Michael Jordan hires nomadic Larry Brown to coach Bobcats

Larry Brown wanted to resurrect his vagabond, Hall of Fame coaching career. Michael Jordan needed a veteran teacher and a big hire to rescue his sinking reputation as an NBA executive.

The two former North Carolina players teamed up Tuesday when Jordan introduced Brown as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats — his ninth NBA coaching job. Brown agreed to a four-year contract, returning to the state where his nomadic coaching journey began.

"How are you going to say no to Michael?" Brown said. "I've known him a long time. The things he stands for have made our game better. There's no way I could say no to him. It was a pretty easy decision once my wife said yes."

The 67-year-old Brown replaces Sam Vincent, whom Jordan hired last year despite no NBA head coaching experience. Vincent, who was fired Saturday, struggled to find consistent rotations and clashed with players in a 32-50 season.

Brown's nine NBA teams are three more than any other coach — Kevin Loughery and Lenny Wilkens each coached six.

"I think I've coached almost everybody in the NBA, but I'm going to challenge everybody to do their best," Brown said. "That's what Michael is about and that's what I'm about."

The Bobcats are in their fourth year, and Brown gives the struggling franchise instant credibility. He's one of only five NBA coaches with more than 1,000 wins and the only coach to lead teams to NBA and NCAA titles.

"I don't want to put too much pressure on Larry," Jordan said. "But I think this is the atmosphere he enjoys."

But Brown hasn't lasted anywhere long, and has had some ugly divorces. His last coaching job was the disastrous 2005-06 season in New York, when the Knicks went 23-59 and Brown clashed with management.

His dismissal was followed by a long dispute over how much money he was owed for the rest of his contract.

A deal eventually was struck and Brown became an executive vice president with the Philadelphia 76ers, but Brown yearned to return to the bench.

"I was a bad coach. I did a bad job. I learned from that," Brown said, referring to his time with the Knicks. "But being out of it in the last few years, even though I had a title in Philly ... I just missed being around the game. I love it. I want to be a part of it."

Jordan said he contacted Brown before hiring Vincent last spring, but Brown said he wasn't ready to return. He changed his mind late this season, quitting his job in Philadelphia after being interviewed for the Stanford opening.

Shortly after the Bobcats fired Vincent on Saturday, Jordan called Brown again. The Bobcats job was more appealing and did not entail a cross-country move from Philadelphia. Brown's mother lives in Charlotte and he has other relatives there.

"I'm from California, but we just moved in September," said Brown's wife, Shelly. "Selfishly, I would not be ready to up and move to another coast. I think here Larry is surrounded by a lot of great guys with the same value system, same character. And they all want to win."

Brown was a point guard at North Carolina under Dean Smith, decades before Jordan led the school to a national title under the same coach. Brown's coaching career took root in this state. He was hired to coach Davidson, only to resign a month later without a coaching a game. He then went on to coach the ABA's Carolina Cougars.

While Brown took UCLA to the Final Four and won an NCAA title with Kansas, most of his experience has been in the NBA. Brown improved teams in Denver, San Antonio, Indiana and Philadelphia and won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

"I'm very excited, of course," Bobcats point guard and former Tar Heel Raymond Felton said. "Carolina guy. He loves his point guards, for one. And on top of that he's a great coach. He's going to come in every day and he's going to try to get us better. I'm definitely looking forward to this experience."

Brown, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002, will now try to get the Jason Richardson-led Bobcats into the playoffs and help Jordan taste success for the first time in two stints running NBA teams.

While Jordan won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, he's made several questionable moves in the front office.

Vincent's ouster marked the second time a coach Jordan hired lasted only one season. Leonard Hamilton resigned after going 19-63 with the Washington Wizards in 2000-01.

Jordan was fired by the Wizards. He bought a minority stake in the Bobcats in 2006 and took over the decision-making from Bernie Bickerstaff. When Bickerstaff moved to the front office after three seasons on the bench, Jordan replaced him with Vincent.

"I told Michael, 'I'm not coming here unless I know you're fully committed,'" Brown said. "He told me that last year and he told me it again. You know how competitive he is. He wants to win. I can get to him at anytime, and he's surrounded himself with people that I really respect and like."

Riley resigns as Heat coach; Erik Spoelstra to take over

This time, Pat Riley insists he won't come back.

The Hall of Fame coach stepped down from the Miami Heat sideline on Monday, although he'll remain team president. His first act as Miami's former coach was to choose its new one, and he hired Erik Spoelstra, a 37-year-old who started in the Heat video room in 1995 and now becomes the NBA's youngest coach.

Riley retired once before, only to come back when Stan Van Gundy stepped down 21 games into the 2005-06 season, Miami's championship campaign. Although he knows the perception exists that says otherwise, Riley insists he never wanted to return then — and won't be talked into it one more time.

"I am definitely sure that I don't want to do this anymore," Riley said.

So now, after spending several days plotting the Heat's next course, Riley's past becomes Spoelstra's future.

Riley was 36 when he first became a head coach, and like Spoelstra today, he didn't have any experience either. His first off-the-court job in the NBA was traveling secretary for the Los Angeles Lakers, handling boarding passes. Spoelstra also was at the bottom of the Heat totem pole when starting out, making videos for the team Christmas party, but Riley is convinced he's ready for the top job.

"It's very rare to have the opportunity to work for one organization for your entire career like I have," said Spoelstra, who was told the job was his Friday. "It means it's a special organization."

Miami finished with the NBA's poorest record (15-67), by far the worst of Riley's career. As president, Riley will continue overseeing the plan to revamp a franchise just two years removed from a championship, after deciding he'd best benefit the franchise from the front office.

Riley's future was among Miami's many offseason issues. The Heat could have the No. 1 pick in the draft, are assured a top-four pick and are certain to make moves in an effort to revamp a roster plagued by injuries.

"Pat Riley has instilled in me values that enabled me to win a championship in just three seasons," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said Monday. "I've seen him do the necessary things to make us winners and I believe that with his focus on being president and his commitment to the team, we will once again become a contender."

Wade has worked extensively with Spoelstra in practices and 1-on-1 sessions.

"I believe in Coach Spo and have complete confidence that our team will succeed with him at the helm," Wade said.

Spoelstra indicated he would like to keep assistants Ron Rothstein, Bob McAdoo and Keith Askins.

Riley finishes his career with 1,210 victories, third most in NBA history behind Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson. He won seven championships, including five as a head coach, and was voted into the Hall of Fame class this month.

"I think the call from the Hall of Fame did something to me," Riley said. "There was a lot of emotion on that telephone call. When you come to the finish, or you know it's the best time, it's a clean ending."

Riley essentially began the rebuilding job in February, when he traded disgruntled center Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns. The move not only rid the team of a player who didn't want to remain in Miami, but gave the Heat some salary-cap room that wouldn't otherwise have been available until O'Neal's contract expired in 2010.

In recent years, many team insiders considered Spoelstra as the person Riley would promote when he deemed the time was right.

That time was Monday.

"He's a man that was born to coach," Riley said.

Riley started his head coaching career with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning a championship in his first season with a team led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He also took the New York Knicks to the NBA finals before coming to Miami in 1995, where on the day he was introduced he famously talked about envisioning a championship parade down Biscayne Boulevard.

Eleven years later, that vision became reality.

And if it happens again, it'll come with Riley watching from off the court.

"I've worked for a great leader, a Hall of Fame coach and someone who's been a great mentor to me for 13 years," Spoelstra said. "It's been a great relationship."

Riley told the story Monday of his final pregame speech. He talked to players that night about the movie "Forrest Gump," particulary the portion where Tom Hanks' character spends three years running around the country for no particular reason.

"He was leaving his past behind him. And that's what we have to do," Riley said. "I'm leaving mine behind me. I'm leaving last year behind me. It's been a wonderful experience and it's been a great journey. Now it's Erik's."

Suns step up pressure to crush Spurs

The Phoenix Suns turned up the defensive pressure and avoided elimination from the playoffs with a crushing 105-86 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

Game Five is on Tuesday in San Antonio with the champion Spurs holding a 3-1 edge in the best-of-seven series.

Also on Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards 100-97 on Delonte West's three-pointer with five seconds remaining to take a 3-1 series lead. LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 34 points and 12 rebounds.

The Suns, who had lost the first three games of the Western Conference series, held the Spurs to 13 points in the opening quarter to grab a 21-point lead and raced to the home victory.

Forward Boris Diaw, making his first playoff start in almost two years, sparked the Suns with 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists and restricted the impact of Spurs' point guard Tony Parker.

"I thought he (Diaw) was phenomenal," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters.

"His defence on Parker and then being able to kind of direct the offence from the low post, that was huge."

Diaw said being familiar with fellow Frenchman Parker helped him on defence.

"I tried not to give him separation because that's when he becomes dangerous," Diaw told reporters.

"I tried to stay close to him all the time. Once I'm close to him, I try to use my length to bother him on his shot.

Raja Bell paced the Phoenix scoring with 27 points.

Parker, who scored 41 points for San Antonio in Game Three, was held to just 18 points with Tim Duncan getting 14 points and 10 rebounds.

"Phoenix showed some great reaction, they showed some pride," said Parker. "We had great shots; they just didn't go in."

The Suns, who never trailed, set the tone early when Bell opened the scoring with a three-pointer and scored all of Phoenix's first seven points for a 7-1 lead.

Shaquille O'Neal, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, also had a strong first period, slamming home a dunk for a 34-13 lead. He scored nine points in the period.

San Antonio pulled within 12, the last time on Manu Ginobili's jumper with 4:55 left in the first half, but the Suns scored the game's next 12 points for a 61-37 lead and then ran out the easy winners.

"We were both angry and frustrated that we lost three games," said Diaw. "We've always felt that we can beat them."

(Writing by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

Williams sparks Jazz past Rockets; take 3-1 series lead

Deron Williams scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and the Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets 86-82 on Saturday night for a 3-1 series lead.

Mehmet Okur added 14 points and 18 rebounds, grabbing the biggest board of the game when Williams went 0-for-2 from the line with 7.3 seconds left and Utah only ahead by two.

The Rockets host Game 5 Tuesday and need a win to keep the series going.

Houston cut a 16-point third quarter deficit to a point and made a great push at the end after Shane Battier and Rafer Alston made 3-pointers in the final minute to get the Rockets back within two. Kyle Korver answered with two free throws for Utah to make it 84-80 with 12.5 seconds left, then after Carl Landry putback an offensive rebound, Williams had a chance to seal it for the Jazz.

He missed both attempts, but Okur was there for the offensive rebound and hit both free throws with 5.5 seconds to go. It was too much for the Rockets to overcome and Utah's Andrei Kirilenko added an exclamatory block as the buzzer sounded and the Jazz left the court one win away from advancing.

