Pacers top Heat to claim fourth seed in East

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The Indiana Pacers earned the right to be the ‘home’ team to begin their first-round playoff series with the Miami Heat by beating their Eastern Conference rivals 109-92 in their regular-season finale.

Friday’s seeding game scores

  • Miami Heat 92-109 Indiana Pacers
  • Oklahoma City Thunder 103-107 LA Clippers (OT)
  • Philadelphia 76ers 134-96 Houston Rockets
  • Denver Nuggets 109-117 Toronto Raptors

Miami Heat 92-109 Indiana Pacers

Miami Heat's Derrick Jones Jr. lies on the court after being injured against the Indiana Pacers 1:22
Highlights of the regular season seeding game between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers earned the right to be the ‘home’ team to begin their first-round playoff series with the Miami Heat by beating their Eastern Conference rivals 109-92 on Friday in their regular-season finale.

Aaron Holiday bombed in a pair of three-pointers in a game-opening 21-7 flurry that gave Indiana (45-28) a lead for good in a match-up of teams that entered the game tied for fourth place in the East.

The Pacers and Heat (44-29) will next play in a best-of-seven playoff series, beginning on Tuesday. Indiana will enter the postseason as the fourth seed in the East, while Miami will be No 5.

With nothing at stake other than the color of jerseys for the playoff opener, the Pacers played without TJ Warren, Domantas Sabonis, Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner. The Heat rested Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, Bam Adebayo, Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala.

The loosely played game featured one scary and one memorable moment.

The scary moment occurred when Heat swingman Derrick Jones Jr took a hard fall in the third quarter and had to be tended to on the court for several minutes. Fearing a neck injury, he was taken off the floor on a stretcher. The seriousness of his injury wasn’t immediately known.

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A lighter scene resulted when Heat veteran Udonis Haslem connected on his first three-point basket since 2018. The 17-year veteran is now 5-for-58 from beyond the arc in his career.

Doug McDermott led the way for the Pacers with 23 points. Malcolm Brogdon, one of the few regulars who saw action in the game, added 16.

Kendrick Nunn matched McDermott’s 23-point total to share game-high scoring honors for the Heat, who lost for the fifth time in their eighth rescheduled games.

Oklahoma City Thunder 103-107 LA Clippers (OT)

 Rodney McGruder of the LA Clippers handles the ball during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder 1:24
Highlights of the regular season seeding game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers

Rookie Terance Mann had 25 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists for the LA Clippers, who beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 107-103 in a final seeding game for both teams devoid of stars.

Amir Coffey scored a career-high 21 points before fouling out with 6.7 seconds left for the Clippers. Patrick Patterson had 17 points and a career-best 14 rebounds, while JaMychal Green added 13 points and eight rebinds for Los Angeles (49-23).

Mann’s three-pointer with 2:30 left gave the Clippers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Hamidou Diallo led the Thunder with a career-high 27 points, while Dennis Schroder contributed 17. Schroder, who recently returned to the bubble after the birth of his second child, played in his first game since August 1 when he scored 13 points in win over the Utah Jazz.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the former Clipper, had 13 points and four rebounds before Thunder coach Billy Donovan replaced him early in the second quarter.

Philadelphia 76ers 134-96 Houston Rockets

Al Horford of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots the ball against the Houston Rockets 1:16
Highlights of the regular season seeding game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Houston Rockets

Tobias Harris paired 18 points with seven rebounds in 24 minutes while Joel Embiid added 14 points and six rebounds in limited action as the Philadelphia 76ers turned a blistering first-half shooting display into a runaway 134-96 victory over the Houston Rockets.

The 76ers (43-30) shot 60 per cent prior to the intermission, including a robust 10-of-16 on three-pointers, in cruising to a 24-point half-time lead. Harris paced four 76ers in double figures with 12 points and Embiid chipped in 11 while corralling all six of his boards for Philadelphia, who will open the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Monday against the Boston Celtics (48-24).

The Rockets (44-28) closed the seeding games with three consecutive losses following a 4-1 start. Houston will be the fourth seed in the Western Conference and will open the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder (44-28) on Tuesday. The Rockets will be without All-Star guard Russell Westbrook (quad), who played 11 seasons in Oklahoma City, for the start of the series.

James Harden recorded his 22nd double-double for the Rockets, posting game-highs in points (27) and assists (10). With a pair of free throws at the 5:39 mark of the first quarter, Harden passed Hall of Famer center Walt Bellamy (20,941 points) for 36th in NBA career scoring.

Jeff Green added 17 points while Eric Gordon, playing his second game after being sidelined to open the restart with an ankle sprain, tallied 13 points.

Denver Nuggets 109-117 Toronto Raptors

Paul Watson of the Toronto Raptors shoots the ball against the Denver Nuggets 1:21
Highlights of the regular season seeding game between the Denver Nuggets and the Toronto Raptors

Stanley Johnson scored a season-best 23 points to lift the Toronto Raptors to a 117-109 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday in the final regular-season game for each team.

Several regulars either did not play or had limited minutes for Toronto (53-19), who posted a 7-1 mark since the restart. The Raptors’ overall record is the second-best in the NBA.

Paul Watson added 22 points while Norman Powell chipped in 15, Terence Davis had 14 and Matt Thomas 12 for Toronto. PJ Dozier scored 20 points and Monte Morris added 16 for Denver (46-27). Jamal Murray had 11 points in only 10 minutes for the Nuggets and Nikola Jokic had two points in 10 minutes.

The Raptors led by as many as 16 points in the first half and secured a nine-point advantage into the fourth quarter. Toronto took a 13-point lead on a lay-up by Davis with 4:45 remaining.

The Raptors rested Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet. OG Anunoby and Serge Ibaka were out with knee injuries. Michael Porter Jr was rested for Denver.

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