Kevin Durant scored seven of his 17 points in the fourth quarte and Jeff Green had 22 points as the Brooklyn Nets clinched a playoff spot by rallying late to beat the Toronto Raptors 116-103.
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Trailing 90-84 early in the fourth period, Brooklyn used a game-turning 16-2 run to grab control. Later, Durant hit a 3-pointer with 1:47 remaining and glared at the Toronto bench after putting his team up 111-101.
Durant, who was playing his second game after returning from a thigh injury, added 10 rebounds in 33 minutes for his eighth double-double.
"Just all of the adversity that we've fought through this year with injuries, protocols, trade situations and guys being in and out of the lineup, I'm very proud of everybody in the organisation top to bottom," Durant said.
Kyrie Irving finished with nine points, six rebounds and four assists. Seven other Nets scored in double figures on the night Brooklyn became the first Eastern Conference team to lock up a playoff spot.
The Nets won for a third straight time and the fourth time in five games to prevent Toronto from pulling off the season sweep.
Luka Doncic outscored Stephen Curry for the first time in five career head-to-heads and Dallas ran off 28 consecutive points bridging the first and second quarters as the visiting Mavericks pounded the Golden State Warriors 133-103.
Doncic had a game-high 39 points on the second night of a back-to-back, helping the Mavericks (34-27) win the season series 2-1 over the Warriors (31-31) and go 3-1/2 games up in their duel for playoff position in the Western Conference.
The blowout was Dallas' third straight in the two-year history of San Francisco's Chase Center.
The Mavericks, who have never lost in the building, blitzed the Warriors by 20 and 27 points last season.
Anfernee Simons' 27 points on 9-of-10 shooting from 3-point range led a dominant effort by the Portland Trail Blazers during a 133-112 win over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
The Oklahoma City Thunder avoided a franchise-record 15-game losing streak with a 119-115 victory over the host Boston Celtics while the Milwaukee Bucks held off the Charlotte Hornets 114-104 to avoid a sweep of the teams' regular-season series
The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Houston Rockets 114-107 for their third straight victory.
Australian Associated Press
