NEW YORK: The New York Knicks romped to their first Atlantic Division title since 1994, getting 36 points from Carmelo Anthony and beating the Washington Wizards 120-99 on Tuesday night for their 13th straight victory.
Anthony put this one away with 21 points during the Knicks’ 37-point third quarter that gave them a 95-71 lead. The NBA’s scoring leader added eight rebounds and six assists while becoming the first Knick since newly elected Hall of Famer Bernard King with five straight 35-point games.
Iman Shumpert added 18 points for the Knicks, who negated a height disadvantage by tying a franchise record with 20 3-pointers. J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland each added 17 points.
John Wall scored 33 points for the Wizards, who gave the Knicks way too much shooting space on the perimeter and lost their 10th in a row at Madison Square Garden.
Thunder 90 Jazz 80: Russell Westbrook scored 25 points and Kevin Durant had 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists as visiting Oklahoma City knocked off Utah.
The Thunder moved within a half-game of the San Antonio Spurs for the top spot in the Western Conference.
Mo Williams scored 19 points and Gordon Hayward added 17 for the Jazz, who fell a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers in the battle for the eighth and final playoff berth in the West.
Lakers 104 Hornets 96: Kobe Bryant scored 23 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter and Los Angeles withstood an inspired effort by visiting New Orleans to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Pau Gasol had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Dwight Howard added 19 points for the Lakers, who took over sole possession of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with four games to play.
Los Angeles holds a half-game lead over Utah, which owns the tiebreaker with the Lakers.
Eric Gordon led New Orleans with 22 points and Anthony Davis contributed 18 and 14 boards for the Hornets, who trailed 89-86 with 4:20 remaining before the Lakers scored five unanswered points to secure their 11th straight win over New Orleans.
Warriors 105 Timberwolves 89: Klay Thompson scored 25 of his 30 points in the first half and Golden State pulled away after the break to down visiting Minnesota and clinch its first playoff berth since 2006-07.
Stephen Curry added 24 points as the Warriors bumped their lead over the Houston Rockets for the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference to one game.
Point guard Ricky Rubio went 0-for-10 from the field and Minnesota shot 36.7 percent as a team.
Rockets 101 Suns 98: James Harden got credit for the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer after a defensive goaltending call on Jermaine O’Neal as Houston survived a challenge from visiting Phoenix.
Harden finished with 33 points and Omer Asik matched a career high with 22 rebounds for the Rockets.
The game back-and-forth into the final seconds when Harden’s three-pointer from the wing bounced high off the rim and O’Neal tipped the ball while it was still in the cylinder.
Heat 94 Bucks 83: LeBron James had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as host Miami matched the franchise record of 61 victories.
Udonis Haslem had 10 points and a season-best 15 rebounds as the Heat tied the record set by the 1996-97 squad. Miami has five regular-season games remaining and is four games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs in the competition for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Brandon Jennings scored 30 points for Milwaukee, which slipped to three games behind the seventh-place Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoff race
Pacers 99 Cavaliers 94: George Hill scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter as host Indiana erased a 20-point lead in the final nine minutes to stun Cleveland.
The Pacers ended the game on a 31-6 burst to halt a two-game skid and keep alive their slim hopes of earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Indiana is 2 1/2 games behind the New York Knicks with four games left.
Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 29 points for the Cavaliers, but he was whistled for an offensive charge with 13.1 seconds left with his team trailing by two.
Elsewhere, it’s Brooklyn Nets 104 Philadelphia 76ers 83, Memphies Grizzlies 94 Charlotte Bobcats 75 and Toronto Raptors 101 Chicago Bulls 98.
