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Knicks rout Celtics for 8th straight win

Closing in on one goal of ending Boston’s division title reign, the New York Knicks added another.

While they were finishing off their second victory over the Celtics this week, injured forward Rasheed Wallace drew a large ”50” on the board in their locker room, challenging them to strive for a 50-win season.

They’re on pace to get that, too, in what’s shaping up as their best season in two decades.

Carmelo Anthony had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and the Knicks extended their winning streak to eight games and moved closer to ending Boston’s hold on the Atlantic Division title with a 108-89 victory Sunday night…

Chris Copeland added 22 points and Raymond Felton had 18 for the Knicks, who last won eight in a row from Nov. 28-Dec. 12, 2010. They will try to extend the streak Tuesday at NBA-leading Miami…

J.R. Smith, who had 30 points off the bench in his previous three games, finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Jeff Green scored 27 points, and Paul Pierce had 24 points and 15 rebounds as the Celtics had a two-game winning streak snapped.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Chris Bosh 3-pointer lifts short-handed Heat past Spurs

Often the forgotten member of Miami’s ”Big Three,” Chris Bosh stepped up with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sitting out to get the Heat a big win and move closer to securing home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs.

Bosh scored 23 points, including the winning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining, and the Heat beat San Antonio 88-86 on Sunday night with James, Wade and Mario Chalmers watching from the locker room as they sat out with injuries.

”We are the defending champs no matter who we put out there,” Bosh said. ”We are still the Miami Heat. We believe in ourselves. Each one of these guys is a professional. We played bigger roles in other cities but we came together and accepted lesser roles to win a championship here. We can still tap into that.”

Ray Allen added 14 points, Norris Cole had 13 and Mike Miller 12 for Miami (58-15), which swept the season series with San Antonio (55-18). By earning the head-to-head tiebreaker with San Antonio, the Heat have a four-game cushion with nine remaining for the league’s best record…

Miami beat San Antonio 105-100 on Nov. 29 when the Spurs opted to rest Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green.

All but Ginobili (strained right hamstring) played Sunday.

Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who had a seven-game home winning streak snapped. Green and Parker added 12 points apiece and Stephen Jackson had 11.

— Reported by the Associated Press

As usual, Chicago Bulls beat Detroit Pistons

Even short-handed, the Chicago Bulls’ dominance of the Detroit Pistons continues.

The Bulls continued a five-year winning streak over the Pistons with a 95-94 victory Sunday at United Center, despite playing without three key contributors, including notorious Piston-killer Joakim Noah.

The Pistons (24-50) led most of the game and dominated many of the key statistical categories but untimely turnovers and the Bulls’ big advantage on free throws doomed them.

Charlie Villanueva had a shot in the final seconds to tie, with the score 94-91, but it sailed off line. A Daequan Cook free throw was followed by Rodney Stuckey’s meaningless 3-pointer before the buzzer.

The Bulls have won 18 consecutive games against the Pistons, with their last loss coming on Dec. 23, 2008. They also have won the last 14 meetings at United Center since Feb. 24, 2006.

— Reported by David Mayo of Michigan Live

Bradley Beal returns, scores 24 in Wizards win over Raptors

Bradley Beal scored 24 points in his return to the lineup, leading the Washington Wizards to a 109-92 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

Emeka Okafor had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and John Wall added 18 points and 10 assists for Washington. The Wizards, who came in having lost two in a row on the road, won their seventh straight at home and moved into a tie with Toronto for 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Raptors, losers of six of their last seven. Toronto leading scorer Rudy Gay scored 11 points – about seven below his average – while being limited to 26 minutes due to foul trouble.

Toronto, which has lost six of seven, cut a 20-point third-quarter deficit to six twice in the fourth quarter before Washington pulled away.

After missing five straight games, and 11 of 13, with a sprained left ankle, Beal shot 8 for 14 from the field, including a career-high six 3-pointers – on nine attempts – in 30 minutes…

Gay was held to five points in the half and DeMar DeRozan to four, while Valanciunas scored 16 for Toronto.

— Reported by Harvey Valentine of the Associated Press

Kyrie Irving returns, but Cavs lose to Hornets

Kyrie Irving, the king of the fourth-quarter comeback, was back on Sunday. The fourth-quarter comeback was not.

Even with the All-Star point guard returning from his sprained left shoulder and playing for the first time in three weeks, the Cavaliers ran into their same old problem in the third quarter and lost to the Hornets at New Orleans Arena, 112-92.

Irving missed eight games with the injury suffered on March 10 in Toronto, and he led the Cavs with 31 points in 28:40 on Sunday. But he didn’t have enough help and the Cavs fell to 22-50 as their longest losing streak of the season reached eight games. Greivis Vasques had 25 points and Ryan Anderson added 23 for New Orleans, 26-48.

— Reported by Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Irving was announced as a surprise return less than two hours prior to the game, but he couldn’t help a defense that was beaten badly in transition and around the perimeter. The Hornets made 12 of 21 3-pointers and scored 19 fast break points, a rarity against a Cavs team that typically gives up few points on the break.

— Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal

Nuggets beat Nets to win 18th straight game at home

The Denver Nuggets’ success runs deep, especially on their home floor.

With playmaking guard and scoring leader Ty Lawson sidelined by foot problems, rookie Evan Fournier had a season-high 19 points to lead a strong showing by Denver’s reserves, and the Nuggets extended their home winning streak to 18 games by beating the Brooklyn Nets 109-87 Friday night.

Denver improved to 33-3 at the Pepsi Center this season, the best home record in the league, and hit the 50-win mark for the fifth time in the last five full seasons.

