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With big game from Carlos Boozer, Bulls rally to beat Nets 92-90

Down five key players. Down 16 points. A lot for any team to overcome.

These Chicago Bulls are used to it.

”We fight to the end,” forward Carlos Boozer said. ”We’ve got some resilient guys in here.”

Boozer had 29 points and 18 rebounds, Nate Robinson made the go-ahead basket with 22 seconds left, and the Bulls rallied to beat the Brooklyn Nets 92-90 on Thursday night in a potential preview of a first-round playoff series.

Jimmy Butler had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Luol Deng scored 18 points, and Robinson finished with 12 as the Bulls shook off the absences of the injured players to keep Indiana from clinching the Central Division title they’ve won the last two years.

Chicago pulled into a tie for fifth place with Atlanta and climbed within 1 1/2 games of the Nets for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round.

And the Bulls did it without Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Richard Hamilton and Marco Belinelli, all starters or key members of their rotation. Plus, they lost starting point guard Kirk Hinrich to fouls with 3:38 remaining…

Deron Williams had 30 points and 10 assists for the Nets, who had a disappointing return home from an eight-game road trip. Brook Lopez finished with 28 points, but he had a turnover and two misses in the final minute, including a corner jumper that went in and out that would have forced overtime.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Melo score 40 vs Hawks, Knicks win 10th game in a row

Carmelo Anthony put on another scoring show, though he didn’t have to do it alone.

Anthony scored 40 points and the Knicks got key contributions from J.R. Smith and Raymond Felton during a 19-5 fourth-quarter run that sparked New York to its 10th straight victory, 95-82 over Atlanta on Wednesday night.

”Melo is smart enough to know that if he’s doubled, he’ll sacrifice the ball,” said Knicks coach Mike Woodson. ”And we’ve got enough shooters around him that are making big shots. That opens it up for him even more. And when he gets going like he did tonight, they’re not going to leave him alone very often.”

Anthony, who scored 50 in his last game at Miami, scored 26 in the first half. He commanded more defensive attention in the second half, which left opportunities for Smith, who scored 19, and Felton, who scored 14. Felton’s quickness to the basket resulted in three straight scores during a 12-2 streak that turned a tie game into an 84-74 Knicks lead that was never threatened…

Anthony made 17 of 27 from the field and was 5-for-6 at the line. He also had five rebounds and three assists, with only one turnover…

Atlanta lost the opportunity to move into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and wasted a 25-point effort by Kyle Korver, who came up two points short of his season high.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Carmelo Anthony scores 50 points on banged-up Heat

On this night, LeBron James couldn’t touch Carmelo Anthony — and Melo should thank Miami president Pat Riley for it.

With James and Dwyane Wade sitting out Tuesday night’s showdown with “minor’’ ailments, Anthony put on a South Beach show with 50 points in 40 minutes.

Anthony carried the Knicks to a 102-90 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena for their ninth straight victory — their longest winning streak since 1993-94.

Anthony had 42 points after three quarters but needed a 19-footer with 16.9 seconds to reach the magical 50 that tied his career high. James had a great view from the bench — as Anthony sank 18 of 26 baskets, made 7 of 10 3-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws.

How’d it look, LeBron?

“He was unbelievable,’’ coach Mike Woodson said. “He refused to let us lose tonight. He wasn’t forcing anything. Some things come easy for a great player and tonight he did everything he was supposed to do to put us in position to win.’’

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

J.R. Smith scored 14 and Raymond Felton added 10 for New York.

Chris Bosh scored 23 points for Miami, which beat San Antonio on Sunday without James, Wade and Chalmers, but managed only 32 second-half points against the Knicks. Mike Miller scored 18, Ray Allen finished with 16 and Norris Cole had 14 for the Heat, whose 17-game home winning streak was snapped.

The Knicks beat the Heat in three of their four regular-season matchups. They likely would not meet again before the Eastern Conference finals.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Pacers hold on to beat Clippers 109-106

Roy Hibbert had 26 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out, Paul George added 23 points and 10 assists, and the Indiana Pacers barely completed a sweep of their four-game road trip with a 109-106 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night in a battle of division leaders.

Hibbert, who was serving a one-game suspension from the league when the Pacers lost to the Clippers 99-91 at Indianapolis on Feb. 28, made all eight of his shots in the first half and finished 11 for 14 from the field to help his team extend its winning streak to five and increase its Central Division lead to 6 1/2 games over idle Chicago.

All five Pacers starters scored in double figures, with David West getting 16 and backcourt mates Lance Stephenson and George Hill chipping in with 13 apiece.

Jamal Crawford scored 25 points off the bench for the Pacific Division-leading Clippers, whose magic number to clinch the first division title in the franchise’s 43-year history remained at two. They failed on their third attempt at their 50th victory, which would break the franchise record set by the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves. Blake Griffin had 17 points.

Center DeAndre Jordan, whose games this season have fluctuated between dominant and invisible, played 17 scoreless minutes and went to the bench for good with 6:26 left in the third quarter. The Clippers were outscored 42-25 while he was on the floor…

The loss snapped the Clippers’ franchise-record streak of 10 straight wins against Eastern Conference opponents. … Los Angeles has a better winning percentage when Griffin scores fewer than 20 points (28-14) than it does when he gets 20 or more (20-11).

— Reported by Joe Resnick of the Associated Press

Larry Sanders scores 24, Bucks beat Bobcats 131-102

Larry Sanders’ latest career night led to a big scoring night for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sanders had a career-high 24 points and 13 rebounds as Milwaukee cruised to a 131-102 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night for the Bucks’ highest total in more than four years.

”It’s working out pretty well,” said Sanders, who had set his previous career scoring high of 21 on Thursday in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. ”I am just trying to stay active. My teammates are doing a great job of finding me down there, trusting me to finish plays, and I’m shooting the ball when I’m open.”

