A final flourish for Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves wrapped up the top seed in the Western Conference last night with a 107-90 victory over host Memphis in which Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and Latrell Sprewell added 20.
The Timberwolves ended the season with nine straight victories. They dominated from the start, leading by as many as 29 points early in the fourth quarter.
Memphis, already guaranteed the sixth seed in the playoffs, has lost four straight and six of its last seven.
Lakers 105, Trail Blazers 104 -- The Lakers won the Pacific Division title, and Kobe Bryant -- with two incredible shots -- was the hero. Bryant sent the game into overtime with a stunning and difficult 3-pointer, then drilled another 3 on the final play of double overtime to give Los Angeles a 105-104 victory over Portland.
The Lakers began the night tied with the Sacramento Kings atop the Pacific Division. The Kings lost to Golden State, and the Lakers emerged with the second seed in the Western Conference.
Warriors 97, Kings 91 -- Sacramento blew its chance to win the Pacific Division title when Jason Richardson scored 28 points in host Golden State's season-ending victory, the Kings' eighth loss in 12 games.
Heat 96, Nets 84 -- Caron Butler scored 22 points and Dwyane Wade sparked a third-quarter surge to help host Miami earn home-court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Raptors 89, Bucks 87 -- Host Milwaukee lost its poise and a fourth-quarter lead for the third straight game, falling to Vince Carter (23 points) and Toronto and squandering home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Hornets 94, Wizards 78 -- Playoff-bound New Orleans wrapped up the regular season with one of its easiest wins of the year in a rout of host Washington.
Elsewhere -- LeBron James finished his rookie season on a winning note, scoring 17 points as Cleveland defeated New York, 100-90, at Madison Square Garden . . . Jonathan Bender and Austin Croshere fueled an 11-2 fourth-quarter run to propel Indiana over visiting Chicago, 101-96 . . . Juwan Howard scored 26 points to lead host Orlando to a 95-89 victory over Philadelphia . . . Amare Stoudemire scored 29 points and Shawn Marion had 19 to lead Phoenix over host Utah, 89-84 . . . Tim Duncan had 23 points and 16 rebounds in host San Antonio's 93-67 blowout of Denver . . . Marquis Daniels scored 21 points, leading visiting Dallas over Houston, 92-89 . . . Ray Allen had 26 points and 11 assists as visiting Seattle completed its poorest season in 18 years by beating the Clippers, 118-87.
