by James Edgar, FIBA website
The Golden State Warriors are still hoping for a place in the play-offs in the Western Conference following an emphatic 111-82 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Table leaders Dallas rested a number of stars, including Germany star Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse, and the Warriors capitalised on the presence of Dallas reserves Jose Juan Barea, Maurice Ager, Greg Buckner, DeSagana Diop and Devean George.
Golden State jumped out to an early lead, outscoring the Mavericks 30-15 in the first quarter and never looked back.
Mickael Pietrus led the scoring for Golden State with 22 points, with Matt Barnes taking 19 and 12 rebounds and Jason Richardson collecting 14 points and seven rebounds.
Pietrus shot six-of-nine from the field, including three-of-four from the arc, and Barnes was seven-of-15 from the floor for the Warriors, who led by as many as 28 points in the third period.
Ager scored 20 points and Barea added 13 and a career-high 10 rebounds for the Mavericks, who will face either the Warriors or Los Angeles Clippers in a first-round playoff series.
The battle for the eighth and final play-off spot will come down to the last night of the season, when the Warriors take on Portland and the Clippers host New Orleans on Wednesday.
The Clippers posted a critical 103-99 victory over Phoenix Suns to keep their play-off dreams alive.
Elton Brand collected 21 points and nine rebounds and Tim Thomas added 18 and eight.
Quinton Ross made two free throws and Jason Hart scored on a floater in the lane as Los Angeles grabbed a 97-92 lead at the 2:11 mark in the fourth quarter.
Brazilian Leandro Barbosa netted five straight points for the Suns to close within 99-97 with 32 seconds left, but Hart sank all four of his free throws in the waning seconds to seal the victory.
Raja Bell and Boris Diaw each scored 17 points and All-Star Amare Stoudemire chipped in 16 for Phoenix.
The Clippers now need to beat the New Orleans Hornets and hope the Warriors stumble at Portland to secure thier second straight play-off berth for the first time since 1992 and 1993.
The Cleveland Cavaliers won their third straight game with a 98-92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Larry Hughes scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, LeBron James added 18 and Lithuanian Zydrunas Ilgauskas collected 14 points and eight rebounds for Cleveland.
The Cavaliers now must emerge victorious from their final game against Milwaukee on Wednesday and hope Chicago lose at New Jersey to earn the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando Magic posted a 95-84 victory over the Washington Wizards. The Magic are peaking at the right time while the Wizards are heading in the opposite direction.
The Magic have won five of their last six outings, while Washington have lost eight of their last 11 contests to fall into sixth place.
Hedo Turkoglu of Turkey scored 26 points, Dwight Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Antawn Jamison made 14-of-26 shots.
Washington trailed by 12 points at the intermission but stormed back in the third with a quarter-ending 16-7 burst capped by Brendan Haywood's eight-foot jumper for a 73-69 lead.
Late in the fourth, Carlos Arroyo drained a jumper and Grant Hill made 1-of-2 foul shots as Orlando snapped an 88-88 tie with 1:45 remaining.
DeShawn Stevenson split a pair of free throws, cutting the lead to 91-89, but Hill fed Turkoglu for an 18-footer off the high pick-and-roll with 23 seconds to seal it.
The Magic need a win coupled with a Wizards loss on Wednesday to avoid facing top-seeded Detroit in the first round of the play-offs.
The Detroit Pistons rested most of their starters as they rolled to a meaningless 100-84 triumph over the Toronto Raptors.
Detroit outscored Toronto 38-19 in the second quarter to forge a 61-37 advantage at the break and never looked back.
Murray scored 16 points for the Pistons and All-Star Richard Hamilton added 10 of his 12 in the first half.
Argentinian Carlos Delfino scored 12 points and Lindsay Hunter had eight and a season-high 11 assists for the Detroit.
Slovenian rookie Uros Slokar scored 18 points off the bench and Morris Peterson had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors.
Atlanta Hawks found solace at the end of a frustrating season by beating the Indiana Pacers 118-102.
Smith scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and all five starters scored in double figures for the Hawks.
Tyronn Lue added 25 points and eight assists and Marvin Williams had 23 points and seven rebound for the Hawks, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Ike Diogu scored 20 points and Danny Granger added 15 for the Pacers, who missed the play-offs for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
Indiana were eliminated from play-off contention with Sunday's 111-107 defeat to the New Jersey Nets and finish off the season by hosting the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/18789/arti.html
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