Orlando, US: Tobias Harris scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lift the host Philadelphia 76ers past the Orlando Magic 108-101 Friday near Orlando, but the Magic ended up the day’s big winner nonetheless.
Despite the loss, Orlando clinched the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot after the Washington Wizards lost to the New Orleans Pelicans later in the day.
Joel Embiid added 23 points and 13 rebounds while Alec Burks scored 22 points. Al Horford had 21 points and nine rebounds and Shake Milton handed out a career-high eight assists for the Sixers, who won their third in a row. The Sixers played without All-Star Ben Simmons, who will remain sidelined indefinitely with a partially dislocated left kneecap.
Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Evan Fournier added 22 points. D.J. Augustin scored 16 points, James Ennis III added 14 and Markelle Fultz had 13 for the Magic, who fell to 32-38. Terrence Ross missed all 10 of his field-goal attempts and did not score a point.
Brooklyn Nets 119 - Sacramento Kings 106
Brooklyn improved to 3-2 since the restart and rebounded nicely from a 149-115 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night to join the Magic in clinching an Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Caris LeVert made 9 of 21 shots and also handed out seven assists as the Nets shot 48.8 percent, made 17 3-pointers and handed out 30 assists. Joe Harris added 21 points and center Jarrett Allen nearly posted a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
The Kings fell to 1-4 since the restart after going 10-5 in their final 15 games before the pause on March 11. Sacramento dropped to 13th in the Western Conference, 3 1/2 games behind eighth-place Memphis. Bogdan Bogdanovic led Sacramento with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting. -- Reuters
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