Tracy McGrady, who is 0-6 in playoff series, scored 23 points to lead the Rockets. Only four came in the fourth quarter. McGrady was taunted with the chant "Over-Rated!" when he went to the foul line late in the game after another quiet fourth period.

Through four games, he has scored a total of 12 in the final quarter — and seven of those came in an 94-92 win in Game 3 that revived the Rockets' hopes of going back to Houston with a possible 2-2 tie. Instead, it's a 3-1 deficit to the Jazz, who won the first two games at the Toyota Center.

The Jazz were 0-for-14 on 3-pointers, but strong enough to make up for it inside. Carlos Boozer added 14 points and 14 rebounds, Kirilenko scored 11 and Ronnie Brewer had 12 points and two blocks as all five Utah starters scored in double figures.

After falling behind by 16 early in the third quarter, Houston rallied to get within five points at the end of the period and continued to push early in the fourth to almost completely erase Utah's lead. Bobby Jackson and Landry hit two free throws each and Alston took a steal in all alone for a layup to cut the lead down to 68-67 with 10:39 left in the game.

Williams took control for Utah by driving for two layups to start an 8-0 run. Matt Harpring knocked the ball out of McGrady's hands, Williams bounced a pass to Boozer in the lane for an easy basket, then Korver made a 19-footer that put Utah back ahead 76-67 with 6 minutes left.

McGrady didn't score in the fourth until his layup over Boozer got Houston within 76-69 with 5:40 remaining. He had a chance to get the Rockets within two, but went 1-for-2 from the foul line twice.

McGrady also led Houston with eight assists and 10 rebounds, but the Rockets were outrebounded 48-41.

Notes:@ Jazz G Jason Hart missed the game with the stomach flu. ... The Rockets closed the first quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 23-21 lead into the second. ... After missing 13 free throws in Game 3, the Jazz improved Saturday by going 24-for-31 from the line. ... Shane Battier scored 10 and Landry added 13 points for Houston.

Parker scores 41, Spurs near sweep of Suns

Amare Stoudemire assessed the San Antonio Spurs' masterful domination of his Phoenix Suns in one simple sentence.

"That," he said, "is how you win a title."

Or in the Spurs' case, many titles, and they look well on their way to what would be their fourth NBA championship in six seasons.

Tony Parker scored a career-high 41 points and added 12 assists in the Spurs' 115-99 victory Friday night that gave San Antonio a 3-0 series lead. Parker is averaging 33 points in the series.

"Tony has been very aggressive and just done a great job at both ends of the floor," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's just been phenomenal. I don't know what else to say about him."

Phoenix took away Parker's easy layups just like it wanted to. So he just made jump shot after jump shot after jump shot.

"They were backing off on the pick-and-rolls," he said, "so I just took the shot, and it felt good tonight."

Everything felt good for the defending NBA champions, who never trailed in winning their ninth consecutive playoff game and 13th of 14, dating to last season.

"We possibly played our best game of the year," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

In other NBA playoff games on Friday, Philadelphia beat Detroit 95-75 and Dallas defeated New Orleans 97-87.

San Antonio can complete the sweep on Sunday in Phoenix. No NBA team has come back from 0-3 to win a series.

It's the first three-game losing streak for the Suns this season.

"They were almost perfect," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We didn't play well, and I'll take the blame for that, but you've got to give them a lot of credit. They played great."

Phoenix acquired Shaquille O'Neal to better match up with the Spurs, but the Suns are one loss away from being swept in a seven-game series for the first time since the Los Angeles Lakers did it in the 1988-89 Western Conference finals.

Tim Duncan added 23 points and 10 rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 20 points in the Spurs' fourth consecutive playoff road victory and ninth in their last 11.

But Parker did the most damage, often on the pick-and-roll that has flustered Phoenix all series.

"It was crazy the way he played," Ginobili said. "The way he handled the pressure, and he made tons of jumpers."

The ultra-quick Frenchman scored 26 points in Game 1 and 32 in Game 2.

The Suns cut the lead to 13 points twice in the fourth quarter, the last on Raja Bell's 3-pointer with 7:35 to play, but Parker countered with his first 3 of the game and the Suns were finished.

"We just played great. Sometimes that happens," Parker said. "It just clicked tonight. We played great on defense and everybody made shots."

The packed house in the Suns' first home game of the playoffs booed Popovich's "Hack-a-Shaq" tactics in the first half, but they turned on the home team when the Spurs took a 23-point lead on Ginobili's 3-pointer with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

"We never were ourseves. We just never really got going," the Suns' Steve Nash said. "I don't think there were guys on our team that weren't trying hard, but when they start making every shot, I think guys in that respect just didn't know where to turn."

Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Phoenix, which was last swept in a series when Portland did it in a best-of-five matchup in 1998-99. Leandro Barbosa scored 20 points and O'Neal, who finished 9-for-17 from the free throw line, had 19. Nash, defended ferociously by Bruce Bowen, had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting with nine assists.

Phoenix took big early leads in the first two games in San Antonio. The Spurs were in control of this one from the start.

San Antonio made 10 of its first 13 shots, including five of six jumpers by Parker. A 17-4 outburst capped by Parker's 22-footer put the Spurs up 27-12.

Popovich went to the "Hack-a-Shaq" ploy twice in the first half. Even if O'Neal makes the free throws, the Suns' offense remained stalled.

"It's smart by them," Nash said. "I think it slows down our rhythm more than anything."

76ers 95, Pistons 75

Samuel Dalembert had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Andre Miller added 21 points and Philadelphia pulled away in the third quarter for a dominating win and a 2-1 lead in the series. The 76ers, who closed the third quarter on a 22-9 run, led by as many as 24 points in their first home playoff game since 2005.

Richard Hamilton scored 23 points and Tayshaun Prince had 18 for the Pistons, who led the league with just 11 turnovers per game, committed 23, easily their season high. The 76ers scored 29 points off the turnovers and scored 40 points in the paint.

Mavericks 97, Hornets 87

Dirk Nowitzki had 32 points, 19 rebounds and six assists for Dallas, which pulled within 2-1 in the series. Jason Terry replaced Jerry Stackhouse in the Mavericks' starting lineup and responded with 22 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:39 left to keep the Hornets at bay. He had six assists but his biggest contribution was his defense on Chris Paul.

Paul, the first player ever to have at least 30 points and 10 assists in his first two playoff games, finished with 16 points on 4-of-18 shooting. He still had 10 assists.

Nuggets glad to be home sweet home

The Denver Nuggets couldn't defend Pau Gasol in Game 1 or Kobe Bryant in Game 2.

So, what makes them think they can turn things around in their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers?

"We're home, man," Allen Iverson said. "They got a chance to play in front of their home crowd, and we want that same type of advantage playing in front of ours."

The homecourt is about the only thing the Nuggets have successfully defended all season.

They rode the energy of the Pepsi Center to a 33-8 record, including a series of clutch must-win triumphs over the final six weeks that allowed them to reach the playoffs for the fifth straight season.

"It's our turn to hold serve," Nuggets coach George Karl said Thursday. "It's a great challenge, a lot of fun. The homecourt's been kind of our biggest ally all year long."

Game 3 is Saturday and Game 4 is Monday night.

The Nuggets looked haggard as they filtered out of film study Thursday, most of them not wanting to stop and talk about being in a 2-0 hole after allowing a staggering 250 points so far.

"I think it might just be a travel day of getting to bed at 4:30 in the morning," Karl said. "There's a heaviness to waiting sometimes. We'll have a good practice tomorrow. I thought we got a little bit better last night. We didn't get better enough to win the game, but we got a little bit better."

The Nuggets hung with the Lakers until the fourth quarter after watching Gasol tear them up for 36 points in a 128-114 loss in Game 1. But Bryant scored 19 points in a 4:19 stretch of the fourth quarter, leading L.A. to a 122-107 win Wednesday night.

The Nuggets, however, insist they'll show up Saturday with a swagger and not a stagger.

"My sense is all year long when this team had its true back to the wall, they've responded great and the homecourt's been a big part of that," Karl said. "I think there's an energy out there. Statistically there's all sorts of positives that come our way here. We play better defense here. We make people miss more shots here. ..."

And all those clutch wins late in the season give the Nuggets plenty of confidence they can come back on L.A.

"Well, to us they were pretty much like playoff games," Marcus Camby said. "Going down that stretch, especially, late March and all of April, were all must-wins. So, we pretty much know how to perform under pressure."

The Nuggets ranked next-to-last in the NBA by allowing 107 points a game in the regular season despite leading the league in both blocks (6.72) and steals (9.17). So, it's not surprising the Lakers have piled up 250 points.

"It's a high-paced game," Gasol said. "They keep it real fast, an up-and-down game. You take advantage of what they give you."

Opponents haven't had as much success against the Nuggets in Denver, and Bryant said it's imperative for the Lakers to duplicate their energy, execution and emotion on the road to change that.

"Not getting too high, not getting too low. Even keel, keeping our poise," Bryant said. "They're a great home team. I think altitude is a factor the first few minutes. They play with a lot of energy.

"I think we're doing OK, we're playing typical playoff basketball. That being said, we haven't put together four explosive quarters that I think we're capable of. The important thing is getting the Ws."

Lakers point guard Derek Fisher isn't expecting any surprises from the Nuggets in Game 3, either.

"I don't think you're going to see wholesale changes. They believe in their style of play," Fisher said. "Defensively, I think they'll play even more zone than we saw last night. I don't expect them to do too many things differently than they've done so far. I just expect them to do them better on their home court."

So do the Nuggets.

"We still feel good about ourselves," Linas Kleiza said. "We've got to do what we're supposed to do, and that's defend our homecourt. We've been good all year at our home, so it should be exciting if we do that and the series is back where it started."

Notes:@ Ronny Turiaf, who missed Game 2 with tonsillitis, is expected to make the trip to Denver on Friday. ... Karl on his son, Coby, playing against the Nuggets in Game 2: "It's a proud moment for the family that is to be cherished and celebrated. But it will not be done in the next two weeks."

Getting even: Pistons even series with Game 2 rout of 76ers

Rasheed Wallace had another good game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Unlike the series opener, a few Detroit Pistons starters helped him out.

Wallace scored 11 of his 16 points in the first quarter and Detroit went on to beat Philadelphia 105-88 in Game 2 on Wednesday night to even the first-round series.

The Pistons had four scorers in double figures as it took a 17-point halftime lead, while the 76ers had only Andre Miller, who scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half.

In their 90-86 Game 1 loss, the Pistons blew a 15-point they built midway through the third quarter.

Detroit refused to let the young Sixers rally again.

The Pistons seemed to play with a sense of urgency, swarming the Sixers on defense and relentlessly going after offensive rebounds for second and third chances.

