Cavaliers clinch spot; Bryant, Lakers flop

LeBron James had 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers, 105-94, last night in Indianapolis to clinch a playoff berth.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 23 points for the Cavaliers, who shot 52 percent from the field.

Jermaine O'Neal led Indiana with 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting.

Cleveland had lost three of four after an eight-game winning streak, but pulled within 2 1/2 games of Detroit in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Grizzlies 88, Lakers 86 -- Kobe Bryant's string of outstanding games came to an ugly end as Los Angeles suffered an embarrassing loss.

Rookie Tarence Kinsey scored five of his career-high 24 points in the last minute and fellow rookie Rudy Gay had 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for Memphis (18-54 and 6-30 on the road).

Bryant, who had scored at least 40 points in five straight games, including 50 in the first four, shot 7 of 26 and scored 23 points.

Sonics 114, Timberwolves 106 -- Rashard Lewis scored 21 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, Earl Watson set a career high with 24 points, and Seattle overcame a 25-point second-half deficit in Minneapolis.

Two days after its worst defeat of the season -- a 41-point loss to San Antonio -- Seattle refused to be embarrassed again. Trailing by 25 points, the Sonics held the Wolves to 18 points the rest of the game, finishing on a 25-2 run.

Kevin Garnett had 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists, but Minnesota still blew the largest lead in team history.

Mavericks 105, Hornets 89 -- Josh Howard had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and visiting Dallas claimed its 21st straight victory over New Orleans.

Jason Terry added 19 points and seven assists, Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 points, and the Mavericks' top three scorers were able to watch the entire fourth quarter from the bench.