Wilson Chandler had 16 points, and Corey Brewer and Kosta Koufos added 13 points apiece for the Nuggets, who need one win to match their longest home winning streak, from Jan. 28-April 20, 1989, despite missing Lawson. He was ruled out for the third time in four games after an exam Thursday of his strained heel also revealed a plantar fascia tear in his right foot…

Andre Miller started in place of Lawson and finished with 12 points, but the Nuggets also anticipated that Fournier would get additional playing time and produce given the opportunity…

Deron Williams scored 19 points for the Nets, who missed a chance for their team-record 21st road win of the season. Especially hurt by an off night at the free throw line – Brooklyn converted only 18 of 36 – the Nets lost to the Nuggets for the sixth straight time in Denver…

Andray Blatche had 16 points and Reggie Evans added 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Nets, who are trying to finish a season with a winning road record for the first time in team history.

— Reported by Dennis Georgatos of the Associated Press

Tim Duncan scores 34 in Spurs win over Clippers

San Antonio Spurs All-Star Tim Duncan is a man of little emotion and even fewer words.

The Los Angeles Clippers brought out a demonstrative side rarely seen from the 16-year veteran and it helped lead to their downfall.

Duncan had a season-high 34 points, including a game-winning three-point play with 2.2 seconds left, and San Antonio outlasted Los Angeles 104-102 on Friday night.

Sparked by a pair of hard fouls in the second quarter, Duncan was 12 for 19 from field and also had 11 rebounds in leading San Antonio (55-17) to its seventh straight home victory.

”There was a stretch where they put the whistle away,” Duncan said. ”It gave me a little energy to kind of play a little harder. I got some shots to go early and it just kind of snowballed from there.”

Tony Parker added 24 points and eight assists, and Tiago Splitter had 14 points for San Antonio.

The Spurs extended their lead in the Western Conference to 2 1/2 games over Oklahoma City, which lost 101-93 to Minnesota.

Blake Griffin scored 18 points, Jamal Crawford added 16 and Chris Paul had 14 for the Clippers (49-24), who remain fourth in the West. Caron Butler added 11 points and Willie Green had 10.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Timberwolves step up to beat Thunder 101-93

If the Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t able to catch the San Antonio Spurs in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, Kevin Durant and Co. may look back to a late March night in Minnesota as the moment they let it slip away.

Barreling down on the Spurs with 11 victories in their previous 14 games, the rolling Thunder slammed into a 6-foot-11, Montenegrin road block and a feisty Timberwolves team they never saw coming.

Nikola Pekovic had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Ricky Rubio added 17 points and seven assists to help the Timberwolves stun the Thunder 101-93 on Friday night.

”We’ll be fine,” Durant said. ”You know, just a little bump in the road.”

Chase Budinger scored 13 points and Andrei Kirilenko played superb defense on Durant in the second half to help the Wolves deal the Thunder an unexpected setback in their pursuit of the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Durant had 36 points and seven rebounds, but was just 4 for 9 in the final 22 minutes. Russell Westbrook added 18 points and nine assists for the Thunder, who fell to 2 1/2 games behind the Spurs in the West after San Antonio beat the Clippers.

”I’m pretty sure he’s tired right now,” Kirilenko said of Durant.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Paul Pierce triple-double helps Celtics beat Hawks

The Boston Celtics, who have already had their share of key injuries, had a quick scare seconds into the second half when Paul Pierce fell to the floor hard and was down for a bit before limping to the bench.

After a timeout, the 35-year old captain shook off the slight injury to his left leg, headed back onto the court and went back to work on his third triple-double of the season.

Pierce had 20 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, and Jeff Green scored 27 points to carry the Celtics to a 118-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night…

Jason Terry was 5 of 7 on 3-pointers and finished with 24 points for Boston, which won its second straight following a five-game losing streak. Brandon Bass scored 13 and Shavlik Randolph grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds with nine points…

Josh Smith led the Hawks with 18 points but shot just 7 of 23 from the floor and 0 for 6 in the second half. Mike Scott scored 19 and Jeff Teague added 17 points and seven assists…

Hawks F/C Al Horford missed the game due to an illness. … Rivers said before the game that the timetable for F/C Kevin Garnett’s return remained the same. ”I think it’s still two weeks,” he said. ”I don’t think it’ll be any longer than that. But if it’s two and a half, I don’t want to you to call me a liar or anything like that.” Garnett missed his fourth straight with what the team called ”left ankle inflammation.” … Boston G Courtney Lee returned after missing three games with a sprained left ankle.

— Reported by Ken Powtak of the Associated Press

J.R. Smith leads Knicks to 7th win in a row

J.R. Smith hasn’t had a run like this since high school.

No NBA reserve has in more than two decades.

Smith scored 37 points, his third consecutive 30-point outing, and the New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Bobcats 111-102 on Friday night for their season-high seventh straight victory.

”He is focused. He is dialed in. Locked in,” Carmelo Anthony said. ”He is playing extremely well and his confidence is sky high. We are following his lead.”

Anthony had 32 points and Raymond Felton added 18 for the Knicks, who have the longest current streak in the NBA. They built a 30-point lead that was reduced to single digits for the second game in a row.

Gerald Henderson tied a career high with 35 points for the Bobcats. Kemba Walker added 16, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 14 and Ben Gordon finished with 12.

Smith had 23 points at halftime, shooting 9 of 11 from the field. He is the first player with three straight 30-point games as a reserve since Ricky Pierce in 1990.

— Reported by Jeff Bernstein of the Associated Press