Chauncey Billups made a 3-pointer early in the third — his first field goal — and made another from beyond the arc later in the quarter to put Detroit ahead 73-47.

The Pistons didn't have any trouble holding onto the lead.

Game 3 is Friday night in Philadelphia.

In Sunday's loss, Wallace had 24 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks.

His fellow starters combined to makes less than one-third of their shots and missed key free throws.

Wallace and Co. put together a balanced attack in Game 2.

Each of the starters shot at least 50 percent through three quarters and four of them had 16 points, then all but Richard Hamilton rested in the fourth.

Hamilton finished with 20 points, Tayshaun Prince and Antonio McDyess both added 16 and rookie Rodney Stuckey had 12 after being held scoreless in his playoff debut.

Philadelphia reserves Louis Williams (17), Reggie Evans (13) and Rodney Carney (11) each scored career playoff highs.

Sixers star Andre Iguodala got off to another rough start. Unlike Game 1, he didn't bounce back. Iguodala was scoreless in the first half on 0-for-7 shooting and finished with four points after averaging 20 in the regular season and scoring 16 Sunday.

Miller was the only Philadelphia starter who played well when the game was close.

Samuel Dalembert had three points — giving him eight in the series — Thaddeus Young scored 11 and Willie Green added six points after setting a career playoff high with 17 in the opener.

After three quarters, Philadelphia's four reservers were outscoring its starters 41-34 despite getting a lot less playing time.

Notes:@ There was a moment of silence before the game for longtime NBA referee Darell Garretson, who died Monday. ... Perhaps more than any coach in the league, Philadelphia's Maurice Cheeks engaged the regular hecklers that sit behind the visitors' bench at The Palace. When one fan was shouting 40-42 — referring to the team's regular season record — Cheeks smiled and replied, "We're 1-0." ... Hamilton was called for a technical foul in the third quarter.

K.G. wins defensive player award, praises team communication

When Kevin Garnett starts screaming, the Celtics' defense stops struggling. For all his assets — athleticism, intensity, intelligence — it's the ability to communicate with teammates that he considers the key to Boston's skill at shutting down opponents.

"I talk. I understand how defense works," he said after being selected the NBA defensive player of the year Tuesday. "Communication's probably the biggest thing when it comes to defense."

An outstanding defender throughout his previous 12 seasons, all with Minnesota, Garnett won the league award for the first time by a wide margin one day before Boston takes a 1-0 lead into Game 2 of the first-round series against Atlanta.

He had 90 of the 124 first-place votes and a total of 493 points. Marcus Camby of Denver, last year's winner, was second with 12 first and 178 points, just edging Shane Battier of Houston, who received 11 first-place votes and 175 points.

"Any award you're able to acquire in this league is a big deal," said Garnett, who would much prefer his first NBA championship. "At the end of the day, it's about winning."

The 6-foot-11, long-armed forward is the major factor behind the Celtics' climb from a mediocre defensive team to perhaps the best in the league. They held opponents to an NBA-low 41.9 field goal percentage after allowing them to hit 46.8 percent of their shots last season. And they allowed just 90.3 points per game, second-fewest in the league, after giving up 99.2 last year.

No surprise, then, that Boston improved from 24-58 last season to 66-16, the NBA's best record, after trading for Garnett last summer.

"He's changed our culture defensively," coach Doc Rivers said. "That's the most important thing, just the team part of it. Individually, he's been fantastic, but I think his presence for the team is what stood out."

Paul Pierce was surprised that Garnett hadn't won the award before.

"He's been the class of the NBA defensively for a long time now," Pierce said. "He just anchors our defense. He controls the paint, blocks shots, a lot of things that don't show up in the stat sheet, with his talking."

Center Kendrick Perkins is having the best of his five seasons with Boston and credits some of that to Garnett.

"You never know how valuable he is until you've played with him," Perkins said. "He controls the whole court. He's the only player besides Kobe Bryant that I've seen control the whole court."

Garnett is able to recognize early what opponents are doing and tell his teammates. He guides them to the right spots. Team defense, he said, is the key to stopping teams. No surprise, then, that Garnett credits his teammates with making his award possible.

He spoke up after practice Tuesday to tell them that.

"I got my teammates and my coaches together and said that when a team does well you can really pick anybody on this team" for the award, Garnett said. "Defense is not a one-man thing. It's totally a team effort."

He averaged 1.2 blocks, 1.4 steals and 7.3 defensive rebounds to go with 18.8 points and 9.2 total rebounds per game.

His decibel level was high, too.

"You have to be able to talk, understand what's about to happen and then, obviously, speak on it," he said, "and talk loudly because sometimes you're on the road and you're dealing with (noisy) crowds."

The crowd will be very noisy Wednesday night, but it will be rooting for the Celtics against the Hawks in the best-of-seven series between the top and bottom seeds in the Eastern Conference.

The defense excelled in Sunday night's opener, a 104-81 win in which Boston held Atlanta to 38.2 percent shooting.

"You should see him in shootaround" before a game, Perkins said. "We're going over the other team's plays. He's very focused and he wants everybody else to lock in. Team defense is key. ... He gives us our whole swagger as far as how we're the bad guys. We chose to be the bad guys of the league right now."

And if some Celtics don't believe it, they're sure to hear it from Garnett.

"Doc always says I'm the talkative one out of the group. I beg to differ. I debate strongly," he said, before admitting the obvious. "I'm just so happy to be the one that speaks louder than all those guys.

"You could have pretty much gone through our whole roster and picked out a (solid) defensive guy," Garnett said. "That's what we are. That's our identity."

Scott Skiles takes over as new head coach of Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks need to play tougher defense, and start sharing the ball on offense. So they're turning to Scott Skiles, the man who owns the NBA's single-game assist record — and who once got into a fight with Shaquille O'Neal during his playing days and lived to tell the tale.

The Bucks introduced Skiles as their new coach Monday, signing the former Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns coach to a four-year deal to replace someone Skiles considers a close friend, Larry Krystkowiak.

And while Skiles said he learned some lessons after the Bulls fired him in December, he isn't backing away from his reputation for demanding a lot from his players.

"I always feel like I'm supposed to apologize for that," Skiles said. "And I'm not sure that's the tack I want to take. Anybody that is going to come to work with enthusiasm, concentrate and play hard will never have a problem with me. I don't care if they throw the ball in the seats 25 times a game."

He doesn't?

"They'll be pulled out of the game before they get to 25, of course, but they will never have a problem with me," Skiles added.

Skiles, who was drafted out of Michigan State by the Bucks in the first round in 1986, said he has a "fond place" in his heart for Milwaukee. But he has no illusions about the difficult task he faces in turning around a team that began the season with playoff aspirations but finished 26-56.

"It's not going to be easy," Skiles said. "I don't have any magic dust to sprinkle on people. We're going to have to do it by working harder and playing better (defense), and the first step will be getting competitive every single night. The team has not been competitive every night and if we do that, good things will happen."

The 44-year-old Skiles has more NBA head coaching experience than Milwaukee's two previous coaches, Krystkowiak and Terry Stotts, did when they were hired by the Bucks.

Skiles spent nearly three full seasons in Phoenix after taking over for Danny Ainge early in the 1999-00 season. He was fired by the Bulls in December after making the playoffs in three of his first four seasons in Chicago.

But experience wasn't the main thing new Bucks general manager John Hammond was looking for in his new coach. Hammond wanted toughness, something Skiles is certain to bring. But will the Bucks, one of the league's worst defensive teams last year, buy in?

"It's a player's responsibility to buy into it and be willing to accept it," Hammond said. "But if you have the kind of people who are willing to accept it, it can happen. I truly believe players want to be coached. They want to be taught. They want discipline within the team. So it's a coach's responsibility to bring those things to the table."

The Bucks are expected to try to overhaul their roster in the offseason. Skiles is familiar with the Bucks from coaching against them, but said he wasn't comfortable assessing individual players, yet.

"I've never made any secret of my philosophy, I believe in playing hard, playing defense, playing with passion, bring enthusiasm every single day and that's what I'll be after. I'm not real concerned with what happened before," Skiles said.

Skiles didn't want to make excuses for the Bulls' rough start this season, although he mentioned the team might have been distracted by persistent trade rumors involving Kobe Bryant and ongoing contractual issues with some of their top players.

"It's still an excuse," Skiles said. "Any maybe that was the case. We just couldn't seem to get over that. I think Chicago will come back and be a very, very good club next year again."

Skiles said he spoke to Krystkowiak about the job even before Krystkowiak officially was fired. Skiles said Krystkowiak called it a "great" opportunity, and doesn't expect the decision to take the job would affect their friendship. In fact, Skiles and his wife had dinner plans with Krystkowiak and his wife Monday night.

But Skiles is not likely to bring Krystkowiak back as an assistant.

"I would love to work with Larry at some point," Skiles said. "I don't know if this is the time or place for that."

As a player, Skiles played only 13 games for Milwaukee as a rookie, but he went on to a 10-year career that included stops in Indiana, Orlando, Washington and Philadelphia.

While with Orlando, Skiles set an NBA record with 30 assists in a December 30, 1990 game against Denver. Skiles' more notorious achievement while playing for the Magic, however, was a confrontation with O'Neal during practice that also involved Krystkowiak.

O'Neal reportedly went after Krystkowiak and the 6-foot-1 Skiles jumped in to help out his friend, ending up in a rugby-style scrum.

Skiles confirmed that his run-in with Shaq wasn't an urban legend.

"But it was purely self-defense," he joked.

Spurs' Ginobili wins sixth man award

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has won the NBA's sixth man award given to the league's best reserve.

Ginobili led the Spurs in scoring, averaging a career-high 19.5 points with 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Ginobili came off the bench in 51 of the 74 games he played this season.

The Spurs have a 1-0 lead over the Phoenix Suns in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Suns guard Leandro Barbosa won the award last year.

Ginobli got 123 of 124 first-place votes. Barbosa came in second with 283 points and the Dallas Mavericks' Jason Terry was third with 44.

Defending NBA champion Spurs open playoffs with a win

Manu Ginobili scored the game-winner with 1.8 seconds left Saturday as the San Antonio Spurs opened the National Basketball Association playoffs with a 117-115 double overtime victory over Phoenix.

The defending NBA champion Spurs also had 40 points and 15 rebounds from superstar Tim Duncan as they clawed their way to the victory in the opening game of their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.

The Spurs trailed almost all of the game, but Michael Finley forced overtime with a clutch three-pointer, and Duncan sank his first three-pointer of the season to force the second overtime.

Forced to foul late in the second overtime, Phoenix put San Antonio's Brent Barry on the line, where he missed one of his two attempts.