Monta Ellis had 19 points, a career-high 14 assists and six steals to help Milwaukee pull 1 1/2 games behind seventh-place Boston in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Celtics lost to Minnesota on Monday.

Ersan Ilyasova added 22 points for the Bucks, and J.J. Redick scored 20, 16 in the second half. Brandon Jennings had 19, as Milwaukee, which had lost five of six, remained solidly in the eighth position in the East, with a six-game lead over idle Philadelphia.

Kemba Walker scored 27 points to lead the Bobcats, and Gerald Henderson had 17.

Charlotte came in allowing 47.3 percent shooting and 103.1 points per game – second-worst in the league in both categories – and it showed.

— Reported by Erik Brooks of the Associated Press

Omer Asik gets 22 points and 18 rebounds, Rockets beat Magic

Omer Asik matched his career high with 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the Orlando Magic 111-103 on Monday night without James Harden and Chandler Parsons

Jeremy Lin had 19 points and 11 assists and Francisco Garcia had 14 points, five assists and three blocks for the Rockets, who hardly missed their top two scorers until Orlando made a late run. Harden sat out for the second straight game with a sore right foot and Parsons missed the game with an illness.

Rookie Maurice Harkless scored a career-high 28 points and Beno Udrih had 17 points and 10 assists for the Magic.

The Rockets won for the eighth time in 10 home games and inched closer to their first playoff berth since the 2008-09 season. Houston holds the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.

Greg Smith started the game with a one-handed dunk and the Rockets were off and running. Smith and Asik got any shot they wanted early on and the Rockets opened with a 21-6 spurt…

[Tobias] Harris had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando.

— Reported by Chris Duncan of the Associated Press

Nikola Pekovic scores 29, Timberwolves beat banged-up Celtics

Nikola Pekovic bruised and battered the overmatched Boston front line for 29 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 110-100 victory over the Celtics on Monday night.

Andrei Kirilenko had 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Dante Cunningham scored 19 points off the bench for the Wolves, who delivered coach Rick Adelman his 998th career victory.

Avery Bradley scored 19 points for Boston, which was playing without Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. The Celtics, who started the day 2 1/2 games ahead of eight-seeded Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference playoff race, have lost seven of their last nine games.

This one snapped an 11-game winning streak against the Wolves, who beat Boston for the first time since Garnett was traded there in 2007.

Jeff Green had a quiet night with just 10 points and seven rebounds, while Jason Terry and Terrence Williams each scored 14 points for Boston, which was a step slow on the second night of a back-to-back…

Ricky Rubio had nine points and 10 assists for the Timberwolves.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Mike Conley layup helps Grizzlies beat banged-up Spurs

Mike Conley drove for a layup with 0.6 seconds left, and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 92-90 Monday night for their third straight victory.

The Grizzlies matched their franchise record with their 50th win this season, and they won their 12th straight at home. They pulled out a win in a game where Conley’s bucket gave them their first lead since 18-16 late in the first quarter.

Conley scored the final five points and finished with 23. Jerryd Bayless had 17 points, Marc Gasol 16, Zach Randolph 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince had 11 points.

Tony Parker had 25 points for the Spurs. Parker tried to beat the buzzer with a jumper that was too late.

Tiago Splitter added 13 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio, who was not at full strength playing its second game in two nights. The Spurs left Kawhi Leonard at home with a sore left knee. Manu Ginobili is out at least three weeks with a strained right hamstring, and Tim Duncan also did not play after playing 35 minutes in Sunday night’s 88-86 loss to Miami.

— Reported by Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press

Hawks hand Cavaliers ninth straight loss

Devin Harris scored a season-high 25 points and Josh Smith nearly added a triple-double Monday night as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-94 to improve their chances of securing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Smith had 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists before a sparse crowd in Philips Arena to help the Hawks (42-33) pull within one game of Brooklyn (42-31) for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Reserve Marreese Speights scored 14 of his 22 in the final quarter, but the Cavs (22-51) did not seriously threaten after pulling within 58-56 early in the third period.

Shaun Livingston, starting with Kyrie Irving not playing in the second night of a back-to-back, had 14 points and six assists in Cleveland’s ninth straight loss.

Harris, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over the visiting Magic, picked up where he left off. He scored Atlanta’s first seven points and had 11 in the first quarter as the Hawks built a 25-19 lead…

Al Horford returned to start at center for Atlanta after missing two games with a stomach illness. He had 16 points and six rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

— Reported by Matt Winkeljohn of the Associated Press

Greg Monroe scores 24, Pistons beat Raptors 108-98

Greg Monroe scored 24 points, Jose Calderon had 19 points and nine assists against his former team, and the Detroit Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Raptors 108-98 on Monday night.

Rodney Stuckey scored 18 points, Jonas Jerebko had 10 of his 15 in the fourth quarter and rookie Khris Middleton added 11 as the Pistons won for just the third time in 19 games.

Rudy Gay scored 34 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 17 and DeMar DeRozan 15 as the Raptors lost for the seventh time in eight games. Toronto was outscored 33-19 in the final quarter…

Before the game, the Pistons announced that forward Jason Maxiell will miss the remainder of the season after surgery to repair a detached retina. Maxiell began complaining of blurry vision last week and didn’t travel with the team for Sunday’s loss at Chicago. He stayed in Detroit to visit a specialist, who diagnosed the injury.

Detroit was also without guard Will Bynum, who sat out with a strained right hand.

Raptors swingman Landry Fields was unavailable because of pain in his right elbow. Fields had surgery on the elbow last November, forcing him to miss 22 games. He skipped Monday’s game to travel to Los Angeles for follow-up testing.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press