OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma: The Oklahoma City Thunder clinched home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs by beating Sacramento 104-95 Monday behind a 29-point effort from Kevin Durant.
“We were just trying to get some deflections and use our length a little bit to get out and score,” Durant said. “I think we did a good job of finishing.”
Durant also had eight assists and seven rebounds for the Thunder who scored 62 points in the paint compared to just 46 for the Kings in front of a crowd of 18,203 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Russell Westbrook finished with 21 points and eight assists, while Serge Ibaka had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the National Basketball Association win.
Isaiah Thomas was the lone starter to reach double figures for the Kings as he finished with 16.
Travis Outlaw had 15 points while Cole Aldrich posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Thunder’s victory also means they completed the sweep of Sacramento in the season series.
Oklahoma City extended its lead to 24 points on two different occasions but the Kings refused to quit and Aldrich made it a 14-point game with an offensive rebound and jumper on their final possession of the third quarter.
Reggie Jackson finished off a driving layup to send the Thunder into the fourth quarter with an 83-67 lead.
“Just getting some defensive stops,” Jackson said when asked about the keys to victory.
Jazz 96 Timberwolves 80: Al Jefferson had 22 points and eight rebounds and visiting Utah defeated Minnesota to move within one game of the Los Angeles Lakers in the battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Mo Williams scored 15 points and Randy Foye added 14 as the Jazz beat the Timberwolves for the fourth consecutive time this season. Utah close the regular season by visiting the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday and hold the tiebreaker edge with the Lakers.
Derrick Williams scored 18 points, Dante Cunningham tallied 12 and J.J. Barea added 11 for the Timberwolves.
Nuggets 112 Bucks 111: Ty Lawson finished a 26-point night with the go-ahead jumper in the closing seconds as visiting Denver secured home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Wilson Chandler scored 21 points for the Nuggets, who have won seven of eight and are on the verge of locking up the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. They lead Memphis by one game and the Los Angeles Clippers by 1 1/2 with one game to play.
Monta Ellis had 38 points and a four-point play with 14.2 seconds left that gave the Bucks a short-lived 111-110 lead. Lawson answered with a jumper with 9.3 ticks remaining.
Grizzlies 103 Mavericks 97: Jerryd Bayless scored 19 points as visiting Memphis got a season-high 64 points from their bench and won for the fourth time in five games.
Ed Davis collected 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who nonetheless were locked into the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoffs when Denver beat Milwaukee on Monday.
Dirk Nowitzki poured in 26 points for the Mavericks, who must win their final game on Wednesday against New Orleans to avoid finishing below .500 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
Nets 106 Wizards 101: Andray Blatche had 20 points and 12 rebounds and scored the tiebreaking basket with 55.5 seconds remaining as shorthanded Brooklyn rallied to beat visiting Washington.
Kris Humphries added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, who rested starters Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez and Reggie Evans after being locked in as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference with Sunday’s loss to Toronto.
The Nets trailed by seven points with eight minutes to play.
After Blatche’s go-ahead hoop, Taylor drained a three-pointer with 22 seconds left to complete the scoring.
Bulls 102 Magic 84: Carlos Boozer scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures as visiting Chicago cruised to their fifth straight win over Orlando.
Luol Deng added 18 points and eight assists for the Bulls, who pulled within a half-game of idle Atlanta for the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Chicago hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Hawks.
Tobias Harris scored 20 points for the Magic, who fell into a tie with Charlotte for the worst record in the NBA.
Bobcats 106 Knicks 95: Gerald Henderson scored 27 points and Kemba Walker added 23 as hosts Charlotte knocked off New York, who rested most of their regulars.
The Knicks secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference on Sunday, giving coach Mike Woodson a chance to sit Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, Raymond Felton and others. New York will host Boston in the opener of a best-of-seven series this weekend.
Walker and Henderson combined to shoot 20-for-31 as the Bobcats shot a season-high 58.1 percent.
Elsewhere, its Miami 96 Cleveland 95, Detroit 109 Philadelphia 101, Golden State 116 San Antonio 106, and Phoenix 119 Houston 112.
