» WIZARDS CAPTURE DIVISION TITLE, 1ST IN 38 YEARS
LOS ANGELES — John Wall scored 34 points and the Washington Wizards rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 118108 to clinch the Southeast Division title for its first division crown in 38 years on Tuesday night.
Wall shot 14 of 25 and Bradley Beal was held to 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting, but the Wizards ended the longest division-title drought in NBA history with their fourth straight victory.
“I didn’t know that,” coach Scott Brooks said before the game. “Now we’re fighting for playoff positioning.”
When the franchise last claimed a division title in 1978-79, it was known as the Bullets of the Atlantic Division and played in suburban Landover, Maryland. The team had won its lone NBA championship the previous season and went on to lose the 1979 Finals to the Seattle SuperSonics.
D’Angelo Russell led Los Angeles with 28 points and Jordan Clarkson added 22 points.
• Heat 97, Pistons 96 — At Auburn Hills, Mich.: Hassan Whiteside tipped in a shot with his left hand as time expired to lift the Miami Heat over the Detroit Pistons.
Whiteside, playing with a thick bandage on his right hand to protect 13 stitches he got a week ago, tipped in Goran Dragic’s miss after a wild final play over the game’s final 11.3 seconds. James Johnson took the initial shot for Miami, Dragic muscled the rebound off the rim and Whiteside elevated over Andre Drummond for the winning tip.
The win was huge for Miami (36-38), which moved one game ahead of No. 9 Chicago and 2 1/2 games ahead of No. 10 Detroit for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Dragic scored 28 points and Whiteside finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for the Heat.
• Hawks 95, Suns 91 — At Atlanta: Dennis Schroder hit consecutive 3-pointers to spark a 17-1 run for a victory that snapped Atlanta’s a seven-game losing streak and boosting its playoff hopes.
The Suns lost their ninth in a row in a matchup of teams with the two longest active losing streaks in the NBA.
Playing again without AllStar forward Paul Millsap and two other key players, the Hawks raced to an 18point lead in the first quarter. But Atlanta sleepwalked through the next two periods and went nearly 4 1/2 minutes in the fourth without scoring.
The Suns, without Devin Booker, took advantage of the Hawks’ shooting woes, finally taking their first lead on Alan Williams’ lay-in with 10:37 remaining and stretching the margin to 78-71.
• Timberwolves 115, Pacers 114 — At Indianapolis: Ricky Rubio made three free throws with 3.4 seconds left to give Minnesota a victory over Indiana.
Minnesota snapped a season-high six-game losing streak by taking its only lead of the quarter. Rubio had 21 points and 10 assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 37 points and 12 rebounds.
Rubio was fouled by Jeff Teague, though it appeared Rubio ran into his own teammate on the play. Indiana fans booed the officials as they left the court.
Indiana’s Monta Ellis got off a last-second 3-point shot, but he was off the mark.
• Bucks 118, Hornets 108 — At Charlotte, N.C.: Tony Snell scored a season-high 26 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points and eight rebounds and Milwaukee handed Charlotte’s playoff hopes a potentially devastating blow.
Malcolm Brogdon had 14 points and 10 assists for his second double-double of the season, and the Bucks won for the 12th time in 15 games.
Snell finished 10 of 14 from the field and had four 3-pointers.
• 76ers 106, Nets 101 — At New York: Dario Saric scored 23 points, Robert Covington had 21 points and 13 rebounds and undermanned Philadelphia beat Brooklyn.
Rookie guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 17 points and nine boards for the 76ers, who dressed only nine players.
Philadelphia was without center Jahlil Okafor, who missed his third straight game due to right knee soreness, and veteran guard Gerald Henderson, who did not play because of soreness in his left hip.
• Blazers 122, Nuggets 113 — At Portland, Ore.: Jusuf Nurkic had a careerhigh 32 points with 16 rebounds against his former team, CJ McCollum had 39 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets to take hold of the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Portland leads Denver by a game for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Blazers also clinched the season-series tiebreaker with the Nuggets, giving them an upper hand with eight games to play.
Jameer Nelson led Denver with 23 points.