Cassell, Celtics, prevent Hawks from clinching playoff berth

* Boston 99, at Atlanta 8: Sam Cassell and Boston’s reserves outplayed Atlanta’s starters in the fourth quarter, and the Celtics prevented the Hawks from clinching their first playoff berth since 1999. Atlanta would have ended the NBA’s longest playoff drought with a victory because Indiana lost to Charlotte. The Hawks remained two games ahead of the Pacers with two to play, lowering their magic number to one for the right to face the Celtics in the first round Cassell scored 15 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Celtics outscored the Hawks, 21-5, down the stretch.

* at Washington 109, Philadelphia 93: The win means the Wizards can finish no worse than sixth in the Eastern Conference, and that they can’t be caught by the 76ers. Washington leads Philadelphia by two games with two to play and owns the tiebreaker due to a better conference record.

* Charlotte 107, at Indiana 103: The Bobcats dealt a severe blow to the Pacers’ playoff hopes. The Pacers entered the night two games behind Atlanta with three games to play. With the loss and Atlanta’s loss to Boston, the Pacers need to win their last two and have the Hawks lose their final two to get into the playoffs.

* New Jersey 111, at Milwaukee 98: The Bucks played poorly despite having their new general manager in attendance. John Hammond, who spent the past seven years as Detroit’s vice president of basketball operations, was introduced during a news conference before the game.

* Minnesota 114, at Memphis 105: With Seattle owning the only worse record than these teams in the Western Conference, this game was mostly about lottery positioning. The Timberwolves out-rebounded the Grizzlies, 62-45, and held a 60-44 advantage in the paint.

* at Utah 124, Denver 97: Mehmet Okur had 20 points and 15 rebounds, Deron Williams added 19 points and 11 assists and the Jazz strengthened their hopes of home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

* at Portland 108, Dallas 105: Brandon Roy scored 23 points and the Trail Blazers, who led by as man as 16 points in the first half, held off a late challenge by the Mavericks.

* at Sacramento 94, New Orleans 91: The loss dropped the Hornets into a tie with the Lakers for the top spot in the West with only two games remaining. The Lakers control the tiebreaker.

* at Golden State 122, Clippers 116:: The Clippers lost their fifth in a row – four against playoff contenders.

From the Associated Press