Mavs get their wish -- No. 7 seed
Dirk Nowitzki came right out and said it: The Dallas Mavericks did not want to open the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers.
They'd much rather take their chances against the New Orleans Hornets -- especially after the way things went Wednesday night in a 111-98 win in Dallas.
Jason Kidd and Jason Terry outplayed Hornets star Chris Paul, with Kidd racking up the 100th triple-double of his career and Terry scoring 13 of his 30 points during a 32-8 stretch that took Dallas from down by 11 to leading by 13.
The Mavericks' win set up a first-round series between these teams.
"This was definitely a win we wanted to get," Nowitzki said. "The Lakers are probably the hottest team in the West. We definitely didn't want to face them in the first round. … (New Orleans) had a great year, but I think we match up pretty well."
Nuggets 120, Grizzlies 111: Carmelo Anthony scored 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in his first game since getting arrested on a drunken driving charge, and host Denver reached the 50-win mark for the first time in 20 years with a victory over Memphis.
The Nuggets learned in the first half that Dallas had beaten New Orleans, clinching the seventh seed and relegating Denver to a first-round playoff series with the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.
Spurs 109, Jazz 80: San Antonio wrapped up the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs in dominant fashion in their rout of Utah.
The Spurs will face the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns - winners over Portland Wednesday night -- in the first round. The Jazz will take on the Houston Rockets.
Tony Parker had 24 points and 12 assists for San Antonio in the easy win. Tim Duncan added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and four other Spurs scored in double digits.
Pacers 132, Knicks 123: Mike Dunleavy tied a career high with 36 points, and Indiana beat visiting New York, sending the Knicks to a franchise record-tying 59th loss in what might have been Isiah Thomas' last game as coach.
Thomas gave new team president Donnie Walsh another reason to fire him after the Knicks allowed their highest point total of the season.
Heat 113, Hawks 99: Jason Williams scored 17 points, Mark Blount and Daequan Cook each added 16 and host Miami (15-67) ended a disappointing season that may be the last with Pat Riley on the bench.
Riley will meet with Heat owner Micky Arison in the coming days and presumably come to a decision on his future. Miami matched the 1988-89 expansion team for the worst record in franchise history.
Rockets 93, Clippers 75: Luis Scola had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and host Houston locked up the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a victory over Los Angeles.