Little-used reserve Devonte’ Graham nailed the game-clinching jumper with 0.9 seconds left to cap a torrid comeback as the host San Antonio Spurs stunned the Denver Nuggets 121-120 on Friday.
The loss, which came in the penultimate game of the regular season for both teams, put the Nuggets in a three-way tie for first place in the Western Conference with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder .
Victor Wembanyama finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Spurs. He scored 17 points in less than three minutes in the third quarter, a period in which he made four 3-pointers and a three-point play.
Jamal Murray led Denver with 35 points, while Nikola Jokic added 22 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. The Nuggets had one last chance after Graham’s go-ahead basket, but they couldn’t get the ball in within five seconds and turned it over.
Thunder 125, dollars 107
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points and Chet Holmgren added 22 to lead Oklahoma City past Milwaukee for its fourth straight victory.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 14 in the first quarter alone while the Thunder scored 41 in the period.
The Bucks, who got 18 points each from Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton, fell into a tie with the New York Knicks for second place in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee holds the tiebreaker.
Timberwolves 109, Hawks 106
Rudy Gobert scored 25 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as Minnesota held off Atlanta in Minneapolis to move into a three-way tie atop the Western Conference.
Naz Reid added 19 points off the bench for Minnesota, which has just one game left in the regular season, as do co-leaders Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns scored 11 points and dished out eight assists in his first game since March 4 dealing with a torn meniscus in his left knee.
Trae Young scored 19 points and handed out seven assists to lead Atlanta. Clint Capela recorded 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Celtics 131, Hornets 98
Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 31 points and had 11 assists to help Boston end a two-game losing streak when visiting Charlotte.
Neither team was nearly complete. Boston (63-18) was without the six best players in its rotation, and the Hornets were also without a few players. Tre Mann finished with 19 points and eight assists for Charlotte, and Nick Smith Jr. added 15.
Pritchard made 14 of his 22 field goal attempts. He did not play in the fourth quarter. Luke Kornet added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who are locked into the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Cavaliers 129, Pacers 120
Donovan Mitchell scored a team-high 33 points, helping Cleveland defeat visiting Indiana and clinch a playoff spot.
Jarrett Allen added 29 points and 13 rebounds for Cleveland. Darius Garland and Caris LeVert each scored 16, while Evan Mobley scored 12.
Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam led eight players in double figures for Indiana with 19 points each. Haliburton also had 12 assists for the Pacers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Indiana is one of three teams tied for fifth in the East.
Heat 125, Raptors 103
Nikola Jovic scored 22 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 20 points and nine assists off the bench to help Miami defeat Toronto.
Bam Adebayo scored 19 points as the Heat won for the sixth time in nine games. The Heat sit in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with one game remaining, but still have a chance to make the top six in the playoffs, as they are one game behind the Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers.
RJ Barrett scored 35 points on 13-of-18 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost three in a row.
Pelicans 114, Warriors 109
CJ McCollum capped a New Orleans 3-point barrage by scoring his eighth of the game with 1:02 left in San Francisco, stopping a Golden State rally and propelling the Pelicans to a triumph in a game filled with ramifications in playoffs.
A second win in two nights in Northern California improved the Pelicans’ chances of finishing in the coveted sixth place in the Western Conference and clinching a playoff spot. McCollum led the Pelicans with 28 points, including 24 on 8-of-13 3-point shooting. New Orleans made 20 threes as a team, outscoring the Warriors 60-39 from beyond the arc.
The Warriors took a giant step back toward the 10th and final play-in spot. Stephen Curry shot 7 of 13 from long range as part of his game-high 33-point night. Klay Thompson scored 19 points, Andrew Wiggins 18 and Trayce Jackson-Davis 10 and 11 rebounds. Draymond Green recorded a double-double of 12 rebounds and 11 assists on a night where he went scoreless.
Lakers 123, Grizzlies 120
LeBron James scored 37 points and Anthony Davis added 36 as visiting Los Angeles held off Memphis.
