(The Sports Xchange) – – – -The Golden State Warriors extended their winning streak to 12 games with a comprehensive 123- 110 points victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
The Warriors (63-13), already assured of the top playoff seed in the Western Conference, have beaten nine opponents during their unbeaten run by at least 13 points.
Klay Thompson led a balanced Golden State attack with 21 points.
With five games remaining in the regular season, Dallas (46-31) appear destined to enter the playoffs as the seventh seed but will not be confident of advancing past the first round on current form.
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Wizards 92, Grizzlies 83
Bradley Beal scored a game-high 20 points and John Wall had 18 points, 14 assists and six rebounds to help the Wizards beat the Grizzlies.
The Wizards (44-33), who shot 48.1 percent while holding Grizzlies stars Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph to a combined 38 points.
Washington, which swept the series against Memphis (52-25), won its third straight game and the first of five road contests over its final six games of the season.
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Hawks 131, Nets 99
Al Horford and DeMarre Carroll each scored 20 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Brooklyn Nets and matched a franchise record for wins in a season.
The Hawks are 57-19; they also won 57 games during the 1986-87 and 1993-94 seasons. The team have already clinched first place in the Eastern Conference.
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Clippers 107, Nuggets 92
J.J. Redick scored 24 points, guard Chris Paul had 23 points and nine assists and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets.
The Clippers (51-26) are just a half-game ahead of idle San Antonio for the fifth seed. Portland, which is leading the Northwest Division, is assured of no worse than the fourth seed should it win the Northwest.
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Pistons 99, Heat 98
Reggie Jackson scored a game-high 29 points, including a go-ahead layup with five seconds left, and the Detroit Pistons erased a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit to down the Miami Heat.
Jackson also had 11 assists for the Pistons (30-47), who were down 93-78 with seven minutes left.
Goran Dragic supplied 21 points and seven assists for Miami (34-42), who fell a half-game behind Boston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
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Trail Blazers 99, Pelicans 90
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans.
Damian Lillard scored 19 points and center Chris Kaman tied his season high with 16 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Trail Blazers (50-26), who won for the sixth time in seven outings.
Anthony Davis added 19 points and nine boards for the Pelicans (41-35), who saw the end to a four-game win streak and are one game behind eighth-place Oklahoma City for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
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Celtics 117, Raptors 116 (OT)
Rookie guard Marcus Smart’s buzzer beating tip-in lifted the Boston Celtics to a dramatic overtime victory over the Toronto Raptor.
Boston (35-42) moved ahead of the Miami Heat into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics are a half-game behind the Brooklyn Nets, who lost at Atlanta on Saturday.
DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points and Williams added 27 for Toronto.
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Magic 97, Bucks 90
Victor Oladipo scored six points in the final 90 seconds and Tobias Harris had 23 points as the Orlando Magic pulled away late in the fourth quarter for a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks also failed to gain ground on Brooklyn, which was rocked by 32 points at Atlanta but remains in seventh place in the East, 2 1/2 games behind Milwaukee for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
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Hornets 92, 76ers 91
Gerald Henderson hit a driving layup with 6.0 seconds remaining, and the short-handed Charlotte Hornets kept their playoff hopes alive with a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Henderson’s drive came after the Hornets inbounded with 10.2 seconds remaining, after Philadelphia guard Ish Smith missed two free throws with 10.6 seconds remaining.
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Suns 87, Jazz 85
Gerald Green came off the bench to score 24 points as the Phoenix Suns survived a late scare to edge Utah.