That kept the game within reach for the Suns, who trailed 115-112 with 19.5 seconds left in the second extra period.

Suns guard Steve Nash sank a wild shot from the arc to tie the game with 15.7 seconds left, setting up Ginobili's clutch shot.

Tony Parker scored 26 points before fouling out with 2:04 left in the second overtime for the Spurs, who will host game two on Tuesday.

Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire scored 33 points but scored just four points in overtime, fouling out at the end of the first extra period.

Finley's 3-pointer with 15.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter tied the score at 93-93 and sent the game to overtime, in which the Suns grabbed a quick lead.

Nash, who finished with 25 points and 13 assists, was instrumental in all 11 Suns points of the first overtime. He scored seven and had two assists to Stoudemire for easy layups.

But after Ginobili's drive collapsed the defense, Duncan found himself with an open 3-pointer, which he calmly sank with three seconds left in the first OT, knotting the score at 104-104.

In the second extra session, Nash had a chance to give the Suns a lead but missed one of his three free throws and the game was tied again.

Ginobili then drove down and scored over Shaquille O'Neal for a 112-110 lead, but O'Neal responded to tie the game again.

Early on, the Suns appeared headed for a runaway victory.

The Spurs didn't make a field goal until 5:04 left in the first quarter, their first eight points coming from the free-throw line.

Duncan's 20 points kept the Spurs afloat in the first half, which finished with the Suns leading 48-40.

Finley hit a three-pointer with just under four minutes to play that knotted the score at 84-84, and the Spurs seized their first lead of the game, 88-86, with 2:31 to play when Duncan found Kurt Thomas under the rim for a layup.

The Suns regained the lead only for Finley to hit another game-tying three-pointer and force overtime.

The game was one of three Western Conference contests on the schedule on the first day of the playoffs.

The New Orleans Hornets were hosting the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets hosted the Utah Jazz.

NBA owners vote to approve the SuperSonics' relocation

The messy split between Seattle and the SuperSonics lurched forward Friday when NBA owners approved relocating the team to Oklahoma City — a move legal wrangling might delay another two years.

"I'm giving this press conference in the face of a scorched earth policy," said NBA commissioner David Stern, who criticized civic leaders suing to force the team to stay until its lease expires in 2010.

He charged that their "strategy is to inflict as much harm on the Sonics in Seattle" to try to force a different outcome.

Owners voted 28-2 in favor of the move, with Dallas and Portland against it. The relocation carries a $30 million fee, and the Sonics could begin playing in owner Clay Bennett's hometown as early as next season.

All that is contingent on resolving the lawsuit filed by Seattle, which has rejected a $26 million settlement offer from Bennett.

Stern directed his ire at Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, who is helping with the suit.

"I think that Sen. Gorton and the mayor are determined to exact whatever pound of flesh is possible here, and they will," Stern said. "And then the team will leave at the end of whatever period of time the court says it is required to stay for, and that will be it, period."

Stern said the league is prepared to play out the remaining two seasons in Seattle, but he cautioned that would mean a possible loss of $30 million a year for a team playing in front of reduced attendance.

"Right now, there's no speedy resolution on the horizon," Stern said. "There's a contested trial, a pretty hot atmosphere."

With the move, the Sonics would be the first NBA team to change cities since the Hornets went from Charlotte to New Orleans for the 2002-03 season.

That would delight one city.

"The vote further confirms that Oklahoma is in the big leagues and can compete with anyone," Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry said in a statement.

But before the team can compete in Oklahoma City, it must settle the issue of the lease. Seattle's lawsuit is set for trial on June 16.

"Step one is I am hopeful that we can re-establish communications and some sort of platform to have a meaningful, principled conversation," Bennett said. "We are certainly nowhere near that today."

When asked during a news conference later Friday in Seattle if he was expecting a new, richer offer from Bennett, Nickels said, "I don't really care."

"We're going to go into court in June," Nickels said. "We are going to protect the interests of the people of Seattle."

Though Stern insisted it wasn't personal, he repeatedly criticized Seattle officials.

"The presentation from Washington is, 'We're going to kill you,'" Stern said.

When asked about "the shots you took today" from Stern and Bennett, Nickels said to consider the source.

"We're in litigation, and the other side has got to say what they think they have to say to punch holes in our case," he said. "I think it shows they have a pretty weak case. We are focused on June, on winning that litigation and keeping the team here."

Bennett defended his efforts to try to keep the franchise there. E-mails between Bennett and his ownership partners released recently as part of the city's lawsuit appeared to show they planned to move the team to their hometown all along.

Stern said the other owners never "questioned the good faith of Clay Bennett," and Bennett said his words had been misinterpreted. When he wrote, "I am a man possessed! Will do everything we can," he meant he was determined to find a way for the Sonics to remain in the city, Bennett contended. He cited at least 30 trips to Seattle and "millions of dollars" spent as evidence of his commitment.

"I also want to express my regret to the citizens of Seattle and the fans of the Sonics that I was unsuccessful in bringing forth a new building," he said. "We tried the best we knew how to try and did what we knew how to do and did the best job I could."

Stern warned Seattle isn't likely to land another NBA team anytime soon for the same reason the Sonics are leaving: the ongoing reluctance of state and local officials to help pay for a replacement for outdated KeyArena. Stern dismissed the idea that a group led by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would be able to find an arena solution and eventually purchase the team from Bennett to keep the Sonics in town.

Bennett is also facing a class-action lawsuit brought by season-ticket holders who say they were duped into buying tickets under the premise the Sonics wouldn't leave. And this week former team owner Howard Schultz announced plans to sue to get the team back, saying Bennett did not make a good-faith effort to secure a new arena deal as he promised when he bought the team in 2006.

Stern and Bennett said it had yet to be determined whether the franchise will carry the SuperSonics name, colors and history with it to Oklahoma City.

The rights to those could be a bargaining chip in Bennett's negotiations with the city, with Seattle possible retaining them for a future team. Stern suggested that calling the club Oklahoma, instead of Oklahoma City, might be desirable because it reflects the importance of other parts of the state such as Tulsa in the franchise's viability.

Of the two teams that voted against the move, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has previously expressed concerns about the market size, and it also happens that Oklahoma City is just 200 miles from Dallas. Stern said the Trail Blazers, owned by Seattle software billionaire Paul Allen, didn't say why they voted the way they did.

Stern played down the fact that Oklahoma City is a much smaller market than Seattle.

"The judgment was that the prospect of continued further losses in Seattle without an adequate arena really rendered that discussion with no good answer other than the movement of the team to Oklahoma at this point," Stern said.

___

AP Sports Writer Gregg Bell in Seattle and Associated Press writer Tim Talley in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

Bucks fire Larry Krystkowiak as coach

Larry Krystkowiak showed up at the Milwaukee Bucks' practice facility early Thursday morning, sweating through his T-shirt during a rigorous workout as Neil Young music blared in the background.

A few hours later, he was gone for good.

Krystkowiak might indeed have a heart of gold, as his choice of workout music would suggest. But as new Bucks general manager John Hammond attempts to make a championship contender out of an organization seemingly happy just to sneak into the playoffs every few years, that wasn't enough.

"The bottom line on this decision is that this is a results-driven league," Hammond said. "Sometimes it comes down to wins and losses. Once again, the man that Larry was and the effort he put forth had little to do with the decision."

The Bucks fired Krystkowiak a day after completing his first full season as an NBA head coach. The move didn't come as a surprise. It was widely assumed that Hammond would bring in his own coach after Bucks owner and U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl hired him to replace ousted general manager Larry Harris last week.

Kohl then signed off on Hammond's first major decision, and Krystkowiak was out.

Touted as a potential playoff contender going into the season, the Bucks finished a dismal 26-56 and were one of the league's worst defensive teams.

Hammond praised Krystkowiak's hard work and character, and was careful not to go into detail on the characteristics he would be looking for in a new coach because he didn't want it to be interpreted as an indictment of Krystkowiak's shortcomings.

But Hammond, who left his job as one of the Detroit Pistons' top basketball executives to take over in Milwaukee, made it clear that the Bucks have to get tougher.

"The Pistons, what are they known for right now? They're known for winning," Hammond said. "But you know what? It kind of started out as, 'Let's put a tough, competitive team out there.'"

Hammond has ties to several veteran coaches, including Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Alvin Gentry. Former Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles also could be considered for the job.

Hammond began his coaching search "immediately" and expected to move quickly.

"There's no reason not to react quickly," Hammond said. "That doesn't mean there's a timetable, but we're going to react as quickly as possible."

Hammond said the Bucks had potential, despite their record.

"We have some things to work with within this team," Hammond said. "I don't know how quickly we can get better, but we're going to get better."

Players cleaning out their lockers at Bucks headquarters before Thursday's announcement seemed to be working under the assumption that their coach wouldn't be back.

"It's just a situation that didn't work out," guard Michael Redd said. "I'm sure he tried his best, no doubt about it. We tried our best. It just didn't work out."

Center Andrew Bogut suggested a house-cleaning might be in order.

"I think the group of guys we have just need to work hard and be committed to the team and put team before 'I' and we'll be all right," Bogut said. "But if we come in looking for individual accolades again, and guys trying to be All-Stars and so on, it's not going to work out."

Forward Charlie Villanueva said Krystkowiak shouldn't take the fall.

"Put the blame on us," Villanueva said. "Coach K did the best he can do."

Clearly aware he might be fired, Krystkowiak said before Wednesday's season-ending overtime loss at Minnesota that facing the end of the season was difficult.

"Disappointment is one of the emotions that I am feeling," he said. "It's just kind of a culmination of a bunch of stuff. And I am an emotional guy. I would be lying if I said other things weren't creeping into my mind, too. You go through a lot of things."

Krystkowiak became a favorite of Kohl during his days as a player in Milwaukee, where he gained a reputation for gritty determination. He left his job as the University of Montana's head coach before the 2006-07 season to become an assistant under Terry Stotts and took over as head coach after Stotts was fired in March 2007.

But Krystkowiak's toughness never carried over to the present-day Bucks, who had plenty of players willing to take shots on offense but few reliable defenders.

Earlier this week, Krystkowiak said he wasn't always allowed to coach the team the way he wanted. But he declined to elaborate on what pressures Harris or others in the front office might have placed on him.

"When you're in the midst of it, it's not a whole lot of fun, and I know coming out the other end of this that I'm going to be stronger for it," Krystkowiak said. "But right now I'd be lying if I said it was enjoyable."

Spurs wrap up third seed with win over Jazz

The San Antonio Spurs wrapped up the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs in dominant fashion, routing the Utah Jazz 109-80 on Wednesday night.

The Spurs will face the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round. The Jazz will take on the Houston Rockets.

