NBA ROUNDUP : Rest of the Cavaliers Make Playoffs

Enough reasons for the Cleveland Cavaliers to miss the playoffs this year were sitting on the bench in street clothes, watching.

Former All-Stars Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance couldn’t play, along with three lesser-light teammates. What was left beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 119-91, Tuesday night at Richfield, Ohio, to clinch a playoff berth despite it all.

“We wanted to make a statement: that even though we’ve been injured, we’re going to the playoffs,” Bobby Phills said after Cleveland clinched a playoff berth for the sixth time in seven years.

The Bucks lost their fifth consecutive game overall and their 13th in a row on the road. Their 56 losses set a team record.

Cleveland remains uncertain whether Daugherty, out because of a herniated disk, or Nance (knee surgery) will be back for the playoffs.

“We’re the fifth-best team in the East as of now, and we feel we can go in there and make some noise,” Gerald Wilkins said. “Right now, we’d play Orlando, a team we split with, so we think we have a chance of getting to the second round. We don’t think we’re going to get Brad back. We don’t think we’re going to get Larry back. But we do have enough guys on this team to make some noise.”

Phills hit nine of 11 shots and he and Terrell Brandon each scored 22 points for Cleveland.

In his previous 10 games, Phills had hit 17 of 75 shots, 23%, and averaged 4.4 points.

“The basket’s been small for me from the perimeter for about 10 games,” Phills said. “I just had to go inside, pound it inside and get some dunks.”

Phoenix 107, Denver 102--Frank Johnson and Mark West made key contributions in the second half and the Suns pulled away at Denver, but the Nuggets remained four games in front of the Lakers for the final Western Conference playoff position.

Dallas 108, Portland 107--Jamal Mashburn hit a jump shot in the final minute to snap a tie at Portland and lift the Mavericks to their first victory all season over a team with a winning record.

Dallas won for only the second time in its last 21 games, but the victory was its 10th of the season, assuring the Mavericks will not tie Philadelphia’s nine-victory NBA record for futility.

Houston 98, Minnesota 89--Hakeem Olajuwon scored 13 of his 42 points in the final four minutes, helping the Rockets tie last season’s franchise record for victories--55--by winning at Houston.

Houston won its fifth in a row and took a 2 1/2-game lead over San Antonio in the Midwest Division. Minnesota lost its fourth in a row.

Chicago 111, New Jersey 105--The Bulls won their eighth in a row, getting 25 points from Scottie Pippen in beating the Nets at Chicago.

The Bulls moved within a half-game of New York and Atlanta in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks and Hawks each have seven games left and Chicago has six, including three in a row on the road.

Pippen also had nine rebounds and nine assists.

Philadelphia 134, Detroit 107--Jeff Malone scored 25 points, Orlando Woolridge had 23 and Philadelphia’s reserves outscored Detroit’s by 57 points at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Utah 126, Sacramento 91--The Jazz stayed within two games of Phoenix in the race for the fourth-best record in the Western Conference, getting 21 points from Karl Malone at Salt Lake City.