The win was No. 36 on the season for Charlotte, one more than the previous high set last season, and advanced the team a step closer to the first playoff berth in franchise history.

The loss moved the Wizards closer to a dubious bit of history. Washington has dropped 12 straight and will tie the franchise mark if it loses at Indiana on Wednesday. The Wizards haven’t won since defeating lowly New Jersey 89-85 on Feb. 28.

In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Danny Granger scored 32 points and the Indiana Pacers snapped a nine-game road losing streak.

Indiana is just 20-46 against the rest of the NBA, but beat Detroit in all four meetings this season — the first time the Pacers swept a season series with the Pistons.

Detroit was officially eliminated from the playoff race with the loss, ending an eight-year streak of postseason appearances.

Brandon Rush scored 20 points for Indiana, while Troy Murphy added 10 points and 12 rebounds. Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons with 14.

The Pistons lost starting point guard Will Bynumin the first half with a back bruise, then coach John Kuester was ejected for arguing a call in the third quarter.

In New York, Danilo Gallinari scored 17 of his 28 points during a spirited duel with Carmelo Anthony in the third quarter and Al Harrington added 23 points for the Knicks.

New York climbed out of an early 12-point hole and took control late in the third period. David Lee finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

Anthony scored 36 points and Chauncey Billups had 25 for the Nuggets, who lost their second straight as they try to hold onto the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Their magic number for clinching a postseason spot remained at three.

The Nuggets had won the last four meetings — Anthony scored a career-high 50 in the last matchup — their longest winning streak ever against the Knicks. They seemed on their way to easily extending that run before the game changed after halftime.

Denver played its eighth game under Adrian Dantley since coach George Karl was diagnosed with throat cancer.

In Dallas, Jason Kidd celebrated his 37th birthday by scoring a season-high 26 points, much of it coming during a game-breaking spurt at the start of the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks came in having lost three of four since winning 13 in a row. They looked good in the first half, scoring 62 points, and were in complete control, until Dirk Nowitzki was ejected with 9:16 left in the third quarter for complaining about a foul call.

Dallas ended up scoring just 14 points in the third quarter, and was down by one going into the fourth.

Then Kidd took over.

He had 13 points, three assists and a steal during a 22-3 run that put the Mavericks ahead for good, on their way to tying Denver for the second-best record in the Western Conference.