Golden State Warriors claim top seed in Western Conference with win over Los Angeles Clippers
Giannis returns as Bucks seal 60-win season; Thunder and Spurs win to tighten race for sixth in West
Monday 8 April 2019 11:35, UK
The Golden State Warriors clinched the top seeding throughout the Western Conference playoffs with a 131-104 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.
Los Angeles Clippers 104-131 Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors celebrated their final regular-season game in Oracle Arena with a 131-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night that clinched top seeding throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
The Warriors' first-round opponent, which will be the eighth seed in the West, has yet to be determined. The playoffs begin on Saturday.
The loss dropped the Clippers (47-34) closer to a first-round matchup with the Warriors. They are battling Oklahoma City (47-33) and San Antonio (47-34), both of whom won Sunday, for the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds. Los Angeles finishes the regular season at home Wednesday against Utah.
Curry finished with a game-high 27 points for the Warriors, who improved their all-time regular-season record at Oracle Arena to 1,166-770.
The win was Golden State's fifth in a row and 30th of the season at home. The Warriors finish the regular season at New Orleans and Memphis.
Kevin Durant added 16 points, Kevon Looney 14, DeMarcus Cousins and Klay Thompson 12 apiece, and Draymond Green and Quinn Cook 10 each for Golden State, who were playing their 2,053rd game at Oracle Arena when the playoffs are included.
Like the Warriors, all five Clippers starters scored in double figures, led by Landry Shamet with 17. All but two of Shamet's points came on 5-for-6 three-point shooting.
Lou Williams, making his first start of the season, added 13 points, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 12, Montrezl Harrell and Wilson Chandler 11 apiece, and reserve Jerome Robinson 10.
Denver Nuggets 108-115 Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard scored 30 points and Al-Farouq Aminu added a season-high 23 points and 11 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers rallied for a 115-108 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets.
The Trail Blazers closed the game on a 17-3 run to snap a six-game losing streak against the Nuggets and register their ninth win in the last 11 games.
Gary Harris scored 18 points to lead Denver, who won the season series with Portland 3-1. The Nuggets played without center Nikola Jokic, forward Paul Millsap and guard Jamal Murray, all given the night off for rest.
CJ McCollum made his return to the Portland lineup after missing 10 games with a knee injury. McCollum collected nine points, six rebounds and six assists in 25 minutes.
Curry and Aminu each scored 11 points to help stake Portland to a 60-49 lead at halftime. Trey Lyles and Harris each had 10 points for Denver.
The Nuggets need to win their final two games, or get one win and a Rockets loss in their finale at the Thunder, to secure the West's No 2 seed.
Phoenix Suns 113-149 Houston Rockets
James Harden flirted with a triple-double and Clint Capela posted a double-double as the Houston Rockets closed out their home schedule with a 149-113 dismantling of the Phoenix Suns.
The Rockets turned in their second consecutive blowout win on their home court to hold on to the third seed in the Western Conference.
Houston, who led by as many as 42 points in their 120-96 win over the New York Knicks on Friday, led 117-77 entering the fourth quarter against the short-handed Suns.
The Rockets, who have won six straight, all by double digits and by an average of 25.8 points per game, close their regular season at Oklahoma City on Tuesday.
Harden posted 30 points on 10-for-14 shooting with 13 rebounds and nine assists in only 29 minutes. Capela added 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Eric Gordon matched his career high of eight three-pointers while producing 26 points on just 14 shot attempts.
The Rockets set an NBA record with 27 three-pointers, going 27 of 57 while closing their home schedule with a 31-10 record.
The Suns, missing a half dozen regulars, have dropped eight of their last 10 games and complete their schedule at Dallas on Tuesday. Veteran guard Jamal Crawford scored 27 points off the bench, while Dragan Bender posted 19 points and eight boards. Rookie Mikal Bridges scored 19 points.
Atlanta Hawks 107-115 Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points with nine rebounds, and Khris Middleton added 21 as the Milwaukee Bucks earned a 115-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks to pick up their 60th win of the season.
Antetokounmpo, who is now six points away from 2,000 for the second consecutive season, was back on the court for the Eastern Conference champions after missing Saturday's game against the Brooklyn Nets because of a sore left calf.
Alex Len scored a career-high 33 points for the Hawks, who were playing without starters John Collins (ankle) and Trae Young (wrist). DeAndre' Bembry added 13 points for Atlanta, who have already been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Bucks (60-21) recorded their first 60-victory season since the 1980-81 season, when they advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. It is the fifth season of at least 60 victories in Bucks history, going back their inaugural season of 1968-69.
It was an easy night of work for Antetokounmpo, who played just nine minutes in the first half and 24 minutes in the game. Of the 11 Bucks players who saw time in the first half, Antetokounmpo's minutes were fewer than everybody except reserve forward Bonzie Colson.
The Bucks have just one more game remaining before the playoffs, facing Oklahoma City on Wednesday at home.
Oklahoma City Thunder 132-126 Minnesota Timberwolves
Paul George and Russell Westbrook each scored 27 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 132-126 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Thunder had to come from behind, scoring 37 fourth-quarter points, to win their third consecutive game. Oklahoma City's first three-game winning streak since winning four in a row in early February has kept the Thunder in contention for the sixth spot in the Western Conference.
