LOS ANGELES: Darren Collison nailed a couple of clutch late three pointers as the Indiana Pacers clinched a postseason spot on Sunday with a 113-107 overtime win over the Miami Heat.
Victor Oladipo tallied 23 points and five assists for the Pacers who earned their seventh play-off appearance in the last eight seasons.
Collison sank the go ahead three pointer with 2:49 left in overtime to give Indiana a 101-100 lead. Collison finished with 12 points as the Pacers scored 11 unanswered points to seal the victory.
Thaddeus Young had 22 points, nine rebounds and five steals, and Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 points and eight rebounds in the win.
“Our (job) is still not done,” Young said. “We want to get as high of a seed as possible and we’re just going to continue to play and try to win as many games as possible.
“But the monkey is off our back now that we’re actually in.”
Tyler Johnson finished with 19 points, James Johnson had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Bam Adebayo added 14 points for the Heat, who won two of the four-game season series.
The Heat were missing coach Erik Spoelstra who was back in Florida for the birth of his son. Spoelstra, who was replaced by assistant coach Dan Craig, is expected to return for Miami’s home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
In losing for the 11th time in their last 12 road games, the Heat fell to No 8 in the Eastern Conference.
The Pacers win and the Heat loss had a domino effect on the postseason race as the Philadelphia 76ers clinched even though they didn’t play on Sunday.
The Sixers last made the play-offs in the 2011-12 season, which was shortened to 66 games by a lockout.
Elsewhere, LeBron James scored 37 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and passed out a game-high eight assists to lead the Cavaliers over the host Brooklyn Nets 121-114.
The Nets cut a 10-point Cavs lead in half only to have James sink a stepback 30-foot three-pointer — his only three-point hoop of the game — with 39 seconds remaining to put a dagger in Brooklyn’s upset bid.
James credited aggressive defensive work by the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter, when they held the Nets to 25 points.
“You’ve got to have your mind ready defensively and have our stance ready when they get the ball,” James said.
Kevin Love added 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers.
Jordan Clarkson added 18 points for Cleveland while George Hill had 17 and Rodney Hood netted 16 off the bench for Cleveland.
Play-off boost
Also, the Milwaukee Bucks gave their NBA play-off push another boost, fighting off a furious fourth-quarter San Antonio Spurs’ rally to hold on for a 106-103 win.
Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from missing one game to score 25 points for the Bucks, who almost blew a 15-point lead with eight minutes to go.
— AFP
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