Kidd dishes Mavs past Suns in crucial West matchup

DALLAS – Rick Carlisle often warns his players to "never underestimate greatness at any age," a reminder that even a guy on the downside of his career can flash his Hall of Fame credentials at any time.

Jason Kidd sure backed up his coach's saying Sunday.

On the afternoon he passed Magic Johnson for No. 3 on the career assists list, Kidd dished out a season-high 20, scored 19 points and sent the Dallas Mavericks to a 140-116 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday that pretty much cleared up the playoff picture for both teams.

Oh, and he did it in three quarters.

"The biggest thing is that we had fun in a big game," Kidd said. "And when we do that, we are dangerous."

Had the Suns won, the Mavs would've had only a two-game lead and a worrisome slump, while Phoenix would've been on a nice roll and had the advantage of an easier schedule the rest of the way. But now Dallas owns a four-game lead with five games left. The Mavs would have to lose them all, and the Suns win all of theirs, for the teams to trade places in the standings.

Put another way, any Dallas win or Phoenix loss clinches a ninth straight postseason trip for the Mavericks and ends a streak of four straight for the Suns.

"We're not holding our breath," Phoenix guard Steve Nash said.

Dallas players have been saying for weeks that they're focused on moving up to the seventh spot to avoid a first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. They'll get a great chance in their next game, when Utah, currently seeded seventh, visits Wednesday night, then face a stiff challenge with a home-and-home series against New Orleans.

"It should be a fun week," said Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 28 points.

Kidd came in 13 assists behind Johnson. After dishing out eight in the first quarter, the milestone came into reach. He had four during a 24-3 spurt that broke the game open, then four more in the final few minutes of the half, capped by an inbound pass to Josh Howard that resulted in a 71-foot basket and a whopping 81 first-half points.

Kidd finished the game with 10,148 career assists, 187 behind Mark Jackson. John Stockton is the record holder with 15,806.

"I don't think it's in reach," Kidd said. "That's another 5,000. I need somebody (else's) assists to get there. I think that (record) is going to be there a while."

Cavaliers 101, Spurs 81

At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 38 points, Mo Williams and Delonte West added 22 apiece as the Cavaliers, the NBA's best home team, avoided their first three-game losing streak.

Cleveland, which improved to 37-1 at home, would match the 1985-86 Boston Celtics (40-1) for the best home record in NBA history if it can win its final three home games.

Tony Parker scored 24 for San Antonio.

Pistons 104, Bobcats 97

At Auburn Hills, Mich., Will Bynum scored a franchise-record 26 points in the fourth quarter to put the Pistons a step closer to locking up the final playoff spot in the East.

Bynum finished with a career-high 32 points and also had seven assists. He made all six of his field-goal attempts and went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line in the fourth.

D.J. Augustin led Charlotte with 22 points.

Knicks 112, Raptors 103

At Toronto, Wilson Chandler scored 17 points, David Lee added 16 points and 10 rebounds and New York eliminated the Raptors from the playoffs. It came one day after the Knicks saw their postseason hopes end with a 102-95 home loss to the Raptors.

The Knicks had not won in Toronto since March 5, 2004, a span of nine games.

Chris Bosh had 31 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors.

Jazz 108, Hornets 94

At New Orleans, Ronnie Brewer scored 23 points and Utah clinched a playoff spot after completing a convincing season sweep of the Hornets.

David West had 23 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans.

Nuggets 110, Timberwolves 87

At Minneapolis, Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points and Denver won their seventh straight.

The Nuggets extended their lead to two games over San Antonio for the No. 2 seed in the West after the Spurs lost to Cleveland earlier in the day.

Rockets 102, Trail Blazers 88

At Houston, Yao Ming had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Rockets past Portland, just hours after the Trail Blazers got their first playoff berth since 2003 when Dallas beat Phoenix.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and nine rebounds for Portland.

Nets 96, 76ers 67

At East Rutherford, N.J., Vince Carter scored 15 points and the Nets kept their slim playoff hopes alive by handing the 76ers their worst loss of the season.

Lou Williams had 14 points to lead the 76ers.

Pacers 117, Thunder 99

At Oklahoma City, Danny Granger scored 24 points, Troy Murphy added 22 points and nine rebounds for playoff-hopeful Indiana.

Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 25 points.

Warriors 105, Kings 100

At Sacramento, Calif., Kelenna Azubuike had 30 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Golden State hung on to win with seven healthy players.

Jamal Crawford had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors in their third straight victory, including two wins in five days over the Kings.