Westbrook also finished with 10 rebounds and 15 assists for his 136th career triple-double. Westbrook is just two behind Magic Johnson for second all-time in the category.
But when Westbrook and the Thunder were struggling going into the fourth quarter, backup point guard Dennis Schroder helped lift Oklahoma City out of its funk. Schroder scored 12 points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter and poured in 14 of his 21 points in the period.
The Timberwolves were going for their first season sweep over the Thunder franchise, having won the first three meetings. Like those earlier games, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns gave Oklahoma City fits for long stretches Sunday.
Towns finished with 35 points, hitting 13 of 14 from the free-throw line. Wiggins had 24 points, although just two came in the fourth quarter. Dario Saric had a season-high 23 points, but like Wiggins, was not much of a factor in the fourth quarter, when he scored just two points.
San Antonio Spurs 112-90 Cleveland Cavaliers
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points, including 16 in the first half when San Antonio built a big lead, as the visiting Spurs throttled the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-90.
San Antonio led by just six points late in the second quarter but ran away from the Cavaliers via baskets by Bryn Forbes, Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan on the way to a 16-point halftime lead.
Cleveland fought back to within nine points midway through the third quarter but never got closer, with San Antonio leading by as many as 27 points in the fourth.
The Spurs' victory, their third in their past four games, allows them to continue to put pressure on Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers in the battle for the final three playoff spots in the Western Conference standings.
DeRozan, Davis Bertans and Patty Mills contributed 14 points apiece for the Spurs, while Forbes scored 13. Aldridge led San Antonio with 13 rebounds, while Jakob Poeltl grabbed 10.
Collin Sexton and Brandon Knight led the anaemic Cavaliers' attack with 16 points each, while Ante Zizic added 14. Cedi Osman scored 12 points and Larry Nance Jr. hit for 11 points and took 10 rebounds for Cleveland.
Utah Jazz 109-113 Los Angeles Lakers
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 18 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to help the Los Angeles Lakers hold off the Utah Jazz 113-109 and hurt their chances of gaining home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Jazz, who also saw their seven-game winning streak snapped, trail the Portland Trail Blazers (51-29) by two games for fourth place in the Western Conference with two games left for each team. The Jazz (49-31) own the tiebreaker with Portland.
JaVale McGee had 22 points and eight rebounds, Alex Caruso had 18 points and 11 assists, Mike Muscala had 16 points and eight rebounds, Johnathan Williams had 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Jemerrio Jones grabbed 16 rebounds for the Lakers (37-44).
Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Jazz. Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points but missed all 10 shots in the second half, and Georges Niang scored 16 off the bench for Utah.
The Lakers played their fifth straight game without their top three scorers, LeBron James (groin), Kyle Kuzma (foot) and Brandon Ingram (arm surgery).
The Jazz were without Dante Exum (knee surgery), Derrick Favors (back spasms), Kyle Korver (right knee soreness), Raul Neto (ankle), and Ricky Rubio (quadriceps).
New Orleans Pelicans 133-129 Sacramento Kings
Elfrid Payton had a double-double and made a three-pointer that put the visiting New Orleans Pelicans ahead for good in a 133-129 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
The injury-plagued Pelicans used just eight players after choosing to rest forward Julius Randle, but all five starters had scored in double figures by the middle of the third quarter. Payton finished with 26 points and 14 assists, while Ian Clark made a career-high seven three-pointers as he scored a season-high 31 points.
Harrison Barnes scored 29 points, De'Aaron Fox had 24 points and 11 assists, and Marvin Bagley III had 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Kings (39-42), who are guaranteed a losing record for the 13th consecutive season.
Dallas Mavericks 129-127 Memphis Grizzlies
Reserve guard Devin Harris buried a tie-breaking three-pointer with 1:26 to go in overtime, and Trey Burke scored a team-high 24 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 129-127 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Backup center Salah Mejri slammed home key dunks in the latter part of the fourth quarter, tipped home the tying bucket with 1.5 seconds in regulation and then opened overtime with seven consecutive points. He finished with 19 points off the bench on 7-of-12 shooting to go with nine rebounds.
Starting for injured point guard Mike Conley, Delon Wright had another triple-double for the Grizzlies with 20 points, 12 assists and 13 rebounds. Justin Holiday scored a game-high 30 points, drilling six of his 11 three-point attempts.
Washington Wizards 110-113 New York Knicks
Mario Hezonja scored 30 points and hit a three-pointer with 44.8 seconds left that gave the New York Knicks the lead for good in a 113-110 win over the visiting Washington Wizards.
In his second start at point guard in place of injured Emmanuel Mudiay, Hezonja made 12 of 21 shots for the Knicks, who had lost 11 of their previous 12 against the Wizards. The Knicks (16-64) must win their final two games to avoid matching the worst record in franchise history, set in 2014-15.
Jeff Green had 19 points in 16 minutes for Washington, who have lost three straight. Thomas Bryant added 17 points, and Bobby Portis contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds.
