Friday, March 31, 2017

Grizzlies clinch playoff spot with 99-90 win over Mavericks play

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Mike Conley can't quite remember what it feels like to miss the Western Conference playoffs. He doesn't have to think about the Memphis Grizzlies missing this year, either.
Conley scored 28 points, Zach Randolph added 22 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, and Memphis clinched a playoff spot with a 99-90 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Memphis' win, coupled with Denver's 122-114 loss at Charlotte earlier Friday night, earned the Grizzlies their seventh straight postseason berth.
"It's seems so long ago that this time of the year didn't mean anything to us," Conley said after the Grizzlies' second straight win. "It's a heck of an accomplishment to have it seven years in a row."
The final step to the postseason started out easy as Memphis held a double-digit lead through most of the third quarter and still maintained a 15-point advantage with about 8 minutes left.
But Memphis had to weather a 3-point shooting rally in the closing minutes. Dallas made six of its first nine 3-point attempts in the fourth, a jumper by Wesley Matthews cutting Memphis' advantage to 94-90 with just over a minute left.
Dallas could get no closer, dropping its fourth straight.
Troy Daniels finished with 21 points for Memphis, shooting 7 of 12 from outside the arc.
The win also means Grizzlies coach David Fizdale will reach the postseason in his first year as a head coach. He became the Memphis leader after serving as an assistant for the Miami Heat.
"I was glad to get the monkey off my back," Fizdale said. "I don't want to be the first coach not to make the playoffs (after six straight years)."
Six Mavericks finished in double figures, led by 13 points each from Dirk Nowitzki, Matthews and J.J. Barea.
"It shows we have some fight, but we have to show more fight from the beginning of games," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of the closing minutes. "It's just a matter of force."
The first half put the Mavericks in a deep hole. Memphis led 55-34 at intermission. Dallas was stymied by shooting a mere 22 percent.
"The whole first half was not good," Carlisle said.
After halftime, Memphis struggled to hit shots, setting off a 16-4 rally by Dallas. But the Grizzlies countered with eight straight points and eventually held a 74-62 lead entering the fourth.
The fourth-quarter shooting, when Dallas made six of its first nine from outside the arc, made things a bit interesting in the closing minutes.
"We obviously showed them in the second half that we can do it, and that we can get some stops," Nowitzki said.
Harrison Barnes added: "We fought back, had a chance and lost it because of offensive rebounds."
TIP-INS
Mavericks: The NBA announced Friday that G Devin Harris was fined $25,000 for his actions after ejection from Wednesday's game at New Orleans. ... The Mavericks recorded 15 assists, breaking a string of nine straight games of at least 20 assists.
Grizzlies: With its seventh straight playoff berth, Memphis has the third-longest streak of postseason appearances behind Atlanta and San Antonio. ... The win assured Memphis (42-34) of its seventh consecutive winning season.
GASOL RETURN UNKNOWN
Fizdale said the timetable for the return of center Marc Gasol, who missed his fourth game with a sore left foot, remains unclear. "He did work out (Friday), which was good," Fizdale said. "He moved on it. There's still some soreness there."
TAKING A LOOK
With the Mavericks virtually eliminated from the last Western Conference playoff spot, Carlisle seems to be turning to younger players down the stretch. "This is an important time for us to look at these guys," Carlisle said. "I'd rather look at them playing against guys like Conley or Randolph instead of undrafted free agents in the summertime."
UP NEXT
MAVERICKS: Dallas is in the midst of a five-game road trip and plays at Milwaukee on Sunday.
GRIZZLIES: Memphis heads out on its final road trip of the season, playing the Lakers in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Check out the team sites for the Dallas Mavericks and the Memphis Grizzlies for more game coverage.







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Hornets make 17 3-pointers in 122-114 win over Nuggets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Hornets coach Steve Clifford is the first to admit his bench play hasn't exactly been the strength of his team this season.
But on a night when the Hornets desperately needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, Charlotte's reserves stepped up big time.
All-Star Kemba Walker had 31 points, and Charlotte's backups -- led by Frank Kaminsky and Marco Belinelli -- outscored their Denver counterparts 50-19 as the Hornets preserved their slim playoff hopes with a 122-114 win Friday night.
Kaminsky scored 22 points and Belinelli added 11 with both knocking down three 3-pointers in a pivotal fourth quarter in which the Hornets outscored the Nuggets 36-20. Jeremy Lamb chipped in with 13 off the bench.
"Those guys were big," Walker said.
The Hornets shot 17 for 36 on 3-pointers, including 7 for 12 in the fourth quarter to pull within two games of Indiana for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte made 16 3s in a win earlier this season over the Nuggets.
"They just kept getting hot and it's tough to stop a team when they get hot," said Denver's Nikola Jokic, who finished with a triple-double on 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
While the Hornets were making their run on the offensive end, the Nuggets suddenly couldn't buy a shot on the other end.
Denver outscored Charlotte 52-32 in the paint, but couldn't convert the simple shots when they needed to the most.
"We struggled to make layups," Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. "We missed 18 layups tonight, a bunch of those in that fourth quarter. Obviously they were getting run outs and Kaminsky and Marco were hot and they were getting it up quick before we could even get anywhere close to them."
Charlotte trailed by eight after three quarters, but scored 12 straight points to open the fourth and take control.
Walker, who refused to come out of the game at the end of the third quarter and played 41 minutes, ignited the run with a long 3-pointer to start the fourth and then scored on a drive and drew a foul. When the Nuggets turned their attention to Walker, that's when Kaminsky and Belinelli took advantage by knocking down 3s from all over the perimeter, while Lamb scored on a couple drives.
"I think we got more aggressive in the fourth quarter, everybody was aggressive," Belinelli said.
The loss dealt a severe blow to Denver's playoff chances. The Nuggets fell two games behind Portland for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.
"Definitely losing like this the last two it makes it tough, but we still have to do our job," said Denver's Danilo Gallinari. "Have fun with each other, have fun playing basketball and keep focusing on our job every game."
TIP INS
Nuggets: Denver made 9 of 19 3s in the first half. ... Mason Plumlee had a chance to play against his brother Miles Plumlee.
Hornets: Walker became the second player in team history to scored 8,000 career points when he made a 3-pointer early in the first quarter. The only other player to reach that mark is Dell Curry (9,839), the father of the Warriors' Steph Curry. ... Walker's 52 20-point games this season ranks third in team history.
NELSON LEAVES GAME
Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson left the game in the second half with a calf injury and did not return. Nelson had 12 points in 26 minutes.
"I'm not sure how severe it is," Malone said.
HORNETS GO FIVE OUT
The Hornets went with a "five out" approach in the fourth quarter, replacing center Cody Zeller with Kaminsky to give them more offense. The strategy worked and it's something Clifford said he expect to use more down the stretch.
KEMBA WON'T SIT
When Walker told Clifford he wasn't sitting for the fourth quarter, the coach just nodded his head.
"That's OK by me," Clifford said.
UP NEXT
Nuggets: At Miami on Sunday night. The Hornets would surely appreciate the Nuggets getting a win there.
Hornets: The road doesn't get any easier as they travel to Oklahoma City to face the Russell Westbrook and the Thunder.
Check out the team sites for the Denver Nuggets and the Charlotte Hornets for more game coverage.






