NBA Roundup: Cavaliers claim East Conference’s top seed with win vs. Bulls

CLEVELAND — Darius Garland scored 28 points, Evan Mobley had 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 135-113 win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.

Ty Jerome added 18 points off the bench and De’Andre Hunter scored 17 for Cleveland, which has the second-best record in franchise history at 63-16. The Cavaliers secured the No. 1 seed in the East for the fourth time.

Patrick Williams scored a season-high 21 points and made 5 of 6 3-pointers, and Matas Buzelis added 19 points for Chicago. The Bulls have clinched a play-in tournament berth and are tied with Miami for ninth in the East.

PACERS 104, WIZARDS 98

INDIANAPOLIS — Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds, Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points and Indiana won its fifth straight game, over Washington.

Bennedict Mathurin had 17 for the Pacers who pulled away late for the win.

Justin Champagnie had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Washington, while Alex Sarr had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as Washington lost its third in a row and for the sixth time in its last seven games.

GRIZZLIES 124, HORNETS 100

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ja Morant had 28 points, five rebounds and eight assists as Memphis beat Charlotte.

Memphis guard Jaylen Wells was taken from the court on a stretcher and transported to a hospital after he made a fast-break dunk and landed hard on his head following a midair collision with Charlotte’s K.J. Simpson. Wells, who was starting his 74th game, was inadvertently undercut by Simpson from behind. Wells was down for eight minutes before being lifted onto the stretcher with his head strapped in to restrict motion. Officials called a Flagrant 2 foul on Simpson, who was automatically ejected.

Desmond Bane scored 19 points, Zach Edey had 17 points and 19 rebounds and Jaren Jackson Jr. 14 points for Memphis (47-32), which kept pace in the Western Conference race. Teams from third to eighth place were separated by two games in the standings heading into Tuesday.

Miles Bridges scored 14 points for Charlotte (19-60).

MAGIC 119, HAWKS 112

ORLANDO, Fla. — Paolo Banchero had 33 points and 10 rebounds and Orlando beat Atlanta, taking command of the four-team play-in tournament race in the Eastern Conference.

Franz Wagner scored 22 points for the Magic, while Wendell Carter Jr. added 17 points, nine rebounds and six steals and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 15 points.

Onyeka Okongwu matched his career high with 30 points for the Hawks and added 14 rebounds and three steals. Trae Young scored 28 points and had 10 assists for Atlanta, which has lost four of its last five games.

NETS 119, PELICANS 114

NEW YORK — Trendon Watford scored 22 points, Drew Timme had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Brooklyn beat New Orleans.

Timme completed a three-point play with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter to give the Nets the first double-digit lead of the game at 83-71.

The Pelicans rallied. Antonio Reeves made a reverse layup while being fouled with 1:29 left and added the free throw to pull New Orleans within 116-109. After a Timme miss, Reeves added a 3-pointer at 53.1 to get within four.

But, Tosan Evbuomwan sealed it with a 3-pointer at the other end with 35 seconds left.

CELTICS 119, KNICKS 117, OT

NEW YORK — Kristaps Porzingis made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in overtime after Jayson Tatum’s 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining forced the extra period, and Boston completed a season sweep of New York.

Porzingis matched his season high with 34 points on his 30-footer. Tatum added 32 points as the Celtics extended their road winning streak to eight and improved to 33-7 away from Boston.

They had routed the Knicks by 23, 27 and 13 in the three previous meetings, but needed to fight beyond 48 minutes for this one.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 34 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks. Jalen Brunson added 27 points and nine assists in a strong second game back after a 15-game absence with a sprained right ankle.