DALLAS - Luka Doncic scored 24 points in 23 minutes and the Dallas Mavericks kept the prime spot in a tight race to avoid the Western Conference play-in tournament with a breezy 110-90 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 20 points for the Mavericks, who didn't trail after going ahead 4-2 while the undermanned Cavaliers lost their ninth consecutive game, one short of their longest skid of the season. The teams play again Sunday in Cleveland.
The already injury-riddled Cavaliers had to play without Kevin Love, who was sidelined after banging knees with Portland's Enes Kanter two nights earlier in a 141-105 loss to the Trail Blazers. Collin Sexton scored 27 points for the Cavaliers.
Dallas guaranteed it would remain in fifth place in the West, a game ahead of either the Los Angeles Lakers or Portland with five games remaining. The Lakers and Blazers, who started the night tied for sixth, played later Friday. The odd team out among the three will be forced into the play-in scenario as the No. 7 seed.
Trey Burke hit a half-court shot at the buzzer in the first quarter for a 33-19 Dallas lead, and Doncic converted a three-point play in the final seconds before the half for a 62-37 margin at the break.
With seven points in the first four minutes, the 22-year-old Doncic became the fourth-youngest in NBA history to reach 5,000 points. LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony were each 21 when reaching the milestone.
Doncic had one assist, a season low, to leave him one short of 1,500 for his career. The Mavericks didn't need that part of their career triple-double leader's game.
Doncic sat the final 16 minutes as the Mavericks led by as many as 29 points while taking care of a team in the mix for the worst record in the East. Similar matchups have been far from automatic lately for Dallas, which is 9-3 in the past 12 games with all three losses to Sacramento. The Kings started the day 12th in the West.
TIP-INS: Cavaliers: The official diagnosis for Love was a left knee contusion. Anderson Varejao played the final 4:37 two nights after ending a four-year absence in his first game with Cleveland since Feb. 10, 2016. Varejao, who spent his first 11 seasons with the Cavs, signed a 10-day contract this week. The second-worst 3-point shooting team in the NBA was 6 of 29 (21%) from deep. Cedi Osman scored 22 but was 2 of 10 from beyond the arc.
Mavericks: Kristaps Porzingis went through a pregame shootaround before missing his fifth consecutive game and eighth in the past nine with right knee soreness. The 7-foot-3 Latvian had to leave early in the only game he did play in that stretch. Maxi Kleber missed his third straight game with a sore right Achilles heel.
Bucks 141, Rockets 133
MILWAUKEE - Brook Lopez had 24 points and Khris Middleton scored 21 of his 23 in the second half to help the Milwaukee Bucks beat the short-handed Houston Rockets for their fifth consecutive victory.
The Bucks (43-24) tied Brooklyn for second place in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bucks also have the tiebreaker advantage over Brooklyn because they won two of their their three regular-season meetings.
Philadelphia (46-21) leads the East.
Jrue Holiday had 20 points as the Bucks had seven players reach double figures. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
KJ Martin had 26 points and seven assists - both career highs - as well as seven rebounds for the Rockets before fouling out. Kelly Olynyk added 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Milwaukee earned a measure of revenge after falling 143-136 on April 29 at Houston. Bucks forward and reigning two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo left that game in the opening minute with a sprained right ankle.
The Bucks haven't lost and the Rockets haven't won since that game.
Houston had only eight available players for Friday's rematch. Among the missing Rockets was Kevin Porter Jr., who scored 50 points against the Bucks last week but couldn't play Friday due to a sprained left ankle.
Khyri Thomas became the 28th player to get in a game for the Rockets this season - tying an NBA record - and he scored 16 points and shot 6 of 7 after signing a contract earlier in the day.
The Orlando Magic also have used 28 players this season. Other teams in NBA history to use 28 were the 2015-16 and 2018-19 Memphis Grizzlies.
76ers 109, Pelicans 107
PHILADELPHIA - Joel Embiid had 37 points and 13 rebounds to the tune of "MVP! MVP!" chants and the Philadelphia 76ers inched closer toward securing the top spot in the East with a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The 76ers won their season-high seventh straight game and increased their lead to three games over Brooklyn in the Eastern Conference.
Embiid made two free throws with 1:39 left to bring the Sixers within one, then grabbed a defensive rebound on the other end to set up Tobias Harris' 3 with 1:10 left that made it 109-107. Philadelphia forced two turnovers to seal the victory.
Jaxson Hayes scored 19 points for the Pelicans, playing with Zion Williamson sidelined indefinitely by a fractured left finger.
Bulls 121, Celtics 99
CHICAGO - Zach LaVine and Coby White each scored 25 points and Chicago overcame a big effort by Kemba Walker to beat Boston.
With their playoff hopes fading and fans at the United Center for the first time this season, the Bulls led by 21 in the third quarter and put this one away after Boston got within eight in the fourth, scoring 12 straight.
Chicago pulled within three games of Washington and 3 1/2 of Indiana for the final spots in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with five to play.
Walker scored 33 points for Boston.