Lakers 88, Clippers 85

At Los Angeles, Lamar Odom had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Kobe Bryant added 18 points and the Lakers remained a game behind Cleveland for the NBA's best record.

Eric Gordon scored 24 points for the Clippers, who've lost 12 of their last 15.

Wade, Heat beat Bobcats 97-92 to reach playoffs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A year ago, the Miami Heat couldn't wait to finish a horrendous, injury-plagued season. Now Dwyane Wade and his young teammates plan to be playing deep into the spring thanks to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history.

As usual, Wade led the Heat's latest milestone, scoring 27 points and dishing out 10 assists on Friday night as Miami clinched a playoff berth with a 97-92 comeback victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

A year after going 15-67, the Heat joined the 1968-69 San Diego Rockets — a team that included Heat president Pat Riley — as the second NBA team to reach the postseason after winning 15 or fewer games the year before. The Rockets also recovered from a 15-67 disaster.

"It's a huge accomplishment for this team," Wade said, "to come back after that season and not really make huge, huge changes."

Wade, whose injuries derailed last season, made three free throws in the final 19 seconds as the Heat recovered from an early 15-point deficit. Charlotte's Raymond Felton then missed a tying 3-point attempt with 5 seconds left as the Bobcats suffered a damaging loss to their own playoff hopes.

The Bobcats, who lost guard Raja Bell to a right calf injury in the third quarter, fell two games behind idle Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"We can't lose anymore at this point," Felton said. "Every game is a critical game. Six more, we've got to go 6-0."

Daequan Cook, who added 16 points for Miami, hit the two clinching free throws after Felton's miss. Michael Beasley, returning after twisting his right ankle, scored 14 points and hit a jumper with 1:45 left that put Miami ahead 90-87.

The rookie then blocked D.J. Augustin's driving layup at the other end, one of several miscues for Charlotte in its second straight frustrating loss — and perhaps a costly one for its rotation.

"Raja said his calf popped," Bobcats coach Larry Brown said. "So I imagine it's going to be a while."

The Heat moved within one percentage point of Philadelphia for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, a spot that would avoid a first-round matchup with either Boston or Orlando.

The only negative for Miami was Udonis Haslem. The forward cut his right thumb on the backboard defending Gerald Wallace's driving layup attempt late in the third quarter. Haslem, who needed six stitches, was wearing a splint after the game and hinted he could be out for a week or more.

"I definitely can't play with six stitches in my shooting hand," Haslem said.

But Haslem, who still has a bandage above his left eye after receiving seven stitches in a game Monday, vowed to be ready for the postseason after living through last season's nightmare.

"That just says a lot about the guys that we're here last year who kind of came back with a chip on their shoulders," Haslem said. "It says a lot about the young guys who followed our lead."

Things were much more somber in Charlotte's locker room. Like in their double-overtime loss to Boston on Wednesday, the Bobcats were on the short end of the free-throw count. The Heat had 24 attempts to Charlotte's 12, including 16-0 in the fourth quarter.

"It's very frustrating," said Wallace, who led the Bobcats with 21 points. "You always look at the last two minutes of the game, we don't get the calls. ... But when you look back at it, it's always because of us. It's nothing the referees are doing."

The Heat took an 88-83 lead with 3:05 left when Wade scored five straight points. Felton then scored four in a row before Beasley's jumper. Felton missed a driving layup attempt with about 30 seconds left and Charlotte trailing 92-89, setting up the first two of Wade's clutch free throws

Charlotte, wearing green jerseys as part of an NBA promotion to raise awareness for recycling, raced to a 24-9 lead by scoring easily in transition and pouncing on Miami's six early turnovers. But the Heat rallied in the second quarter when the Bobcats got sloppy, and Mario Chalmers' 3-pointer in the final second made it 45-all at halftime.

The Heat recovered to win on the road for only the fourth time in 16 games to celebrate a return to the postseason.

"It's a big step for our franchise and for Pat Riley and (managing partner) Micky Arison," first-year coach Erik Spoelstra said. "To put this team together after last season, it's a big step. ... With that said, we don't want to stop just with this."

Notes:@ A specialist determined Heat G Luther Head won't need surgery on his broken left hand, but will be fitted with a cast and will still miss 4-6 weeks. ... With the Bobcats playing at Detroit on Sunday, ex-North Carolina players Felton and Sean May, and Connecticut product Emeka Okafor were planning to watch their old teams in the Final Four on Saturday night at Ford Field. Brown, a Tar Heel alumnus who is also close to Villanova coach Jay Wright, doesn't plan to watch that matchup in person. "That would be a hard game for me to sit through," Brown said.