and Iman Shumpert scored eight of his 11 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks won for the first time in three games.

DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points and Kyle Lowry had 25 but the Raptors failed to match the franchise record for victories in a season (47) and disappointed a sellout crowd that had hoped to watch them clinch the Atlantic Division title for the second time in franchise history.

HAWKS 93, NETS 88

NEW YORK -- Paul Millsap had 27 points and 10 rebounds to help Atlanta move to the verge of a playoff spot.

The Hawks could have clinched the final Eastern Conference berth had the Knicks lost in Toronto. Instead, Atlanta remained two games up with three to play, needing just one more win or New York loss to secure its postseason place.

Jeff Teague added 22 points for the Hawks, who won for just the fifth time in 13 games and are only 36-43, but that might be good enough in the East. He frequently took advantage of a matchup with little brother Marquis, forced to play extended minutes while the Nets rested some regulars.

WIZARDS 96, MAGIC 86

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Nene scored 17 points and Bradley Beal added 16 as Washington overcame a sluggish offense.

John Wall had 10 points and 12 assists for the Wizards, who ended a two-game losing streak. Trevor Booker finished with 14 points and Marcin Gortat had 12.

Arron Afflalo led Orlando with 19 points, but the Magic shot just 4 for 15 in the fourth quarter and saw their two-game winning streak end. Jameer Nelson had 12 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for Orlando and Kyle O'Quinn added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Struggling from the perimeter nearly the entire game, Washington kept its focus in the paint in the fourth quarter. Leading 83-82 with just over four minutes to play, the Wizards scored nine straight points on two dunks, two layups and a free throw to push the lead to 10 points.

CELTICS 106, BOBCATS 103

BOSTON -- Avery Bradley scored 22 points, Phil Pressey had a career-high 13 assists and Boston held off Charlotte's late surge to snap a nine-game losing streak.

Boston led 104-103 before Jared Sullinger made two free throws with 2.5 seconds left. Charlotte called timeout then got the ball to Jannero Pargo, who missed a straightaway 3-point shot as time expired.

The Bobcats were led by Al Jefferson with 32 points and 10 rebounds and Gary Neal with 13 points.

Charlotte's season-best five-game winning streak ended as it dropped into the seventh and the next-to-last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It trails Washington by one game after the Wizards beat Orlando 96-86 Friday night.

THUNDER 116, PELICANS 94

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant scored 27 points, Russell Westbrook added 24 and Oklahoma City clinched at least the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

Serge Ibaka added 16 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high eight blocks for the Thunder, who won their third straight.

The Thunder shot 54 from the field, made 23 of 27 free throws and committed just 11 turnovers. Oklahoma City led by 25 points at the end of the third quarter, so Durant and Westbrook rested in the fourth.

Darius Miller scored a career-high 18 points and Austin Rivers had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Pelicans. New Orleans was without injured starters Anthony Davis (back) and Eric Gordon (left knee tendinitis).

GRIZZLIES 117, 76ERS 95

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Marc Gasol had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Mike Miller added 19 points, and Memphis made a strong push in the third quarter to beat Philadelphia.

Tony Allen scored 15 points to help the Grizzlies preserve their playoff hopes. Memphis entered the night trailing the Suns by a game for the Western Conference's final postseason spot. The Suns were playing San Antonio.

Nick Calathes added 12 points for Memphis, while Zach Randolph finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The won their 13th straight at home, matching the franchise record set last season.

Tony Wroten and Thaddeus Young led the Sixers with 18 points apiece. Elliot Williams added 13 for Philadelphia, which lost its third straight and fifth in the last six.

BULLS 106, PISTONS 98

CHICAGO -- D.J. Augustin scored 24 points, Taj Gibson added 17, and Chicago rallied from 18 down to win its seventh straight.

Carlos Boozer finished with 18 points. Mike Dunleavy Jr. scored all of his 14 in the second half, and the Bulls kept their longest win streak of the season going.

They moved a game ahead of Atlantic Division leader Toronto for third in the Eastern Conference, with the Raptors losing to the New York Knicks. The Bulls also clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with Brooklyn falling to Atlanta.

They trailed 56-38 at the half but turned things around in a big way after that.

Chicago outscored Detroit 32-24 in the third quarter to pull within 10 and went on a 15-0 run in the fourth to turn an eight-point deficit into a 90-83 edge.

TIMBERWOLVES 112, ROCKETS 110

MINNEAPOLIS -- Corey Brewer scored a career-high 51 points and Gorgui Dieng hit a short jumper with 4.6 seconds to play to lift short-handed Minnesota.

Brewer made 19 of 30 shots, easily surpassing his previous career high of 29 points. He became the fifth player this season to score 50 in a game, and the Wolves scored a staggering 39 points in transition against Houston's woeful defense.

James Harden hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds to go that tied it at 110, but the rookie Dieng calmly knocked down the game-winner for the Wolves, who were missing All-Star Kevin Love with a hyperextended right elbow.

Harden had 33 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Rockets.

BUCKS 119, CAVALIERS 116

MILWAUKEE -- Brandon Knight scored 24 points and Ramon Sessions added 20 as Milwaukee held off Cleveland and preserved its slim hopes of avoiding the NBA's worst record.

The victory moved the Bucks to within two games of Philadelphia with three games remaining for each team. The 76ers lost at Memphis earlier in the night.

Dion Waiters had 23 points for Cleveland, while Jarrett Jack added 21 and Tristan Thompson 18.

Knight's jumper from the right wing put the Bucks up for good at 107-106 with 4:09 remaining. Two free throws by Kyrie Irving pulled the Cavaliers within 111-110, but a basket by Khris Middleton and two free throws by Zaza Pachulia made it 115-110 with 1:44 remaining.

TRAIL BLAZERS 111, JAZZ 99

SALT LAKE CITY -- Wesley Matthews had 21 points and Damian Lillard scored 14 of his 16 points in a key fourth-quarter run to rally Portland past Utah.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 14 rebounds, his 40th double-double, and Nicolas Batum added 15 points to keep Portland in the race to host a first-round playoff series.

Derrick Favors scored 21 points and Enes Kanter had 15 points and 13 rebounds, but the Jazz have lost eight of nine.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Jazz led by two and Lillard hadn't converted a single field goal.

Over the next 3:24, Lillard made four 3-pointers and a pair of free throws.

After that, the Blazers led by double-digits for the first time at 96-85 with 6:28 remaining and soon earned their seventh victory in their past eight games.

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