The Spurs' win, coupled with Houston's victory earlier Wednesday evening, firmed up seeds 3-6 in the West, which were still up in the air on the last day of the regular season.

Houston gets the fifth seed but will have home-court advantage against the No. 4-seeded Jazz, who secured that spot because they won the Northwest Division.

While the Jazz were guaranteed either the third or fourth seed no matter what happened Wednesday, the Spurs had the potential to drop as low as sixth.

Tony Parker had 24 points and 12 assists for San Antonio in the easy win. Tim Duncan added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and four other Spurs scored in double digits.

C.J. Miles led the Jazz with 12 points. Mehmet Okur scored 11 and Carlos Boozer had 10 rebounds.

The San Antonio-Phoenix matchup could be the best of the first round. The two met in the second round last season and the Spurs eliminated the Suns in six games on their way to their fourth title in nine seasons. But with the Eastern Conference weaker last year, many considered the Spurs-Suns series as on par with a finals matchup.

It certainly lived up to expectations by featuring plenty of bumps and bruises, controversial fouls and harsh words between the teams.

But the usually fast-moving, high-scoring Suns are a different team this postseason. They acquired Shaquille O'Neal in a blockbuster trade and have been melding him into their system to give the team a defensive boost.

Phoenix won the season series against San Antonio 3-1, including a 96-79 rout April 9 in San Antonio.

The Rockets are playing without Yao Ming, but had one of the season's headlines as they went on a 22-game winning streak.

But now the Rockets will also be without Rafer Alston, who strained his right hamstring against Denver on Sunday. Alston said he would likely miss Houston's first two playoff games.

Utah won the season series against Houston 2-1. The Jazz eliminated the Rockets last year in a first-round series that went seven games.

The Spurs put away the game early with their first-half play on Wednesday. They shot 72 percent from the field in the opening two quarters and scored one more point than they did in the entire game against Utah less than two weeks ago, when the Jazz routed them 90-64 in Salt Lake City.

San Antonio outscored the Jazz 35-18 in the second quarter and went up by 28 points on Manu Ginobili's reverse layup with 41 seconds left in the period. They were up 65-19 at the break.

In a sign of how important the game was, Ginobili played after sitting out three games with a strained left groin. The super-sub leads the team in scoring. Ginobili finished with 12 points.

Utah guard Deron Williams, who shot 2-of-6 from the field in the first half, didn't play in the second half. He bruised his tailbone Saturday against Denver.

As the Spurs built their lead to as many as 29 in the third, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich started taking out his starters. First Michael Finley, then Duncan, then Parker. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan did the same.

The Spurs were up 85-60 with one quarter to play.

Both Popovich and Sloan rested their stars during the fourth quarter.

Notes:@ The Jazz last won in San Antonio on Feb. 29, 1999. ... Okur was called for a flagrant foul 1 with 8:27 to play in the third quarter after he whacked Spurs starting C Fabricio Oberto in the face. Oberto was touching his eye after the hit and went to the bench after missing both free throws. He returned in the fourth quarter. ... Spurs G Brent Barry played in his second game after re-signing with the Spurs in March following a February trade sent him from San Antonio to Seattle. Barry had a strained left calf muscle that had sidelined him since late January. ... The Spurs shot a season-high 59 percent (41-of-69) from the field Wednesday.

NBA Nuggets star Anthony makes apology for arrest

National Basketball Association star Carmelo Anthony, who was booked on alleged drink driving Monday, apologized for his arrest on Tuesday.

The Denver Nuggets forward was arrested just hours after Denver's 111-94 playoff victory over Houston on Sunday.

Denver has been in the process of trying to lock up the eighth and final playoff spot for the Western Conference.

"I want to apologize to my family, fans and the Denver Nuggets organization for my actions early Monday morning," he said.

"I regret putting myself in this situation. I also want to apologize to my teammates for the distraction this has caused."

There was some speculation about whether Anthony received special treatment because the police offered to drive him home after his release.

Anthony's fiancee LaLa Vazquez also denied reports that she refused to go to the police station to get him.

"I never refused to pick him up from the police station. In fact, they offered to bring him to me," Vazquez said Tuesday.

This is not the first time Anthony has been in trouble with authorities.

In December 2006, Anthony was slapped with the six-longest suspension in NBA history (15 games) after he sucker punched New York Knicks Mardy Collins during a fight between the Nuggets and the Knicks. Jared Jefferies then chased Anthony across the court.

Despite the distraction of its second-leading scorer, the Nuggets (49-32) were able to clinch that spot in the playoffs without even having to take the court on Monday, as Golden State' loss at Phoenix eliminated the Warriors from the postseason.

Denver police said Anthony was pulled over and taken into custody for alleged drink driving early Monday morning. Investigators said he was driving a silver Mercedes that was weaving between lanes.

Anthony was released on bail Monday and given a summons to appear in court May 14.

"I want to thank everyone who has continued to support me during this difficult time," Anthony said. "My lawyers have asked that I not comment further, however I will continue to cooperate with all parties involved."

Parker lifts Spurs past Kings, 101-98

Tony Parker tied his season high with 32 points and added 11 assists as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings 101-98 on Monday night.

The victory, coupled with Houston's loss to Utah, put the Spurs in position to clinch third place in the conference for a second straight season. A year ago, they defeated Cleveland in the NBA finals.

Trailing by four points in the closing minute, John Salmons scored inside and was hacked by Tim Duncan, who fouled out. Salmons made the free throw, pulling the Kings to 99-98 with 14.3 seconds left.

Then Michael Finley made two free throws with 11.8 seconds left. Looking to send the game into overtime, both Francisco Garcia and Quincy Douby missed 3-point attempts and San Antonio held on.

Playing only 24 minutes due to foul trouble, Duncan had 17 points for the Spurs. Finley scored 19 points and Fabricio Oberto had 17.

Salmons led the Kings with 29 points, Spencer Hawes had 17, Beno Udrih scored 16 and Garcia added 15.

Trailing since late in the second quarter, the Kings ran off 11 straight points for a 93-87 lead with 6:04 remaining. It was Douby, a backup, who provided the spark, making a jumper, a 3-point basket and finding Garcia open for a fastbreak dunk.

San Antonio, which has won 50 or more games the past nine years, has the current longest playoff streak with 11 straight appearances. The Spurs will be trying to win their fifth NBA championship in 10 seasons.

Despite the victory, it has not been a smooth couple of weeks for the Spurs, who lost games by margins of 17, 21 and 26 points.

Coach Gregg Popovich went to his bench frequently, starting in the opening quarter when four reserves were on the court within the game's opening 8 minutes. The Spurs' leading scorer, Manu Ginobili, missed his third straight game with a strained left groin.

The Kings played without injured Kevin Martin and Ron Artest, their two leading scorers. Starting center Brad Miller also did not play.

Duncan made all five shots in the first quarter, when the Spurs shot 74 percent and led 36-26. Duncan scored 14 points and Oberto had 13 for the Spurs, who led 56-51 at the half. Salmons scored 16 points for the Kings through two quarters.

Notes: Louisville coach Rick Pitino was sitting courtside. Kings coach Reggie Theus was an assistant under Pitino for two years and Garcia played three seasons with the Cardinals. Martin has been awarded the Kings' Oscar Robertson Triple-Double Award, which judges players for their achievements on and off the court. Traded to Seattle in February and promptly waived, Brent Barry played his first game with the Spurs since being signed on March 24. Barry has been sidelined with injuries throughout the season and has played only 30 games. He played 4 minutes in the second quarter, missed three 3-point attempts and was scoreless. ... The Kings, who have made a habit of beating playoff-bound teams over the past month, finish the season Tuesday night at the Lakers.

Cavaliers hold off Heat 84-76

Daniel Gibson made a 3-pointer and three straight free throws early in the fourth quarter to give Cleveland some cushion while LeBron James rested, and the Cavaliers moved closer to the East's No. 4 seed with an 84-76 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday night.

Delonte West scored 18 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 and 14 rebounds and James finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Cavaliers, who didn't play well again but had enough to hold off the pathetic Heat.

Cleveland only led by two after three quarters and didn't pull comfortably ahead until there was less than five minutes to go. The Cavs swept the season series from Miami for the first time since 1989-90.

Cleveland, which is only 13-12 since a major trade in February, needs to win one of its final two games — at Philadelphia on Monday or home against Detroit on Wednesday — to secure the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs against Washington. The Wizards have clinched at least the No. 5 seed.

Ricky Davis scored 17 points and Daequan Cook and Earl Barron had 13 apiece for Miami (14-66), whose dismal season is nearly over.

Down 59-57 after three, the Cavs outscored the Heat 12-2 — with James was on the bench — in the first 4:45 of the fourth to open a 69-61 lead.

Gibson, who has struggled to find his shot since returning from an ankle injury, triggered the run with a 3 that he posed to admire long after it passed through the net. On Cleveland's next trip, he was fouled by Jayson Williams while attempting a 3 and made all three free throws to put the Cavs ahead 65-60.

Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao scored to cap the run, and by the time James checked in with 5:18 remaining, Cleveland had an eight-point lead.

The Cavaliers have been out of step for weeks, and the losses, injuries and inconsistency has led to some frustration.

After Varejao fumbled away an inside pass in the third quarter from James, Cleveland's All-Star forward yelled at his frizzy-haired teammate, who didn't take the criticism well. As James took a seat on the bench for a timeout, Varejao walked over and the two exchanged words.

But later in the fourth, Varejao and James seemed to have made up.

The Cavaliers played most of the second half without Wally Szczerbiak and Ben Wallace, two of the players acquired in an 11-player deal at the trading deadline. Szczerbiak went 0-for-3 in 10 minutes and Wallace had two points in 20.

After a deplorable loss at Chicago on Friday, when the Cavaliers were outhustled and embarrassed, coach Mike Brown was counting on more focus and defensive intensity from his squad. It came in spurts during the first half as Cleveland built a seven-point lead before allowing the Heat to get within 40-38 at halftime.

Notes:@ Cleveland will face Washington in the first round for the third straight year, whether they finish fourth or fifth. The teams have been on a collision course for weeks, and their rivalry has been fueled by some recent trash talk. In a blog last week, Gilbert Arenas said, "I think everybody wants Cleveland in that first round." Earlier, Wizards F DeShawn Stevenson called James "overrated." James was asked if the comment added to the rivalry. "Absolutely," he said. "That's the last thing I'm going to say about that." ... Patriots WR Randy Moss sat behind Cleveland's bench. ... Heat coach Pat Riley hasn't had much to praise this Miami, but he's proud of F Ricky Davis, on target to play in all 82 games. "I give him a lot of kudos," Riley said. "He's been playing hurt. There's a lot of players today who don't play hurt."

