Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2018)
NBA Saturday, April 7, 2018 East Oregonian Page 3B Roundup 76ers edge Cavs for 13th straight win Sacramento escape with a victory over Memphis. Bogdanovic’s jumper capped a close game between two teams near the bottom of the Western Conference standings — a game that saw four lead changes in the final minute. Willie Cauley-Stein led the Kings with 18 points, Buddy Hield finished with 14, and De’Aaron Fox and Justin Jackson each scored 13. MarShon Brooks led Memphis with 23 points, while Dillon Brooks added 16, including a 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left to give Memphis a 93-92 lead. After Bogdanovic answered with his jumper, he blocked the inbounds pass on Memphis’ final possession, sending the Grizzlies to their fourth straight loss. Associated Press PHILADELPHIA — Ben Simmons topped LeBron James in a triple- double battle to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their 13th straight win in their biggest game in six years, 132-130 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night. With a buzz in the city over the Sixers that hasn’t been felt since the pre-Pro- cess days, they romped toward a 30-point lead over the Cavs in the first half and scored 78 points at the break. Simmons had 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists. James had 44 points (17-of-29 shooting), 11 assists and 11 rebounds, bringing the Cavaliers to the brink of an epic comeback. The Sixers (49-30) moved into third place in the Eastern Conference over the Cavaliers (49-31). RAPTORS 92, PACERS 73 TORONTO — Serge Ibaka scored a season-high 25 points, DeMar DeRozan had 12 and Toronto beat Indiana, clinching first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time in team history. Jakbo Poeltl scored 10 points as the Raptors set franchise records for wins in a season (57) and home wins (33). Kyle Lowry had nine points and nine assists, and Jonas Valanciunas added 12 rebounds for Toronto, which never trailed in its ninth consecutive home victory over the Pacers. Indiana last won north of the border on March 1, 2013. Glenn Robinson III scored 12 points and Trevor Booker had 11 for the Pacers. Indiana shot 26 for 87 (29.9 percent) and set season-lows in points, made field goals, and field goal percentage. CELTICS 111, BULLS 104 BOSTON — Greg Monroe came off the bench and had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and Boston defeated Chicago. It is Monroe’s second career triple-double. Jaylen Brown finished with a career-high 32 points and four rebounds. With Al Horford and Jayson Tatum given the night off to rest, Boston went deep into its bench against a AP Photo/Chris Szagola Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons, of Australia, goes for the dunk as he gets between Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love, right, and Cedi Osman, left, of Turkey, during the first half of Friday’s game in Philadelphia. Chicago team that’s one of the worst in the NBA. Chicago led by as many as 11 in the first half before Boston trimmed it to 58-55 at the half. But the Celtics outscored the Bulls 56-46 over the final two quarters. Sean Kilpatrick led the Bulls with 24 points. Lauri Markkanen added 20 points and five rebounds. TIMBERWOLVES 113, LAKERS 96 LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Butler scored 18 points in his return from right knee surgery, Jeff Teague had 25 points and eight assists, and Minnesota beat Los Angeles. Butler played 22½ minutes and was 7 for 10 from the field in his first game since getting hurt against Houston on Feb. 23. He had surgery two days later for a cartilage injury and missed 17 games. Minnesota moved into sole possession of eighth place in the Western Confer- ence. Taj Gibson also scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Karl-An- thony Towns had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who were on the second night of a back-to-back. They lost to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. Julius Randle scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who have lost nine of their last 13. Brook Lopez had 18 points and six rebounds, while Josh Hart tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. HAWKS 103, WIZARDS 97 WASHINGTON — Taurean Prince scored 23 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and Atlanta beat Washington. Washington dropped its fourth straight game and fell into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 32 points. Wizards point guard John Wall sat out what was the second of back-to-back games for Washington, and forward Markieff Morris left with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter when he picked up two quick tech- nical fouls. Six Hawks scored in double figures. Reserve Tyler Dorsey had 22 points, including 13 in the second half for the Hawks, who had lost two straight. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 13 points for the Wizards and Otto Porter Jr. had 10. PELICANS 122, SUNS 103 PHOENIX — Nikola Mirotic scored a season-high 31 points and tied a season best with 16 rebounds, Anthony Davis had 33 points and 11 boards, and New Orleans beat Phoenix. Jrue Holiday added 22 points and 10 assists to help the Pelicans move into a tie for the Western Confer- ence’s fifth seed with idle San Antonio and Oklahoma City. New Orleans (45-34) won its second straight after losing four in a row. The Pelicans led by double digits throughout the entire fourth quarter. Marquese Chriss led Phoenix with 23 points and Josh Jackson added 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Suns have lost 16 of 17 and are closer to clinching the NBA’s worst record. PISTONS 113, MAVERICKS 106, OT DETROIT — Reggie Jackson scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and overtime and Detroit beat Dallas. Andre Drummond added 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons, who