NEW YORK (AP) — Mikal Bridges had 30 points and seven rebounds, helping the Brooklyn Nets move closer to clinching a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference by holding off the Utah Jazz 111-110 on Sunday.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 17 points and 12 assists for Brooklyn, and Cam Johnson had 18 points. The Nets won their third straight, and fourth in their past five games, opening a two-game lead over Miami for the No. 6 seed and dipping their magic number to two for the last guaranteed playoff spot in the East.
Talen Horton-Tucker scored 32 points and Lauri Markkanen had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who lost for the fifth time in six games and are 12th in the West, two spots behind the last play-in spot.
RAPTORS 128, HORNETS 108
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 36 points, Fred VanVleet added 20 points and a career-high 20 assists and Toronto beat undermanned Charlotte to secure a spot in the NBA play-in tournament.
O.G. Anunoby added 23 points for the Raptors, who clinched after Brooklyn beat Utah.
Svi Mykhailiuk scored a career-high 26 points for the Hornets.
TRAIL BLAZERS 107, TIMBERWOLVES 105
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Shaedon Sharpe scored 27 points, Kevin Knox II added 19 points and short-handed Portland beat playoff-hopeful Minnesota.
Trendon Watford had 15 points and Skylar Mays finished with 13 points and nine assists in his second game with Portland, which had lost 11 of 12 and was without four regular starters.
Anthony Edwards scored 37 points for the Timberwolves. They have lost three in a row.
BULLS 128, GRIZZLIES 107
CHICAGO (AP) — Zach LaVine scored 36 points, DeMar DeRozan added 31 and Chicago beat Memphis, overcoming Ja Morant’s triple-double.
The Bulls outscored the Western Conference’s second-place team 75-39 over the final two quarters after trailing by 23. They dominated the Grizzlies 40-16 in the third, ending it on a 17-0 run while taking the lead.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 31 points and made five 3-pointers for the Grizzlies, who had won eight of nine. Morant had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Desmond Bane scored 21.
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