Lakers, Hornets tied for West's top seed

Ron Artest returned from a thumb injury to hit four clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and the Sacramento Kings dealt a big blow to New Orleans' hopes for the top seed in the Western Conference with a 94-91 victory over the Hornets on Saturday night.

The loss dropped the Hornets (55-25) into a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the top spot in the West with only two games remaining. The Lakers control the tiebreaker with New Orleans based on a better conference record.

By losing back-to-back games to the Lakers and Kings, the Hornets are also in trouble in the Southwest Division. They lead San Antonio and Houston by only a half-game, meaning they could go from fighting for home-court throughout the Western Conference playoffs to opening on the road when the postseason begins next weekend.

If that does happen, New Orleans can blame a loss to the short-handed Kings. Sacramento was without leading scorer Kevin Martin (right knee) and center Brad Miller (leg and elbow injuries). But Artest returned after missing three of four games with a sprained right thumb and hit all the key shots on the way to a 22-point night.

His back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth gave the Kings the lead for good. He put Sacramento up by seven with another long-range shot with 2:55 remaining, then nailed an off-balance 3 from the corner that made it 91-85 with 51 seconds to go.

New Orleans stayed in it, getting three free throws by Morris Peterson to cut it to four with 23 seconds left after a bad foul by Francisco Garcia. After a 5-second violation by Sacramento on the inbound pass, Peja Stojakovic hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to make it 92-91.

John Salmons hit two free throws to make it a three-point game and Stojakovic missed a 3-pointer from straightaway that would have tied it.

Salmons added 18 points and 11 rebounds and Garcia also had 16 points for the Kings, who will play a key role in the race for the top seed because they finish the season with games against San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers next week.

David West led New Orleans with 30 points and 15 rebounds, and Stojakovic added 18 points. But All-Star point guard Chris Paul had another rough shooting night, finishing with 14 points on 4-for-13 shooting. Paul did have 12 assists, but is shooting just 16-for-48 the last four games.

New Orleans went on a 15-2 run in the third quarter that was helped out by poor foul shooting by the Kings. Spencer Hawes missed a pair, including an airball on his second attempt, and Salmons also missed two free throws as the Hornets built an eight-point lead.

New Orleans got its first basket of the game from Paul during the spurt, a driving layup that turned into a three-point play. Peterson also hit his first bucket of the game, a 3-pointer.

But Sacramento moved back into the lead early in the fourth on back-to-back 3-pointers by Artest. That sparked a 10-0 run that made it 80-75 and was capped by a basket from Garcia, who also blocked two shots in the stretch.

Notes:@ After allowing a season-worst 140 points in a loss at Golden State on Tuesday, Sacramento has given up just 177 in wins over Portland and New Orleans the past two nights. ... The Hornets are 14-3 in the second game of back-to-backs.

Salmons helps Kings beat Trail Blazers

John Salmons scored 18 points in the second half to lead the Sacramento Kings over the Portland Trail Blazers 103-86 on Friday night.

Playing without starters Ron Artest and Brad Miller — out with injuries — the Kings still coasted to a victory. Salmons, who started in place of Artest, also added six rebounds, four assists and two steals. He did not score, and had just one rebound, in the first half.

Kevin Martin, the Kings' leading scorer, strained his right knee in the third quarter and didn't play in the fourth. He finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Francisco Garcia scored 16 points, Spencer Hawes had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Beno Udrih had 11 points for the Kings, who are now 25-14 at home this season.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Portland, who only led in the game's opening minutes. Travis Outlaw scored 18 points, Channing Frye had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Brandon Roy had 12 points.

Playing long stretches of zone defense, the Kings had one of their most successful defensive efforts in the second half of a season in which they regularly allowed 100 or more points. Despite scoring a season-high point total Tuesday at Golden State, the Kings still lost 140-132.

Slumping Portland lost for the sixth time in seven games. The Blazers (39-40), who fell below the .500 mark for only the second time since Dec. 14, have not had a winning season in five years.

Artest sat on the Kings bench in street clothes, inactive for the third time in four games with a sprained thumb.

After not attempting a shot in the first half, Salmons became aggressive in the third quarter, converting on several drives to the basket and scoring 10 points for the Kings, who led 78-62 heading into the fourth.

The Kings led by as many as 20 points in the fist half but took a 51-41 lead into the break.

Notes:@ In honor of Miller, who had surgery on his right elbow earlier in the day, several of the Kings wore headbands and so did many of the Kings' game operations personnel sitting courtside. Miller attended the game in street clothes. Roy, Portland's leading scorer, did not attempt a shot in the first half. He made a short jumper in the opening minute of the third quarter for his first two points. Martell Webster remained in Portland, missing his fourth straight game due to an irregular heartbeat. The Kings face New Orleans on Saturday at home, part of a closing stretch that has them playing four games in five nights.

(This version CORRECTS Kings 103, Trail Blazers 86. Subs 5th graf to RESTORE dropped 'La' from LaMarcus; 7th graf to correct to five years sted four)

Mavs top Jazz to clinch playoff spot

Dirk Nowitzki swished a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left, breaking a tie and giving the Dallas Mavericks a 97-94 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night that also clinched a playoff berth.

Dallas got in on the combination of the victory and Golden State losing to Denver. With three games left, the Mavericks have a two-game edge on the Nuggets for the No. 7 seed.

Nowitzki scored 32 points for the second time in five games since returning from knee and ankle injuries. The victory wasn't sealed until Deron Williams, who banked in a tying 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left, missed a long 3 with Nowitzki flying at him.

The Mavs have reached 50 wins and made the playoffs for eight straight seasons.

As recently as two weeks ago, fans weren't sure Dallas was going to make it — the team was struggling after trading for Jason Kidd in February, then Nowitzki went down.

But now the Mavericks are rolling. They won in Phoenix on Sunday and they answered every challenge from Utah this time. Both were the kind of tight games against good teams that Dallas was losing just a few weeks ago.

The Mavs led by 14 early on, but neither team led by more than five over the last 15 minutes of this game. There were 14 lead changes and seven ties in that span, and Dallas played nearly all of it without Josh Howard, who was lost to a bruised right knee early in the third quarter.

So Nowitzki and Jason Terry took over.

Terry scored all 21 of his points in the second half, with 13 coming in the final period. Nowitzki scored 12 in the fourth. For the game, he was 12-of-23, including 4-of-5 on 3s.

Kidd scored Dallas' first seven points but didn't score again. He still contributed seven assists and six rebounds.

Memhet Okur had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Utah, which had won four in a row and seven of eight. The Jazz clinched a division title in their previous game, and are only playing for seeding now. The Jazz will be no worse than fourth.

Williams had 18 points and 12 assists. He was 7-of-16 after going 6-of-24 in his previous two games. Andrei Kirilenko had 15 points and Carlos Boozer only 10 points and five rebounds.

This was the first time the teams met since an early March game in Utah when Nowitzki hit Kirilenko, sending the Russian to the hospital and earning a one-game suspension for the German. There were no hard feelings, though, with Kirilenko the first person Nowitzki slapped hands with and hugged at midcourt before tipoff.

Notes:@ Dallas tied the season series 2-2. ... Jones had some wardrobe malfunctions in the first quarter. Checking in for the first time, he peeled off his jacket and his jersey came with it, leaving him in a tank-top undershirt. As the crowd murmured, the public-address announcer said, "Everybody stay calm." But the Mavs were hit with a delay-of-game warning. Ref Steve Javie was laughing as it was announced. Then on Jones' first play, he fell out of bounds and his left shoe popped off. ... Johnson said Jerry Stackhouse (groin) might play 10 minutes Sunday in Seattle, but probably won't play until the season finale Wednesday at home against New Orleans.

Rockets beat Sonics without T-Mac

Rafer Alston scored 18 points and Luis Scola added 13 points and 12 rebounds as the Houston Rockets, playing without Tracy McGrady, easily beat the Seattle SuperSonics 103-80 on Wednesday night.

McGrady sat out with a sore left shoulder that's bothered him for more than a week, but the Rockets didn't miss him against the Sonics, who've lost 11 straight road games and 18 of their last 20 games overall.

Luther Head started for McGrady and scored 16 and Steve Novak added a career-high 17 points off the bench as Houston held Seattle to 36 percent shooting (32 of 88) to keep pace with first-place New Orleans in the tightly packed Western Conference playoff race.

Former Texas star Kevin Durant scored 26, Nick Collison grabbed 15 rebounds and Earl Watson added 16 points and eight assists for the Sonics, who've lost seven straight meetings with Houston.

The Rockets had lost 12 of the previous 13 games they played without both McGrady and Yao Ming in the starting lineup since the two became teammates before the 2004-05 season. Yao has been out since late February with a broken foot, but Houston was playing its first game this season without either All-Star.

It didn't matter.

The Rockets shot 53 percent (39 of 74) and outrebounded Seattle 47-35 to win for the 33rd time in their last 39 games. Houston has won 20 of its last 22 home games.

Novak sank a career-high five 3-pointers and Scola recorded his eighth double-double of the season.

Head scored eight of Houston's 11 points and the Rockets built an early nine-point lead. The Sonics missed 13 of their first 18 shots and trailed 19-10 after Alston's second 3-pointer.

The Sonics finished the quarter with a 16-2 run, capped by Damien Wilkins' banked-in 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left. But Seattle went cold again in the second quarter and Novak swished two 3-pointers during a 15-2 spurt that put Houston up 36-28.

The Rockets led 46-37 at the break, holding Seattle to 32 percent shooting (16 of 50) for the half. Durant had 13 in the half, but was only 6-for-17 from the field.

Scola had a dunk and two layups during Houston's 14-0 run in the third quarter. He passed to Alston cutting down the lane for another layup that put the Rockets up 65-44 with 6:02 remaining in the quarter.

Scola had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in the quarter and Houston led 75-59 heading to the fourth. Novak sank another 3-pointer 2 minutes into the final quarter as the lead swelled back to 20.

Rockets coach Rick Adelman used all reserves the rest of the way as Houston reached its highest win total (53) since the 1996-97 team finished the regular season 57-25.

Notes:@ Seattle G Luke Ridnour bruised his left calf late in the second quarter trying to defend Carl Landry. He came out for the second half with a wrap around the injury and returned with 1:19 left in the third quarter. ... Rockets F Shane Battier bruised his left foot with 45 seconds left in the first quarter and sat out the rest of the half. He started the second half, played 7 minutes, then came out for good late in the third quarter. ... The Rockets are 49-4 when they lead after three quarters.

Nuggets rout Clippers 117-99

Carmelo Anthony scored 36 points, Allen Iverson added 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets routed the Los Angeles Clippers 117-99 Tuesday night to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race.

