Nets clinch playoffs spot with win over Rockets
Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Johnson (7) shoots over Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) and forward Chandler Parsons (25) during the first half of their NBA basketball game at the Barclays Center, Tuesday, April 1, 2014, in New York. AP
NEW YORK, New York—The Brooklyn Nets clinched a playoff berth by beating the Houston Rockets for the first time in eight years as Joe Johnson scored 32 points in a 105-96 victory Tuesday.
Shaun Livingston added 17 points for the Nets, who extended their home winning streak to 14 games, longest in their National Basketball Association history and tops in the league this season. They also pulled within one-and-a-half games of Toronto and Chicago for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Nets ended a 14-game skid against Houston with their first victory in the series since March 13, 2006. The Nets hadn’t defeated the Rockets at home since March 31, 2003, when they were still playing in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
James Harden scored 26 points for Houston.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry made a tiebreaking jump shot in the final second of overtime to help lift the Warriors to a 122-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Curry finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Klay Thompson led Golden State with 27 points, and Jermaine O’Neal added 20.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 33 points and 11 rebounds. He had 16 in the Mavericks’ 41-point second quarter.
Dallas dropped from seventh in the Western Conference to ninth, a half-game behind Memphis and Phoenix in the final two playoff positions.
At Los Angeles, Damian Lillard scored 34 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points and 15 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers overpowered the Lakers 124-112.
The Blazers’ fourth straight victory, coupled with Houston’s loss at Brooklyn, moved Portland within one-and-a-half games of the Rockets for fourth place in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. The Rockets have three games in hand.
Nick Young, the fifth and last player off the Los Angeles bench, made his first eight shots and finished 15 for 26 with a season-high 40 points. But it wasn’t enough to prevent the Lakers’ 10th defeat in 14 games. They slipped to 25-49—the most losses by the club since finishing 33-49 in 1993-94. The franchise hasn’t lost 50 games in a season since 1974-75 (30-52).
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