NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Hart scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Jalen Brunson had 25 points and 10 assists, and the New York Knicks stayed alive in the race for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 112-106 victory over Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
Tatum finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in his first game back on the Madison Square Garden court where he ruptured his Achilles tendon in last season’s playoffs.
The Knicks (52-28) pulled within two games of the Celtics (54-26) for second place with two games to play for both teams. New York owns the tiebreaker after winning the season series 3-1 and would take the No. 2 seed with two wins and two Boston losses.
Hart made two 3-pointers in the final 42 seconds to give New York more wins this season under Mike Brown than in its 51-31 finish last season in Tom Thibodeau’s final season.
RAPTORS 128, HEAT 114
TORONTO (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored a season-high 38 points, RJ Barrett had 22 and the Toronto Raptors moved closer to clinching their first playoff berth since 2022 by beating the slumping Miami Heat 128-114 on Thursday night.
Collin Murray-Boyles scored 17 points, Scottie Barnes had 13 and Immanuel Quickley 11 as Toronto moved past Atlanta into fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors and Hawks are both 45-35, but Toronto swept the season series.
Bam Adebayo had 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Heat lost for the 10th time in 13 games. Already destined for the play-in tournament, Miami’s hopes of improving its seeding took another hit.
Miami’s Davion Mitchell finished with 15 points and 11 assists. Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. each scored 15 points.
With their second home win over the Heat in three days, the Raptors swept the season series against the Heat for the third time. They also did it in 2007-08 and 2018-19.
BULLS 119, WIZARDS 108
WASHINGTON (AP) — Leonard Miller scored a career-high 26 points and matched his career best with 11 rebounds as Chicago eased to a victory over Washington to sweep a two-game set.
Tre Jones scored 31 points and Collin Sexton added 27 for the Bulls, who won 129-98 at Washington on Tuesday night to snap a seven-game skid.
Miller, Jones and Sexton combined to shoot 65.3% (32 of 49) as Chicago (31-49) pulled even with Milwaukee for 11th place in the Eastern Conference and the best record among teams eliminated from postseason contention.
Bulls center Guerschon Yabusele departed early in the third quarter with a sprained left shoulder.
Will Riley scored 23 points to lead Washington, which had 10 players sidelined by injuries.
PACERS 123, NETS 94
NEW YORK (AP) — Obi Toppin had 26 points and nine rebounds and seven Indiana players scored in double figures as it snapped a three-game skid with a win over Brooklyn.
The Pacers (19-61) won for the fifth time in 27 games. Indiana was without head coach Rick Carlisle, who missed the first of two games to attend his daughter’s spring formal. Lloyd Pierce handled the coaching duties.
Micah Potter had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Ethan Thompson added 15 points and Jarace Walker and Jay Huff each added 14. Jalen Slawson and Quenton Jackson finished with 12 points apiece.
E.J. Liddell led the Nets (20-59) with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Ben Saraf scored 19 point and Tyson Etienne added 14 for Brooklyn, which shot 37 for 96 (37%) from the field and had its two-game winning streak halted.
ROCKETS 113, 76ERS 102
HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 29 points and Houston extended its winning streak to eight games with a win over Philadelphia, who were missing Joel Embiid after he had an appendectomy.
The 76ers, who are fighting for a playoff spot, will be without Embiid indefinitely. He had surgery in Houston on Thursday after being stricken with appendicitis overnight.
Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson added 19 points each for the Rockets, who have clinched a postseason berth but are contending with Denver and the Lakers for playoff seeding in the West.
Tyrese Maxey scored 23 points for Philadelphia and VJ Edgecombe added 21. The Sixers lost their third straight and dropped into a tie with Charlotte for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Houston led by 23 after three quarters, but Philadelphia used a 16-0 run to get within 101-94 with about five minutes to play. Durant made a 3-pointer after that to end a scoring drought of almost five minutes for the Rockets and Aaron Holiday made a 3 on the next possession to push the lead to 107-94 with four minutes remaining.
Philadelphia scored the next eight points, with the last five from Edgecombe, to get within five. But another 3-pointer by Durant put Houston ahead 110-102 with just over a minute left.
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