MIAMI — The Miami Heat completed a stirring second half to the NBA regular season by setting a new milestone Wednesday but their brilliance was not rewarded with a playoff berth as the growing trend of resting players took on extra significance.
The Heat were the victims this time, their season drawing to a close earlier than they would have preferred despite a 110-102 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Miami made an awful start to the campaign and were 11-30 at the halfway mark, but the Heat became the first team to rally from more than 12 games below .500 and avoid a losing record.
They finished 41-41 and needed either the Chicago Bulls or Indiana Pacers to lose their final games to reach the playoffs.
The Bulls, however, breezed to a 112-73 victory against a Brooklyn Nets team missing six players, while the Pacers cruised to a 104-86 win over the playoff-bound Atlanta Hawks, who rested five players ahead of the post-season.
“The league has got to step in here, because this is a very big black eye for this league,” former NBA Coach of the Year Hubie Brown said during the Indiana-Atlanta game.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has expressed concern at the practice of resting so many players, but apart from promising to schedule teams to play less games on consecutive days, it has offered few other answers on how to solve the problem.
Boston clinched the top seed in the East, ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who lost their last four games, playing the final two without LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
In the Western Conference, there was nothing at stake Wednesday except for home court advantage for the series between the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz.
The Clippers had to win their game against Sacramento to clinch the fourth seed ahead of Utah, and they did so easily, 115-95.
Match-ups for the first round of the playoffs.
Eastern Conference: Boston (1) vs. Chicago (8); Cleveland (2) vs. Indiana (7); Toronto (3) vs. Milwaukee (6); Washington (4) vs. Atlanta (5).
Western Conference: Golden State (1) v Portland (8); San Antonio (2) v Memphis (7); Houston (3) v Oklahoma City (6); Los Angeles Clippers (4) v Utah (5).
Celtics 112, Bucks 94
Gerald Green scored 18 points and Boston emerged with the top seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs after beating Milwaukee.
Jae Crowder and Amir Johnson each had 16 points, Isaiah Thomas finished with 13 points and eight assists, and Al Horford added 12 points for the Celtics.
Spencer Hawes and Michael Beasley each had 15 points for the Bucks.
Raptors 98, Cavaliers 83
Norman Powell led all scorers with 25 points as Toronto pounded Cleveland.
Cleveland was without LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Iman Shumpert was the Cavs’ leading scorer with 11 points.
The Cavaliers will be the second seed entering the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Raptors are the third seed.
Magic 113, Pistons 109
Aaron Gordon had 32 points and 12 rebounds in leading Orlando over Detroit.
Elfrid Payton scored 21 points, including six in the final 1:10 to ice the victory.
Knicks 114, 76ers 113
Maurice Ndour’s step-back jumper with 18.3 seconds remaining lifted New York over Philadelphia.
The Knicks trailed by nine entering the fourth quarter and tied the score three times before Ndour’s game-winner. Carmelo Anthony, who may have played his final game with New York, scored 17 points.
Mavericks 100, Grizzlies 93
Dallas snapped a five-game losing streak with a season-ending win over Memphis.
Nicolas Brussino scored 15 points and Devin Harris had 15 points and eight assists off the bench for the Mavericks.
Rockets 123, Timberwolves 118
James Harden recorded his 22nd triple-double and Houston tuned up for the post-season with a win over Minnesota.
Harden posted 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to pace a balanced scoring attack for the Rockets (55-27), whose win total matched the fourth-most in team history.
Nuggets 111, Thunder 105
Nikola Jokic scored 29 points to lead Denver over Oklahoma City.
Jokic went 9-of-14 from the field and 11-of-14 from the free-throw line and had 16 rebounds and eight assists. Jamal Murray added 27 points for the Nuggets.
Other results: Clippers 115, Kings 95; Warriors 109, Lakers 94; Pelicans 103, Trail Blazers 100. — Agencies