Linus Kleiza added 15 points, Marcus Camby had 13 points and 18 rebounds, and J.R. Smith scored 10 points for the Nuggets (47-31), who snapped a two-game losing streak to teams already out of postseason contention and picked up momentum for Thursday night's game at Golden State.

The Nuggets and Warriors remained tied for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth after Golden State's 140-132 victory over Sacramento.

Anthony, the NBA's fourth-leading scorer, shot 13-of-17 and 9-of-12 from the foul line in 33 minutes, giving him 121 points in his last three games. He left with 5:14 remaining and the Nuggets comfortably ahead.

The Nuggets shot 51 percent and outrebounded the Clippers 53-40.

Cuttino Mobley led the Clippers (23-54) with 25 points. Elton Brand, playing his fourth game after missing the season's first 74 while recovering from surgery on his torn left Achilles' tendon, added 17 and Quinton Ross scored 10.

The Clippers played without starters Chris Kaman (sprained right ankle) and Corey Maggette (strained right hamstring). Tim Thomas returned after missing five games with a sore Achilles' tendon and had seven points and five rebounds.

Denver's Nene missed his second straight game due to a strained right groin.

Two baskets by Anthony and a three-point play by Iverson gave the Nuggets a 79-55 lead midway through the third quarter. The Clippers scored the last seven points of the period to trim Denver's lead to 91-74, but that was as close as they would get.

Iverson scored nine points during a 16-5 run that gave the Nuggets a 44-36 lead, and they were on top the rest of the way. The Clippers drew within three before Denver used a 17-4 spurt to finish the second quarter for a 63-47 halftime lead.

Anthony needed only 10 minutes to reach double figures, making it a franchise-record 203 straight games that he's accomplished that feat. Anthony scored 13 points in the first quarter, which ended with the teams tied 23-all. He shot 6-of-8 in the period while his teammates went 4-of-15.

Notes:@ The Nuggets won three of four against the Clippers this season to win the season series for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. ... After playing at Golden State, the Nuggets finish the season with a road game against Utah and home games against Houston and Memphis. ... The Clippers finish with a home game against the Lakers on Thursday night and road games against Golden State, New Orleans and Houston. ... Denver's 16-23 road record is the worst among Western Conference playoff contenders. ... The Clippers have a 3-19 record when Kaman has had to sit out. ... The Nuggets entered as the NBA's scoring leader with a 110.6-point average, but were next-to-last in defense, allowing 107.0 points per game. They had allowed their previous 13 opponents to score at least 100 points. ... The Clippers entered with a 93.9-point scoring average to rank next-to-last in that category.

LeBron will rest back during stretch run

While his teammates practiced their free throws, LeBron James worked on a trick shot where he stands under the basket and heaves a ball off a nearby wall, trying to ricochet it back through the hoop. He hasn't made one yet.

"I'm working on it," he said.

He's got time to.

James was held out of Cleveland's practice on Monday to rest his back, which has been tightening up and bothering the Cavaliers' All-Star forward for the past few weeks. His back spasms got so severe during a recent game against Chicago that James was unable to sit in a chair during timeouts.

James' injury — the latest back issue for a Cleveland player — has worsened at an inopportune time for the Cavs, who are still trying to lock down the No. 4 seed in the NBA playoffs and home-court advantage in the first round. With five games remaining, Cleveland, which has dropped five of seven, enters the week with a two-game lead over Washington and a three-game cushion over Philadelphia for the fourth spot.

The Cavaliers, who don't play again until Wednesday against New Jersey, are hoping the rest will help James for the stretch run.

As coach Mike Brown put his team through a workout, James received treatment on his back. Later, though, he came out on the floor and practiced a few shots.

"I told him just to watch TV," Brown said, looking in the direction of his superstar.

James was asked if back spasms were his only problem.

"That," he said, "and tightness and some stuff that shouldn't be going on right now."

Although it had been troubling him for a few weeks, James didn't reveal the extent of his injury until following last Thursday's home loss to the Bulls. The Cavaliers blew a 17-point lead in the second half, and with James unable to slash to the basket the way he can when healthy, Cleveland couldn't come back. James, who leads the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring, missed all five field-goal tries in the final period.

Then, in another loss on Saturday against Orlando, he didn't drive to the basket in the fourth quarter and said afterward that his back was locking up again.

James doesn't want to miss any games and is counting on the rest to get him up to speed.

"One day helps," he said. "But it's something where you need a little more than one day."

Bad backs have been an ongoing problem for the defending Eastern Conference champions. Centers Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace have both missed time due to back trouble this season.

Those injuries combined with contract holdouts by Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic as well as a colossal trade that hasn't exactly fixed things for Cleveland, has made it seem like this season wasn't meant to be for the Cavs.

"I know every team has injuries, but no team has had the injuries that we've had this year," James said. "We don't want to be an excuse team, because we've never been that."

James feels it's important for the Cavaliers to finish strong. There's still enough time for them to get on a roll before the playoffs.

" We can play better basketball," he said. "We have to. We need some kind of momentum going into the postseason. Last year, we won four straight games that we needed to win going into the postseason. You have to have some kind of confidence going into the postseason."

On a far lighter note, James laughed when he was asked if he got a toaster for good friend, rap mogul Jay-Z, who reportedly married pop superstar Beyonce last week.

"No," James said. "I'll wait until I see him in person and then I'll give him what I got for him."

As James left the floor at the Cavs' training facility, a production crew hauled in cameras and other gear to film a commercial with him.

In such a fragile state, it's safe to assume his body double was needed more than ever.

Kobe leads Lakers past Kings

Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Vladimir Radmanovic matched his season high with 21 and the Los Angeles Lakers stayed on track for the Pacific Division title with a 114-92 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.

Radmanovic hit five 3-pointers and tied his career high with 14 rebounds, while Pau Gasol added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who won their fourth straight. They snapped their longtime rivals' four-game winning streak with an outstanding second half, including a 23-9 run in the third quarter led by three of Bryant's four 3-pointers.

Although the Lakers still trail New Orleans by 1 1/2 games for the Western Conference lead, the win pushed Los Angeles (53-24) — which has the same record as San Antonio — two games ahead of Phoenix (51-26) in the Pacific standings with five games to play. The Lakers have 18 division titles, but none since 2004, Shaquille O'Neal's last season with the club.

Kevin Martin scored 22 points for the Kings, who simply seemed exhausted after winning at Denver one night earlier. Bryant led Los Angeles to a big lead in the third quarter, and Lamar Odom had 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the Lakers' fourth consecutive win in Sacramento.

Bryant, who scored 17 points in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' win in Sacramento last month, didn't even wait that long in the rematch. He got rolling with 14 points in the first 6:02 after halftime, hitting a series of long shots that drew cheers from the thousands of Lakers fans who infiltrated Arco Arena to start "MVP!" chants.

Radmanovic added eight points in the third, including two 3-pointers. Bryant hit one last 3-pointer with 2:45 to play, putting the Lakers up 110-88 — and Kobe then waved goodbye to the Sacramento crowd as he ran back downcourt.

The Kings were brought down off their high from upsetting the Nuggets on Saturday night despite playing without injured starters Ron Artest, Brad Miller and Beno Udrih. Artest returned but struggled to 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting against the Lakers, while Miller missed his second straight game with a lower leg strain.

Los Angeles played without forward Luke Walton, who couldn't play after straining his right hamstring in Wednesday's win over Portland. Gasol and Derek Fisher both started for Los Angeles despite injuries.

Sacramento must win its final five games to finish at .500, but the Kings already have improved on last season's win total in coach Reggie Theus' debut year. Before the game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Sacramento is much better than it was earlier in the season, citing Martin's development into the NBA's sixth-leading scorer as the biggest reason.

Notes:@ Barry Bonds sat courtside with Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, waving his black baseball cap to the crowd during the first timeout, and he waved again to another ovation as he left early in the fourth quarter. The San Francisco Giants open their home schedule Monday without Bonds, who lives in Beverly Hills. ... The rivals finish the regular season against each other at Staples Center on April 15. ... Sacramento's Francisco Garcia sprained his right ankle in the third quarter and didn't return to the game. ... C Andrew Bynum is taking Los Angeles' two-game road trip to Sacramento and Portland, but he won't play until the postseason. A left knee injury has kept him out since Jan. 13.

Haywood's career-high 25 lead Wizards

Brendan Haywood scored a career-high 25 points, Caron Butler added 18 and the short-handed Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 99-87 on Saturday night.

Antawn Jamison missed his second straight game with a sprained right shoulder and Gilbert Arenas rested his surgically repaired left knee for precautionary reasons, but Haywood and Butler picked up the slack.

And Washington all but wiped out the Bulls after clinching its fourth straight playoff berth with a win over Miami the previous night.

As for Chicago?

One more loss, or win by Atlanta, and the Bulls can officially start hoping for some lottery luck.

With Atlanta beating Philadelphia, the 11th-place Bulls fell 5 1/2 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Chicago could squeeze in on a tiebreaker if it wins its final six games and the Hawks lose their remaining five, but the Bulls also have to jump over Indiana and New Jersey — an unlikely task for a team that has stumbled over itself all season.

Haywood, whose previous career high was 23 points against Detroit on Nov. 29, 2003, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots. Butler added eight boards for Washington, which owned a 53-28 edge on the glass.

The Wizards again dominated the third quarter against Chicago.

This time, they outscored the Bulls 34-21 to turn a one-point deficit into a 76-64 advantage. With a 66-63 lead, they scored 10 straight late in the quarter and never looked back.

It wasn't quite as drastic as the 22-1 run they hit the Bulls with on the way to a 97-91 win at the United Center on Feb. 29, a meltdown that left Chicago interim coach Jim Boylan apologizing to the city.

The Bulls got 18 points from Ben Gordon and 16 from Larry Hughes, but it wasn't enough to beat a team that was missing two of its best players.

Jamison, averaging a team-leading 21.5 points and 10.2 rebounds, was injured late in Wednesday's loss to Milwaukee. He missed his first game of the season on Friday when the Wizards beat Miami to clinch their fourth consecutive playoff berth.

Arenas, who had surgery on his left knee, caused a stir when he returned on Wednesday after missing 66 games. That surprised many, although the Wizards insisted his return was expected. He played about 20 minutes that night and another 20 against Miami on Friday, but Washington opted not to use him on consecutive nights.

"The training staff looked at him," said assistant coach Mike O'Koren, who addressed reporters before the game instead of ailing coach Eddie Jordan. "They're going to be real, real delicate with Gilbert. He's coming back from injury. He looked fine. He obviously is in great shape, great condition for being out that long. It's precautionary."

Notes:@ O'Koren said Arenas will practice on Monday and Tuesday, before Wednesday's game against Boston. ... Jordan, who's been bothered lately by a sinus infection, coached the team. ... Bulls F Drew Gooden missed his fourth game with a lower abdominal strain, and Boylan does not expect him to play when the Bulls visit Miami on Tuesday.

