Cauley-Stein stuns Clippers in last 1.8 seconds of game

Willie Cauley-Stein scored on a putback with 1.8 seconds remaining, allowing the Sacramento Kings to stun the Los Angeles Clippers 98-97 at Staples Centre on Sunday.

Darren Collison scored 19 points to lead the Kings, who trailed by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter. Kings rookie guard Buddy Hield, who hit two clutch three-pointers in the rally, and forward Anthony Tolliver each had 15 points.

DeAndre Jordan collected 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, while Chris Paul had 17 points and nine assists.

The loss prevented the Clippers from pulling into a tie with the idle Utah Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Celtics 112, Heat 108

Boston held off a late Miami charge and moved into a virtual tie for first place in the Eastern Conference with a victory over the Heat.

The win moved Boston to just four percentage points behind the idle Cleveland Cavaliers for the top seed in the conference. The teams meet April 5 in Boston.

Isaiah Thomas, the league’s leading fourth-quarter scorer, tallied eight points in the final 4:58 after the Celtics, who rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit, blew a nine-point fourth-quarter lead and trailed by two with 4:13 remaining.

Pacers 107, 76ers 94

Paul George scored 21 points to lead seven Pacers in double figures as Indiana beat Philadelphia at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Myles Turner contributed 17 points and a team-high 16 rebounds. Also in double figures for the Pacers were Jeff Teague (16 points) and Al Jefferson (14). C.J. Miles, Monta Ellis and Aaron Brooks each scored 10 points.

Jefferson suffered a leg injury with 9:43 left in the fourth quarter. He was taken to the locker room in a wheelchair.

Indiana snapped a two-game losing streak and moved into a three-way tie with Atlanta and Milwaukee for the No. 5 spot in Eastern Conference.

Hornets 120, Suns 106

Kemba Walker had 31 points and nine assists to lead Charlotte.

The Hornets pounced on the Suns quickly, racing to leads of 17-1, 22-3 and 30-7 before eventually leading 38-18 after one quarter. The Hornets went on to lead by as many as 25 in what was their second wire-to-wire victory of the season.

Charlotte has won four of its last five and continues to hang around in the Eastern Conference playoff race with nine games remaining.

Nets 107, Hawks 92

Veterans Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez combined for 42 points to help Brooklyn outlast short-handed and struggling Atlanta, handing it a seventh straight loss.

Lopez had 23 points and seven rounds and Lin scored 19 points, his most since getting a season-high 24 on March 14. Lin added eight assists, two steals and four rebounds for the Nets.

Brooklyn have won three of their last four, improved to 8-8 in March and broke a five-game losing streak in Atlanta.

Rockets 137, 

Thunder 125

Lou Williams paced a quartet of 20-point scorers for the Rockets in their win. Williams finished with 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting, hitting 7 of 8 3-pointers to help carry the Rockets to their third win in four meetings with the Thunder this season.

Aid came in the form of guards James Harden (22 points, 12 assists) and Eric Gordon (24 points on 4-of-9 3-point shooting), and forward Trevor Ariza, who made 9-of-11 shots while also chipping in 24 points. Houston shot a robust 63.3 per cent from the floor.

Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook recorded his league-leading 36th triple-double. He finished with 39 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists.

Bulls 109, Bucks 94

Nikola Mirotic hit six three-pointers and scored 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting for the Bulls.

Jimmy Butler scored 20 points while adding 14 of the Bulls’ 33 assists. Robin Lopez and Rajon Rondo each scored 18 points for Chicago, with the latter adding nine rebounds and nine assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 22 points.

Pelicans 115, 

Nuggets 90

Anthony Davis scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in only 28 minutes to lead New Orleans to a victory over Denver.

Jrue Holiday and Jordan Crawford each scored 13 points, and the bench contributed 49 as the Pelicans earned their sixth win in eight games. New Orleans is now four games behind the Nuggets for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.

The Pelicans won without DeMarcus Cousins, who sat out due to an ankle injury. Cousins got hurt Friday during New Orleans’ 117-107 loss to the Houston Rockets and was still sore at the Sunday morning shootaround.

Warriors 106, 

Grizzlies 94

Stephen Curry contributed two three-pointers to a 14-5 fourth-quarter run that enabled Golden State to pull away from Memphis en route to a victory.

Curry finished with 21 points and Klay Thompson a game-high 31 for the Warriors, who extended the league’s longest active winning streak to seven games while squaring the season series 2-2 with the Grizzlies.

Mike Conley had 29 points and a team-high six assists for Memphis, which lost ground in its pursuit of the fifth and sixth play-off spots in the West.

Trail Blazers 97, 

Lakers 81

Damian Lillard led the way with 22 points, and Portland cruised past Los Angeles at Staples Centre.

Allen Crabbe added 18 points and CJ McCollum contributed 13 as the Trail Blazers beat the Lakers for the 12th consecutive time. Portland has won seven in a row over Los Angeles at Staples. The win allowed the Trail Blazers to tie the Denver Nuggets for eighth place in the Western Conference race.

D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers with 22 points.