had six scorers in double figures. Johnathan Motley led the Mavericks with career highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds. Detroit led 101-98 with a minute left in regulation, but Dallas coach Rick Carl- isle kept starters Harrison Barnes, Dwight Powell and Dennis Smith Jr. on the bench. Luke Kennard missed a clinching 3-pointer, and after Dallas turned the ball over, Jackson missed a shot that would have made it a five-point game with 30 seconds left. Motley tied the score with a 3 with 10.1 seconds left, and Jackson’s buzzer-beater bounced off the front rim. Detroit moved ahead 110-105 with 1:29 in overtime, and after a Dallas offensive foul, Jackson’s floater sealed the victory. KINGS 94, GRIZZLIES 93 MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Bogdan Bogdanovic connected on a 16-footer with a second left to help KNICKS 122, HEAT 98 NEW YORK — Rookie Damyean Dotson had career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds, reserve Luke Kornet added a career-best 17 points and New York blew out Miami. Trey Burke scored 17 points and Kyle O’Quinn had 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Knicks snapped a four-game losing streak. Goran Dragic had 15 points and Hassan Whiteside chipped in 14 in Miami’s disappointing effort with the postseason set to tip off next weekend. HORNETS 137, MAGIC 100 ORLANDO, Fla. — Reserve Malik Monk scored 26 points, Frank Kaminsky added 21 and Charlotte routed outmanned Orlando. Marvin Williams scored 18 points and Dwight Howard had 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Hornets, who stopped a four-game losing streak. Charlotte led by 24 points two minutes into the second quarter and pushed the advantage to as many as 45 in the second half despite benching all starters for the final period. D.J. Augustin led Orlando with 19 points and Marreese Speights had 14 for the Magic, who promi- nently featured four players off their G League roster in the game. Three of them, Khem Birch, Jamel Artis and Rodney Purvis, each had 12 points. Playoff picture Top 2 seeds set in East and West; everything else TBD today, with Denver currently at 44 wins and the Los Angeles Clippers still able to get to 45 if they win out. By TIM REYNOLDS Associated Press A look at where things stand in the NBA playoff picture, with five days remaining in the regular season: EAST UPDATE The top two seeds are locked up: Toronto is No. 1 going into the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and Boston will open the playoffs as the No. 2 seed. Everything else is unclear. Philadelphia (49-30) now leads in the race for the No. 3 spot, passing Cleveland (49-31) by beating the Cavaliers 132-130 on Friday night. The 76ers, who haven’t been a top-three seed in the East since their run to the NBA Finals in 2001, would finish third if they end the season with wins against Dallas, Atlanta and Milwaukee. The Cavaliers have two games left, both against New York. So if Philly slips even once, Cleveland could return to No. 3 by sweeping the Knicks. Indiana (47-33) still has a chance at No. 3; to get there, the Pacers have to win out Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) moves past Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) during the first half of Friday’s game in Toronto. and have both the Cavaliers and 76ers lose out. That seems unlikely, and Indiana is probably heading for the No. 5 spot. Miami, even after a bad loss in New York, controls its fate in the race for No. 6. Milwaukee is No. 7 for now, and Washington — a loser of four straight, including a head-scratcher against Atlanta on Friday — has slipped to No. 8. WEST UPDATE Five days left, five spots left to clinch, and six seeds left to decide. A frantic finish is coming to the West. Portland controls the race for the No. 3 seed, and Utah knows that if it wins out the worst it can finish is No. 4 — which is astounding, considering it got off to a 19-28 start and was 10½ games out of the fourth spot. New Orleans (45-34) beat Phoenix to jump two spots to No. 5, and Minne- sota (45-35) topped the Los Angeles Lakers to remain a half-game ahead of Denver for No. 8. Those two results mean four teams have exactly 45 wins going into TODAY’S GAMES Some clarity might ... finally ... come to the West. — Denver at L.A. Clip- pers: The Clippers have to win out, or the season ends. Denver must try to match that desperation. — Milwaukee at New York: Milwaukee is 10-12 since the All-Star break. Some momentum might help the playoff cause. — Oklahoma City at Houston: Means nothing to Rockets. Means plenty to Thunder, who still could get home-court. — New Orleans at Golden State: The Warriors embarrassed themselves at Indiana on Thursday. Will this be more of the same? — Portland at San Antonio: The Spurs are trying for a 21st consecutive playoff spot, and the Blazers are trying to lock up the No. 3 seed. — Brooklyn at Chicago has no playoff implication. CURRENT BRACKET First-round matchups if the season ended Friday ... East: 1-Toronto vs. 8-Washington, 2-Boston vs. 7-Milwaukee, 3-Philadel- phia vs. 6-Miami, 4-Cleve- land vs. 5-Indiana. West: 1-Houston vs. 8-Minnesota, 2-Golden State vs. 7-Oklahoma City, 3-Portland vs. 6-San Antonio, 4-Utah vs. 5-New Orleans. NOTE OF THE DAY Philadelphia has a chance to set an NBA record — the longest winning streak to end a regular season. The 76ers have won 13 straight and have three games left. Win them all, and they would top the 15-game season-ending stretch by the Rochester Royals in 1949- 50. The last double-digit streak to end a season was posted by San Antonio in 2011-12, when the Spurs won their final 10 games. Philly coach Brett Brown was an assistant under Gregg Popovich on that Spurs team. QUOTE OF THE DAY “You’ve got to go through whoever it is anyway.” — Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue, asked about the Eastern Conference seeding jumble.