No Thriller Needed As Suns Beat Mavs
The Suns’ Amare Stoudemire (1) celebrates with teammates after dunking against Dallas on Sunday.
AP Photo
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks again, and this one was no down-to-the-wire thriller between the teams with the best records in the NBA.
Leandro Barbosa scored 29 points and the Suns beat the Mavericks for the second time in 18 days, 126-104 on Sunday.
Amare Stoudemire added 24 points and Steve Nash had 23 and 11 assists as the Suns snapped Dallas’ nine-game winning streak and finished their season series with the Mavs 2-2.
Stoudemire, who scored 41 in the Suns’ come-from-behind 129-127 double-overtime victory at Dallas on March 14, made 10-of-13 shots Sunday.
Pistons 94, Heat 88
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Richard Hamilton scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, helping Detroit beat Miami.
Hamilton had missed Detroit’s past four games with a concussion and the flu, and had only two points in 12 first-half minutes.
Wizards 121, Bucks 107
MILWAUKEE — Gilbert Arenas scored 19 points and Caron Butler added 19 points before fracturing his right hand early in the second half of Washington’s victory.
Washington’s victory, coupled with Miami’s loss to Detroit earlier Sunday, helped the Wizards regain first in the Southeast Division. Washington fell a half-game out of first Friday when it lost to Toronto and the Heat defeated Minnesota.
Bulls 105, Hawks 97
ATLANTA — Luol Deng scored 30 points and Kirk Hinrich had 22 in Chicago’s 11th straight victory over Atlanta.
The Bulls haven’t lost to Atlanta since April 9, 2004. Overall, they have won five of six and 12 of 16.
Warriors 122, Grizzlies 117
OAKLAND, Calif. — Jason Richardson scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and Golden State overcame the early ejection of Baron Davis to beat Memphis.
Raptors 107, Bobcats 94
TORONTO — Chris Bosh had 24 points and 16 rebounds and Toronto clinched its first playoff spot in five years by beating Charlotte.
Juan Dixon added 15 points for the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2002.
Jazz 86, Rockets 83
HOUSTON — Mehmet Okur scored 20 points, Carlos Boozer added 13 and Utah overcame a late deficit to beat Houston and remain ahead of the Rockets in fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
Yao Ming led the Rockets with 35 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. Tracy McGrady added 20 points.
Celtics 98, Cavaliers 96
BOSTON — With LeBron James and Paul Pierce sitting out, Delonte West made two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to lift Boston past Cleveland.
James was diagnosed with right knee tendinitis and was scheduled to travel to Minnesota with the team and be re-evaluated today.
T’wolves 105, Magic 104, OT
ORLANDO, Fla. — Ricky Davis scored a season-high 36 points — including the winning 3-pointer — to lead Minnesota past Orlando.
Pacers 100, Spurs 99
INDIANAPOLIS — Jamaal Tinsley’s layup over Tim Duncan with 1.1 seconds left gave the Pacers the victory, ending the Spurs’ six-game winning streak.
The Pacers trailed by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, but bounced back to snap a four-game losing streak. They pulled the upset without Jermaine O’Neal, their leading scorer, who sat out with a sore left knee.
