Miami take top spot in the East as Indiana continue to struggle.
There were 10 games on the NBA schedule on Monday night, with the San Antonio Spurs making it 18 consecutive wins to pile further misery on the Indiana Pacers.
The Spurs are sprinting to the finish line in the regular season as they put all the pieces together to make a deep run in the playoffs, but it is the complete opposite for the Pacers who are struggling to figure out where it has all gone wrong.
Tony Parker scored 22 points, Boris Diaw added 14 and the visitors broke their franchise record with 18 wins in a row but Tim Duncan was more concerned with “staying healthy and going into the playoffs with confidence”.
In contrast, it was the worst home loss of the season for Indiana who dropped below Miami in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference after going 8-9 in March with the lowest scoring average of any team in the league.
As for the Spurs (58-16), Parker conceded that coach Gregg Popovich is arguably waiting for their loss to come so he can rest his key players ahead of what will undoubtedly be a gruelling playoff run.
The Heat did their part on Monday in replacing the Pacers at the top with a home win over the Toronto Raptors.
LeBron James had 32 points, seven rebounds and eight assists on the night, and as a result Miami are alone atop the East for the first time all season with just a handful of games remaining.
Nevertheless, James was keen to stress that the team still has plenty of work to do to iron out their own problems, and is looking to have a strong finish in order to boost confidence around the franchise.
The race for the playoffs in the East is as you were after both the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks secured wins, with the former maintaining their one-game lead for the eighth and final spot.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls are now locked at 42-32 for the season in the push for the third seed, as after Toronto’s loss to Miami, the Bulls made it back-to-back wins over the Boston Celtics with Joakim Noah putting up 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
NBA Results:
Washington Wizards 94-100 Charlotte Bobcats
San Antonio Spurs 103-77 Indiana Pacers
Philadelphia 76ers 95-103 Atlanta Hawks
Milwaukee Bucks 111-116 Detroit Pistons
Toronto Raptors 83-93 Miami Heat
Boston Celtics 80-94 Chicago Bulls
Los Angeles Clippers 114-104 Minnesota Timberwolves
Sacramento Kings 102-97 New Orleans Pelicans
Memphis Grizzlies 94-92 Denver Nuggets
New York Knicks 92-83 Utah Jazz
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