Miami Heat outscores Atlanta Hawks in closing minutes

Kirk Hinrich, Joe Johnson and forward Marvin Williams in the first half of their NBA LeBron James scored 34 points as Miami locked up second spot in the Eastern Conference with a 98-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks, who nearly rallied from a 20-point deficit while going with their backups in the fourth quarter Monday night.
Miami played its 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-point 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 Sunday after picking up his 18th technical foul.
Jameer Nelson also scored 13 for Orlando, which used a 16-2 run in the third quarter to shake off the Sixers.
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, which shot 37.8 percent (28 of 74) while dropping its second straight.
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.
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 5 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 of its usual starters, essentially setting aside its bid for a better playoff seed for the chance to give its 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 than 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.
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.
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 left groin and missed the second half. The Nuggets said he’s day to day.

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