With this victory, Los Angeles rose to 8th place in the Western Conference. Davis grabbed 14 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Rui Hachimura scored 14 points for Los Angeles, which ended a two-game skid.
GG Jackson led Memphis with 31 points, while LaRavia and Scotty Pippen Jr. each finished with 28. Jordan Goodwin had 23 points and 17 rebounds as the Grizzlies were outscored 51.9 percent to 45.3 percent. hundred of the ground.
Bulls 129, Wizards 127
Javonte Green scored 24 points and Dalen Terry led a late surge as Chicago used a makeshift lineup to defeat host Washington.
Adama Sanogo contributed 22 points and 20 rebounds off the bench while Coby White and Jevon Carter added 20 points each as the Bulls fielded a lineup full of reserves. It was the second road win in as many nights for Chicago, after clinching 9th place in the Eastern Conference with a victory at Detroit on Thursday.
Deni Avdija had 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to set the tone for Washington, which is on pace for its worst record in franchise history. Korey Kispert added 23 points for the Wizards.
Knicks 111, Nets 107
Jalen Brunson scored 30 points as New York overcame a 17-point first-half deficit and held on for a victory over Brooklyn.
The result ensures the Knicks have at least a home-court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Knicks won their fourth straight game and overcame a 41-point performance from Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas. Josh Hart added 16 while OG Anunoby and Robinson added 15 each for the Knicks.
Thomas made 15 of 26 shots for Brooklyn, which shot 50 percent and played with just nine players because of injuries to Cameron Johnson, Dennis Smith Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schroder. Watford had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Lonnie Walker IV contributed 15 points for the Nets, who lost for the second time in three games.
76ers 125, Magic 113
Joel Embiid had 32 points and 13 rebounds to lead Philadelphia to a victory over Orlando.
Embiid also had seven assists for Philadelphia, which extended its winning streak to seven games. Tyrese Maxey added 28 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. provided 21 to go along with nine rebounds.
Franz Wagner paced Orlando with 24 points. Paolo Banchero finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists and Jalen Suggs scored 20 points as the Magic were outshot 47.7 percent to 45.3 percent from the field.
Jazz 110, Clippers 109
Reserve Kenneth Lofton Jr. set season highs with 27 points and eight assists and tied his season high with nine rebounds while leading Utah to a victory in Los Angeles.
Keyonte George added 14 points to help the Jazz earn their second straight win in as many nights after enduring a 13-game losing streak.
Bones Hyland missed a game-winning 3-point attempt in the final seconds, but finished with a team-high 20 points for the Clippers. Los Angeles still took fourth place in the West thanks to the defeat of Dallas.
Pistons 107, Mavericks 89
Marcus Sasser led a balanced attack with 24 points and in visiting Detroit, he beat short-handed Dallas.
Evan Fournier led a productive four-man bench team with 13 points as the Pistons ended a six-game losing streak by having better depth than a Mavericks club resting star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving .
Jaden Hardy scored 25 points off the bench for Dallas, which didn’t play any of its starters for more than 16 minutes.
Rockets 116, Trail Blazers 107
Jalen Green had 26 points and nine rebounds for Houston, which took control in the second quarter and sent Portland to its 14th loss in its last 16 games.
Green made 10 of 20 shots after being limited to 19 minutes and three points in Houston’s loss to Utah on Thursday. He helped the Rockets win for just the second time in eight games following an 11-game winning streak.
Rookie Scoot Henderson scored 30 points but sat for the final 8 1/2 minutes as Portland reached 60 for the fourth time in team history and first time since 2005-06.
Suns 108, Kings 107
Jusuf Nurkic split two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining and visiting Phoenix pressured Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox for a late turnover to seal a vital victory.
Kevin Durant scored 28 points, Devin Booker 21 and Bradley Beal 20 points and nine rebounds for the Suns, who remain one game behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the sixth and final automatic playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Domantas Sabonis had 25 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists for the Kings, who led by 16 points with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter but lost for the fifth time in the last six games.
—Field level media
