The Hawks secure their playoff spot and James crosses the finish line
The Atlanta Hawks secured a spot in the NBA playoffs and the Southeast Division title with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
The Hawks, who needed to win one of their two remaining games to secure a top-six finish in the Eastern Conference, blew out the qualified Cavaliers in the third quarter, scoring 35 points and extending their 61-48 halftime lead to 96-65.
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Guard CJ McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who clinched their first division title since 2021 and avoided having to advance through the play-in tournament as teams finished seventh through 10th in each conference for the first time in five seasons.
Veteran LeBron James became the fourth player in NBA history to record 12,000 career assists as he helped the Los Angeles Lakers secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 101-73 win over the Phoenix Suns.
James had 12 assists as well as 28 points and six rebounds as the Lakers recorded their 15th win in 19 games to secure a top-four finish in the Western Conference.
Former Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton is the NBA’s career assists leader, with 15,806, with Chris Paul (12,552) and Jason Kidd (12,091) also ahead of James (12,010).
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Elsewhere, the Boston Celtics clinched second place in the Eastern Conference with an emphatic 144-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The 18-time NBA champions hit a team-high 29 3-pointers, with forward Sam Hauser leading the way with eight, to capture the Atlantic Division title.
This result means that the New York Knicks, who beat the Celtics in the previous game, will have to settle for being the third seed despite beating the Toronto Raptors 112-95.
The Raptors slipped to sixth place after the loss, with an identical record (45-36) to the seventh-place Orlando Magic, with one game left in the regular season. The Magic beat the Chicago Bulls 127-103 to extend their winning streak to five games.
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Victor Wembanyama, returning from a one-game injury absence, played for the Western Conference’s second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in a 139-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The 22-year-old Most Valuable Player contender had 40 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
The Denver Nuggets remain in the hunt for third place in the Western Conference after beating the defending champions and top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder 127-107.