Heat 108, Hornets 89
Two days after having their 27-game win streak snapped the Miami Heat were quickly back to their winning ways pounding the New Orleans Hornets 108-99 on Friday to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
LeBron James led the Heat (57-15) with a game high 36 points, including 28 in the opening half, while Dwyane Wade had 17 and Norris Cole added 12 from off the bench.
The Heat took out their anger on the Hornets after they were beaten by the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday bringing the second-longest win streak in American professional sports history to a screeching halt.
The Heat streak ended six short of the NBA record of 33, set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.
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Celtics 118, Hawks 107
Paul Pierce recorded a triple-double, Jeff Green scored 27 points and Jason Terry chipped in with 24 to carry the Boston Celtics to a 118-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
The win moved the Celtics to within 1 1/2 games of the Hawks for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff seeding.
Pierce had 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Celtics won their second straight after a five-game losing streak.
It was the 10th career triple-double for Pierce and his third this season.
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Timberwolves 101, Thunder 93
Nikola Pekovic had 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 101-93 upset of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Ricky Rubio added 17 points and had seven assists and four steals and Chase Budinger had 13 points as the Wolves (26-45), who sit at the bottom of Northwest knocked off the division leading Thunder (53-20).
Oklahoma, who fall 2 1/2 games back of the Western Conference leading San Antonio Spurs, got a 36 point performance from Kevin Durant while Russell Westbrook added 18.
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Spurs 104, Clippers 102
Tim Duncan hit a 16-foot jumper with 2.2 seconds left and added a free throw as the San Antonio Spurs held on for a 104-102 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Duncan continued his renaissance season with a season-high 34 points and 11 rebounds as the Spurs (55-17) opened up a 2 1/2 game lead on the Oklahoma City Thunder at the top of the Western Conference standings.
Duncan is averaging 20 points in March, including 23.6 and 10 blocks in the last six games
Blake Griffin had 18 in a losing cause for the Clippers, (49-23).
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Knicks 111, Bobcats 102
J.R. Smith scored a season-high 37 points as the New York Knicks extended their winning streak to seven games with a 111-102 win over the Charlotte Bobcats.
Carmelo Anthony added 32 points and Raymond Felton contributed 16 to New York (45-26) cause.
Gerald Henderson had 35 points for the Bobcats, who own the NBA's worst record at 17-55.
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Nuggets 109, Nets 87
Evan Fournier came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points as the Denver Nuggets extended their home winning streak to 18 with a 109-87 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Wilson Chandler had 16 for Denver, which ended a two-game skid and stayed ahead of Memphis for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
The Nets fell 3 1/2 games behind New York in the Atlantic Division despite 19 points from Deron Williams and 15 points and 16 rebounds by Reggie Evans.
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Grizzlies 103, Rockets 94
Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol both drained 21 points as the Memphis Grizzlies halted a two-game losing skid with a 103-94 win over the Houston Rockets.
Randolph also contributed 12 rebounds to the Grizzlies (48-24) cause while Tony Allen helped out with 16 points and Mike Conley contributed a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists.
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Magic 97, Wizards 92
Tobias Harris had a career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to a 97-92 victory over the Washington Wizards.
The Magic (19-54) snapped an eight-game losing streak and overcame another big game from Wizards point guard John Wall, who had a game-high 35 points and nine rebounds.
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76ers 97, Cavaliers 87
Evan Turner had a game-high 23 points, 13 rebounds and four assists to help power the Philadelphia 76ers' to a 97-87 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavs (22-49) have dropped seven in a row and 11 of their last 13.
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Raptors 99, Pistons 82
Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan each scored 21 points as the Toronto Raptors (27-45) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 99-82 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Jonas Jerebko had 20 points for Detroit (24-49), which has lost 12 of its last 13 and eight straight at home.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