Hornets beat Knicks; clinch playoff spot

Chris Paul had 33 points and 15 assists, and the New Orleans Hornets became the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff berth by beating the New York Knicks 118-110 on Friday night.

Jamal Crawford had 29 points for the Knicks, who have lost 17 of 19 but stayed competitive into the fourth quarter. The Hornets trailed 95-91 with 10:20 left before putting away the game with a 26-9 run, getting 12 points from Peja Stojakovic during that spurt.

Stojakovic finished with 22 points and David West added 17 for the Hornets, who won their 10th in a row at home. They were coming off a season-high, six-game road trip in which they went 5-1.

New Orleans (53-22), which never has been better than a No. 4 seed in the playoffs, increased its lead on the top of the West to 1 1/2 games over the San Antonio Spurs, who lost to Utah.

New York (20-56) finished an 0-5 road trip. The Knicks played well for 3 1/2 quarters but could not sustain that effort down the stretch as embattled coach Isiah Thomas missed an opportunity to impress new president of basketball operations Donnie Walsh.

Paul and Stojakovic took over after the Hornets fell behind in the fourth quarter. Paul came up with a steal and an assist to Bonzi Wells for a transition layup to give New Orleans the lead for good, 97-95. Seconds later, Paul had an easy basket after another Knicks turnover.

New York called a timeout and cut the deficit to 99-98, but Stojakovic drained two 3-pointers to give the Hornets a 107-100 lead with 5:56 left. Paul then hit five straight free throws as New Orleans built its advantage to 117-104.

Reserve Nate Robinson scored 23 points for New York and Zach Randolph added 22, 11 in the first quarter. The Knicks lost despite shooting 55 percent. They led 48-40 midway through the second quarter, before Paul scored 13 points in the last 5:15 of the half to put the Hornets ahead 60-56.

The Hornets trailed 48-40 before Paul scored 13 points in the last six minutes of the second quarter to give them a 60-56 lead at the half. He hit six of his eight shots in the first half and added six assists.

Zach Randolph followed an 11-point first quarter with more turnovers (three) than points (two) in the second quarter for the Knicks, who went cold after connecting on 19 of their first 31 shots (61.3 percent).

The Hornets hit 57.1 percent of their shots in the first quarter, a number that would have been even higher if Stojakovic had not missed five of his first seven.

McGrady has 35 in Houston's win

Tracy McGrady scored 26 of his 35 points in the second half, and the Houston Rockets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 95-88 Thursday night.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Houston. The Rockets, once atop the Western Conference with a 22-game winning streak, are currently in fifth place with the Phoenix Suns.

The Rockets have won five straight against the Blazers, including four in a row this season. No other team has beat Portland four times this season.

Rookie Aaron Brooks' 3-pointer with 3:06 left made it 91-78 for Houston and all but sealed the victory, as fans started streaming out of the Rose Garden.

Brooks had 12 points for Houston. Bobby Jackson, Dikembe Mutombo and Luther Head each had 11 apiece.

The Blazers have lost four straight, and were officially eliminated from the playoffs with a 104-91 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.

Portland has been without All-Star guard Brandon Roy over that stretch because of a groin injury.

Roy has improved, and could return for Sunday's game against San Antonio, although coach Nate McMillan said he remains day to day.

The Blazers were also without forward Martell Webster, who was hospitalized Thursday because of flulike symptoms and dizziness. Further details weren't immediately available.

Webster, averaging 10.7 points and 3.9 rebounds, leads the team with 123 3-pointers.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 23 points, and Jarrett Jack added 19 for the Blazers.

Houston took a 36-28 lead on Shane Battier's 3-pointer and extended it to 50-34 on Luther Head's layup. The Rockets led 52-43 at the break.

The Rockets hit seven 3-pointers in the first half. Battier made all three of his attempts.

Mutombo had 10 of his points in the first half.

The Blazers closed to 52-50 early in the third quarter on Steve Blake's jumper. Houston held the Blazers off until Jack's layup and free throw midway through put Portland ahead 59-58.

Trailing 63-61, Houston went on an 13-0 run to take a 74-63 lead going into the fourth quarter. McGrady had 14 points in the third quarter alone.

Despite being eliminated from the postseason, Portland is still playing to finish with a winning record. The Blazers (38-38) need to win four of the final six games.

Notes:@ Brooks played for the University of Oregon. ... Loyola Marymount is expected to name Blazers assistant coach Bill Bayno as its new head coach on Friday, said a person with knowledge of the move. The hiring, first reported by the Los Angeles Times on its Web site, was confirmed to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school had not made a formal announcement. Bayno, who was head coach at UNLV from 1995-2000, has been with the Trail Blazers for two seasons.

Garnett leads Boston to 92-77 win

Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics tied the NBA record for the best single-season turnaround with a 92-77 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

With the league's best record at 60-15, the Celtics have 36 more wins than last season when they finished 24-58, the NBA's second worst mark. The only other team to improve by that much was the San Antonio Spurs, who went from 20-62 in 1996-97 to 56-26 the next season, Tim Duncan's first.

The Celtics added Garnett in the offseason and have won 60 games for the first time in 22 years. They were 67-15 in 1985-86, when they won the most recent of their 16 NBA championships. That was their sixth 60-win season in a seven-season stretch.

Boston won its fifth straight and increased its Eastern Conference lead to 6 1/2 games over Detroit, which was idle. The Celtics lowered their magic number for clinching the No. 1 seed to two.

Indiana dropped into a tie with New Jersey, four games behind Atlanta, which currently has the final playoff spot in the East. The Hawks beat Toronto 127-120 in overtime.

The Pacers were led by Danny Granger with 14 points and Mike Dunleavy and Jermaine O'Neal with 12 each. O'Neal came off the bench for the second game since missing 33 straight with a bone bruise on his left knee.

Ray Allen had 15 points and Leon Powe had 14 with nine rebounds for the Celtics.

Boston hit its first four shots of the game and Indiana missed its first six as the Celtics never trailed. They took a 35-24 lead with 7:26 left on a 3-pointer by James Posey and led by at least 10 points the rest of the way.

It was 49-30 at halftime after the Celtics held the Pacers to just nine field goals in 36 shots. In their last home game, three days earlier, the Celtics allowed just 17 field goals, an NBA record low in the shot-clock era, in an 88-62 win over the Miami Heat.

Boston increased its lead to 56-30 as Allen scored five of the first seven points of the third quarter.

Then the Pacers, who lost for just the third time in nine games, finally found their shooting touch, scoring nine straight points, capped by Jeff Foster's layup, to make it 56-39. Gradually, Boston regained control and took a 67-45 lead on a dunk by Kendrick Perkins with 2:50 left in the third quarter.

Indiana closed that to 79-66 midway through the fourth quarter, but the Celtics went on an 11-1 run to take their biggest lead, 90-67 with 2:18 remaining.

Artest leads Kings to win over Rockets

Ron Artest scored 30 points, Kevin Martin added 27 and the Sacramento Kings dealt a blow to Houston's chances of winning the Southwest Division with a 99-98 victory over the Rockets on Tuesday night.

The Rockets (49-25) fell 2 1/2 games behind New Orleans and San Antonio in the division race with only eight games remaining, hurting their chances of hosting a first-round playoff series.

Tracy McGrady scored 32 to lead Houston, but missed a jumper at the buzzer that would have won it. The Rockets have lost five of eight since a franchise-record, 22-game winning streak.

The Kings (34-40) surpassed last season's win total with the victory, the first time they have improved since going from 55 wins to 61 in 2001-02. That season ended with a trip to the Western Conference finals, while this season will end with a second straight season with no playoffs in Sacramento.

Both teams both got off to a slow start to the final quarter, with Houston missing its first 10 shots of the period and Sacramento misfiring on its first five. Rafer Alston broke the drought when he hit an open 3-pointer that gave the Rockets an 83-81 lead with 6:25 left in the game.

The Kings' first basket of the quarter didn't come until Martin scored on a drive with 4:35 remaining to cut the Rockets' lead to 87-86. Sacramento took a 94-93 lead when Francisco Garcia went in for a flying one-handed dunk on a breakaway. He was fouled by Shane Battier on the play but missed the free throw.

Battier answered with a 3-pointer he banked in from straightaway as the shot clock expired to put Houston up two with just over 2 minutes remaining, but then Artest hit a 3-pointer to put Sacramento back on top.

After two free throws from Luis Scola gave Houston the lead, Martin made a pair of his own with 48.9 seconds remaining to make it 99-98.

Scola finished with 20 points and Alston had 18 for Houston.

The Kings scored the final seven points of the third quarter to take a 77-76 lead, getting a fortunate bounce on a 3-pointer by Artest and a last-second jumper by Artest to take the lead heading into the fourth. Artest also hit a shot with 0.1 seconds remaining in the first half for Sacramento.

Kings center Brad Miller was ejected with 7:21 remaining in the third quarter when official Scott Wall gave him back-to-back technicals for arguing a no-call.

Notes:@ Houston C Dikembe Mutombo got a technical foul in the first quarter for waving his finger after blocking Artest's shot. Mutombo thought he waved it at the crowd, which is legal, but Wall ruled it was taunting. ... Kings backup C Spencer Hawes missed the game with a twisted left ankle.

Suns storm back in second half to shock Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns scored 81 second-half points to stun Denver 132-117 on Monday and end the Nuggets' five-game winning streak.

Amare Stoudemire had 41 points and 14 rebounds to fire the Suns recovery after they trailed 70-51 at the half while shooting just 32 percent in Phoenix.

Steve Nash added 36 points and eight assists for the Suns, who scored 46 points in the final quarter to deal the Nuggets' Western Conference playoff hopes a crushing blow. Shaquille O'Neal had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Denver started the night in a three-way tie with Dallas and Golden State for seventh place in the West, but ended the evening in ninth, one game behind Dallas and a half-game adrift of Golden State.

Denver finally got out of ninth place in the Conference with a win over Golden State on Saturday.

Phoenix (50-24) moved into a tie with the idle Los Angeles Lakers for first place in the Pacific Division. It is the fourth straight season the Suns have won at least 50 games and they had to overcome a 22-point deficit at one point on Monday to do it.

With the Mavericks on 46 victories and the Warriors and Nuggets on 45, it is now possible that a 50-win team could miss the NBA's post-season for the first time.

The Nuggets shot a sizzling 60 percent in the first half but were out-scored 35-22 in the third quarter and 46-25 in the final 12 minutes.

J.R. Smith led Denver with 23 points. Allen Iverson added 21 points and seven assists and Carmelo Anthony chipped in with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The teams meet again on Tuesday in Denver.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie; Editing by Ed Osmond)