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DeRozan powers Raptors past Pacers 111-100

TORONTO -- After playing cat and mouse with the Indiana Pacers for much the first half Friday night, the Toronto Raptors scored 34 points in the third quarter to take full control.
With DeMar DeRozan's 40 points leading the way, they cruised to a 111-100 victory Friday night, the Raptors' seventh straight home win over the Pacers.
"We can't give them hope or let them catch a rhythm," DeRozan said. "The next thing you know, we're fighting again. We understood that and that was on my mind coming out for the second half and trying to push it out there and get us going."
Tied at 62 with 5:50 left in the third, the Raptors used an 18-6 run to end the quarter, and didn't let up the rest of the way.
DeRozan's seventh 40-point game of the season did much of the damage. The All-Star guard was 11 of 26 from the floor to register his 30th game of 30 points or more this season, tying Vince Carter's 2000-01 franchise mark.
In the continued absence of fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry, DeRozan acknowledged that he's had to show a certain amount of discipline with his game to effectively fill the void.
"It's me understanding the game," he said. "How to score, how to get to my spots, not forcing. Picking the times to really attack and me being more of a mature player."
For the second consecutive game, he was ably abetted by Jonas Valanciunas, who had 17 rebounds and 16 points for his team-leading 28th double-double of the season.
The Lithuanian center, who also had 15 rebounds in Wednesday's loss to Charlotte, established a career high, surpassing the 714 rebounds he had in the 2013-14 season.
"I hope it's going to continue like that," he said. "I'm just playing with energy and something is giving me extra energy, extra focus and I have to keep it that way."
After losing five of their last six games, the Pacers' hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the East is looking somewhat tenuous, now just a half-game up on the Chicago Bulls.
Paul George led the way for Indiana with 28 points and nine rebounds, but said his team will have to play better defense if it hopes to make the postseason.
"Our past couple of games, we have been giving up 100-plus (points) and you are not going to win at a high rate, especially if you don't have an efficient offense," he said.
The Pacers' last win at the Air Canada Centre was on March 1, 2013.
While Indiana shot just 8 of 25 from the floor in the period, the Raptors were at a 50 percent clip on 9 for 18 shooting, including four of five from beyond the arc.
"That's the thing that we have seen from teams, is second half, the level of play you expect that to go up," said Indiana coach Nate McMillan. "Teams have done that and we haven't necessarily responded quick enough and long enough in these games and you have to do that."
TIP-INS
Pacers: C Al Jefferson (left ankle) and F Glenn Robinson III (left calf) both missed the game. ... Indiana has dropped nine of its last 10 regular-season meetings with Toronto.
Raptors: Toronto wore its black-and-gold alternate uniforms, inspired by Canadian rapper, Drake, the team's global ambassador. ... Toronto is 6-1 when playing at home on a Friday. ... With the victory, Toronto can lock up home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs if Atlanta loses at Chicago on Saturday. ... Toronto outrebounded Indiana 53-42.
TORONTO'S CENTURION
With two 3-pointers in the first half, DeMarre Carroll reached 100 made 3s for the second time in his career and the first since the 2014-15 season, when he had 120.
MAKING HISTORY
Valanciunas made team history in the third quarter with 13 rebounds, setting a franchise mark for most in a single period. The previous record of 10 had been achieved five times, most recently by Reggie Evans against Philadelphia on Nov. 24, 2010.
UP NEXT
Pacers: Visit Cleveland on Sunday aiming to snap a six-game road losing streak against the Cavaliers.
Raptors: Host Philadelphia on Sunday looking for a ninth straight home win over the Sixers.
Check out the team sites for the Indiana Pacers and the Toronto Raptors for more game coverage.




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NBA Scoreboard for the games of March 31,2017 from ESPN.GO.COM

Scores for March 31,2017
 
 
 
 
Final 1 2 3 4 T

Rockets

(51-25, 23-15 away)
25 36 24 13 98

Warriors

(62-14, 32-4 Home)
23 33 27 24 107
Play
Warriors use second-half surge to top Rockets

Top Performers

Summary Box Score Highlights
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