Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum reacts during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Colin Hubbard | AP Photo
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jaylon Tyson, center, drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, left, and forward Jonathan Kuminga, right, during the first half Friday.
Colin Hubbard | AP Photo
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jaylon Tyson dunks against Atlanta Hawks forward Mouhamed Gueye, left, and guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the first half Friday.
Colin Hubbard | AP Photo
ATLANTA — CJ McCollum scored 29 points and the Atlanta Hawks used a big third quarter to blow out the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-102 on Friday night, clinching a playoff spot and the Southeast Division title.
The Hawks had not won the Southeast Division since 2021, when they ultimately advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. They have been in the play-in tournament the last four seasons.
James Harden scored 20 points for the Cavs, who are locked into the No. 4 seed in the East. Jaylon Tyson returned from a 10-game absence to start and had 15 points.
Dyson Daniels had 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, his second triple-double of his career. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 18 points and Jalen Johnson added 18 points and nine rebounds before sitting out the final 10 minutes of the game. The Cavs shot 26% from 3-point range.
The Hawks have won 14 of their final 15 home games ahead of the playoffs.
Atlanta led 66-55 in the third quarter, then put together a 16-0 run to push the lead to 27. It was never threatened thereafter.
The Cavs were missing leading scorer Donovan Mitchell (right ankle) and starter Jarrett Allen (right knee), as well as reserve Sam Merrill (left hamstring).
76ers 105, Pacers 94
INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points, Paul George had 21 and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers t to snap a three-game skid.
VJ Edgecombe scored 16 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 15 and Andre Drummond had 16 rebounds and 10 points for the Sixers (44-37), who maintained their eighth-place position in the Eastern Conference with one game remaining.
A year after they made it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Pacers (19-62) ensured they will finish with the second-worst record in the league.
Jarace Walker led Indiana with 17 points, followed by Quenton Jackson with 16 and Ethan Thompson with 15. Micah Potter had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Pacers went 14 of 50 from 3-point range, while the Sixers were 5 of 29. Indiana had 21 turnovers while the Sixers had just eight.
Philadelphia finished with a 64-28 advantage in points in the paint.
The Sixers led 58-51 at halftime. Indiana tied it twice in the third quarter, the last time at 64-all, before Philadelphia closed the quarter with a 25-13 stretch to take an 89-77 lead.
Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid, who averages 27 points, had an appendectomy on Thursday in Houston and was released from the hospital Friday. Coach Nick Nurse said the surgery went well, but there is no timetable for Embiid’s return.
Heat 140, Wizards 117
WASHINGTON — The Washington Wizards clinched the worst record in the NBA on Friday night with a loss to the Miami Heat.
Washington (17-64) has lost nine in a row and 25 of its last 26 to tumble to the bottom of the standings.
The Wizards became the first NBA team to lose 64 games in three consecutive seasons. The Vancouver Grizzlies lost at least 63 games in each of their first three seasons from 1995-96 to 1997-98, while the Process-era Philadelphia 76ers matched that futility from 2013-14 to 2015-16.
Simone Fontecchio and Pelle Larsson both scored 24 points for the Heat (42-39), who had lost 10 of 13. Miami scored an average of 143.5 points while going 4-0 against Washington this season.
The Heat are already assured a fourth consecutive trip to the play-in tournament.
Miami’s Bam Adebayo had 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. He scored 83 points, the second-most in NBA history, against Washington on March 10 and averaged 34.8 points against the Wizards this season.
Miami used a 10-0 run late in the first quarter to take the lead for good. The Heat was up 34-23 after a quarter and 72-52 at halftime. Miami shot 63.2% (24 of 38) in the first half.
The Wizards closed within 92-82 late in the third quarter, but Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored the last seven points in Miami’s 13-3 run to close the period to re-establish a cushion.
Bub Carrington scored 30 points to lead Washington, while Bilal Coulibaly scored 19 of his 25 points in the first half.
The Heat played without its top two scorers, Norman Powell (right groin soreness) and Tyler Herro (right foot soreness).
Pistons 118, Hornets 100
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jalen Duren had 20 points, Duncan Robinson scored 19 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Charlotte, locking the Hornets into the play-in tournament.
Already assured of the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons played their regular starters against the Hornets.
Cade Cunningham scored 14 points, Ronald Holland II had 13 and Ausar Thompson added 12 for Detroit, which is one win shy of its first 60-win season in 20 years with one regular-season game remaining. Duren also had a game-high nine rebounds.
LaMelo Ball had 27 points and eight assists and Brandon Miller had 22 points to lead the Hornets.
Through late in the third quarter, the lead had changed hands 11 times with 13 ties and neither team led by more than eight.
But Charlotte held its last lead at 83-82 with 5:52 left in the third quarter and after the teams were last tied at 87 with 2:46 left in that period, Detroit went on a 24-8 burst for a 111-92 lead with 6:23 to play.
A sellout crowd of 19,623 for the Hornets’ home finale saw the teams go at it from the outset.
That included double technicals assessed to Charlotte’s Miller and Detroit’s Robinson after Miller landed on Robinson and Robinson shoved him away after Miller’s dunk less than two minutes into the game.
Knicks 112, Raptors 95
NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson scored 29 points, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the New York Knicks clinched the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with their 13th consecutive victory over the Toronto Raptors.
The Knicks improved to 53-28 with the victory in what could be a preview of a first-round playoff series. New York lost its chance to climb to No. 2 when Boston beat the lottery-bound New Orleans Pelicans, while Toronto (45-36) is currently sixth in the East after having its two-game winning streak snapped.
Brunson shot 12 for 18 from the field while Towns was just as effective, shooting 8 for 12 for the Knicks, who extended their winning streak to five games.
New York forward OG Anunoby injured his left ankle midway through the second quarter and did not return to the game.
Brandon Ingram scored 16 points and Ja’Kobe Walter and Scottie Barnes each had 15 for the Raptors, who have not beaten New York since Jan. 22, 2023. The Knicks won all five meetings this season, once in the NBA Cup tournament.
A night after beating the Celtics, the Knicks jumped out to a 14-3 lead with 7:11 left to play in the first quarter and led 22-21 at the end of the period.
New York outscored the Raptors 29-15 in the second to head into halftime with a 51-36 advantage.
The Raptors managed to cut the deficit to 66-57 on a dunk from Ingram with 4:19 remaining in the third quarter, but Brunson sparked a 9-0 run with a 9-foot fadeaway jumper and a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 75-57.
The Knicks outscored Toronto 58-48 in the paint.
Celtics 144, Pelicans 118
BOSTON — Sam Hauser had 24 points on eight 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics tied the franchise and NBA record with 29 3s on their way to clinching the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 playoff seed with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jaylen Brown added 23 points in 29 minutes, sitting out the entire fourth quarter. Payton Pritchard finished with 21 points and 10 assists for Boston, which clinched the Atlantic Division.
The Celtics’ 29 3s equal their total from Oct. 22, 2024 against the Knicks. The Memphis Grizzlies (April 6 vs. Cleveland) and Milwaukee Bucks (Dec. 29, 2020 at Miami) also share the record.
Big man Neemias Queta even got in on the action for Boston, knocking down his first career 3 to go along with 10 rebounds. Seven different Celtics players had at least two.
Boston led by as many as 41 points against a Pelicans team missing several starters.
The 3-point onslaught was ignited by Brown. He returned to the lineup after sitting out Thursday’s loss at New York with left Achilles tendinitis and scored 12 first-quarter points to help the Celtics build an early 22-point cushion.
Boston also did it without Jayson Tatum, who hasn’t played in back-to-back nights since his return from Achilles tendon surgery.
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