Erratic Pacers fall to Cavaliers, 90-76

Dion Waiters scored 19 points, Luol Deng had 15 and the Cleveland Cavaliers kept their playoff push going Sunday with a 90-76 win over the slumping Indiana Pacers, who are losing their grip on the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed.

Tristan Thompson had 16 rebounds as the Cavaliers snapped a nine-game losing streak against Indiana. Cleveland is 10th in the East, 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the final playoff spot and 1 1/2 behind ninth-place New York.

Indiana, meanwhile, is falling apart. The Pacers lost their fifth straight road game and now lead Miami by one game for the East’s top record and home-court advantage. They have lost four of five overall; the lone victory in that stretch, an 84-83 home win over Miami on Wednesday, is now all that’s keeping them atop the East.

at Brooklyn 114, Minnesota 99: Paul Pierce scored 22 points, and the Nets moved to within one win of clinching a playoff spot. It was their franchise record-tying 13th consecutive home victory, which also equals the longest home winning streak in the NBA this season.

New York 89, at Golden State 84: J.R. Smith scored 21 points, and the Knicks moved to within one game of the final playoff spot in the East. Stephen Curry scored 32 for the undermanned Warriors, who were without injured starters David Lee and Andrew Bogut.

at Portland 105, Memphis 98: LaMarcus Aldridge’s 26 points helped the Trail Blazers win their third straight since the All-Star forward returned from injury. Portland opened a two-game lead over Golden State for fifth place in the Western Conference and pulled to within 21/2 games of No. 4 Houston.

at Oklahoma City 116, Utah 96: Kevin Durant had 31 points, his 38th consecutive game with at least 25. It is the longest such streak since Michael Jordan had 40 straight for the Chicago Bulls during the 1986-87 season.

Chicago 107, at Boston 102: D.J. Augustin scored 15 of his career-high 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Bulls beat the Celtics, who have lost four straight and nine of 10.

Toronto 98, at Orlando 93: DeMar DeRozan had 28 points, and the playoff-bound Raptors hung on to beat the East’s 13th-place team.