Celtics top Nuggets, clinch playoff spot

BOSTON — Paul Pierce scored 27 points, Kevin Garnett had 20 and the Boston Celtics clinched a playoff berth with a 113-99 win over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

The Celtics dominated inside and the Nuggets, one day after losing to the Knicks in New York, slipped a half-game behind the Dallas Mavericks and into a third-place tie with Utah in the Western Conference with their third consecutive loss.

Boston led by 21 points twice in the third quarter before Denver cut the lead to 87-80 going into the fourth. But the Celtics stayed ahead by seven to 16 the rest of the way for their fifth win in six games. Rajon Rondo had a triple-double with 11 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds.

The Celtics played aggressively from the start, beginning with Garnett’s dunk on an alley-oop pass from Kendrick Perkins for the first basket of the game. Capitalizing on the absence of defensive star Kenyon Martin, who missed his 11th consecutive game with left knee tendinitis, Boston scored 58 points in the paint.

Denver coach George Karl missed his fourth straight game and ninth overall since announcing that he had been diagnosed with cancer. The Nuggets are 5-4 under acting head coach Adrian Dantley while Karl undergoes treatment for throat and neck cancer. Karl also was hospitalized this week with blood clots in his lungs and a leg, according to a blog by his girlfriend, Kim Van Deraa.

The Celtics’ strong inside presence and attacking style were just two positive signs as they gear up for the playoffs. The win was their fourth straight at home, where they’re just 22-12, and began a season-long six-game homestand in 12 days, culminating with a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 4.

Boston has reached the playoffs in all three seasons since Garnett and Ray Allen joined Pierce to form the Big Three. It won its 17th NBA title in 2008 and was eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Orlando Magic in 2009.

Nets 93, Kings 79

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Brook Lopez had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and New Jersey Nets moved a step closer to avoiding a dubious date with NBA history by beating the Sacramento to snap an eight-game losing streak and a franchise-record, 14-game skid at home.

Devin Harris added 24 points and nine assists for the Nets (8-63), who need to win once in their last 11 games to avoid breaking the league mark for fewest wins in a season (9-73), set by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1972-73.

Nets interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe guided the team despite learning of the death of his mother, former Miss America Colleen Kay Hutchins, earlier in the day.

The victory also came two days after Nets chief executive Brett Yormark had an exchange with a fan who wore a paper bag over his face during a loss to the Miami Heat.

Cavaliers 105, Hornets 9

NEW ORLEANS — LeBron James scored an efficient 38 points on 15 of 22 shooting to go with nine assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their eighth straight game.

J.J. Hickson scored 20 for the Cavs, who led by as many as 17 and never trailed after James’ floater tied it at 10 in the first quarter. Delonte West added 15 points and Antawn Jamison had 11 points and 11 rebounds as Cleveland won its 27th straight over a team with a losing record.

Marcus Thornton scored 20 points and Darren Collison added 17 for the Hornets, who will be eliminated from the playoffs if Portland wins on Thursday. David West added 16 points.

76ers 101, Bucks 86

MILWAUKEE — Rookie Jrue Holiday had 15 points and seven assists, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a victory over the Bucks that snapped Milwaukee’s longest home winning streak in six years at eight games.

It was a dismal display for Milwaukee, which had won 15 of the last 17 to virtually assure a postseason berth for the first time since 2006.

Instead, Samuel Dalembert had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Willie Green scored 16 points and Andre Iguodala 14 as the Sixers poured it on for their third win in the last 16 games.

Jerry Stackhouse scored 15 points and rookie Brandon Jennings added 12 for Milwaukee, but the Bucks shot 5 of 28 from 3-point range and led only once in the game, 3-0.

Bobcats 108, Timberwolves 95

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Stephen Jackson shook off a sore hand and busted out of his shooting slump with 37 points, leading the Charlotte Bobcats past Minnesota to send the reeling Timberwolves to their 14th straight loss.

Jackson, who a night earlier revealed he had been plagued by a bruised ligament near his left index finger, hit 15-of-24 shots after shooting 37 percent in the previous 10 games. Gerald Wallace added 23 points as the Bobcats shot 54 percent from the field and moved into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with their sixth straight home win.

Jazz 113, Raptors 87

TORONTO — Deron Williams had 18 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds, leading the Utah Jazz to a victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Carlos Boozer added 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Mehmet Okur and rookie Wesley Matthews had 16 points apiece for the Jazz, who won their third straight. Seven Jazz players finished with at least 12 points.

Chris Bosh celebrated his 26th birthday with a 20-point performance for the Raptors (35-35), who fell 1 1/2 games behind Charlotte and Miami in the race for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

Pacers 99, Wizards 82

INDIANAPOLIS — Danny Granger scored 31 points to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Washington Wizards and extend Washington’s losing streak to a franchise record-tying 13 games.

Andray Blatche started for the Wizards a night after he was benched for most of the game following a spat with coach Flip Saunders.

Hawks 86, Magic 84

ATLANTA — Josh Smith swooped in to slam through Joe Johnson’s missed shot just ahead of the buzzer and the Atlanta Hawks finally beat the Orlando Magic, clinching a third straight trip to the playoffs with a victory.

The Hawks bounced back from an early 15-2 deficit and overcame going 8:45 in the fourth quarter without a field goal against a division rival that had routed them three times this season. For Atlanta, it came down to the final shot of regulation for the fifth straight game.