Heat Clinches Title, but Hardaway Hurt

The Miami Heat clinched their fourth consecutive Atlantic Division title Sunday by beating the Orlando Magic, 95-84, but Tim Hardaway’s latest injury left them in no mood to celebrate.

Hardaway limped off the court late in the first quarter and was carried to the locker room, pain and disappointment evident on his face. His teammates wore the same expression after the game.

Hardaway, who had missed the past two games with inflammation in his left foot, returned to the lineup but lasted only eight minutes. He sprained his right ankle, briefly departed, then pulled up hurting and left again with 1:14 left in the first quarter.

Hardaway slumped on the bench before teammate Dan Majerle and trainer Ron Culp carried him to the locker room. He didn’t return.

Culp said the latest injury was only a slight sprain in Hardaway’s left foot, unrelated to the inflammation caused by a condition known as plantar fascitis.

Hardaway, who had left the arena, did not speak with reporters after the game. Coach Pat Riley said his status is day-to-day, and the veteran guard will probably be held out of the final two regular-season games.

Portland 102, Sacramento 95--Rasheed Wallace picked up his 38th technical foul of the season then teamed with Bonzi Wells to power a 13-3 fourth-quarter run at Portland as the Trail Blazers defeated the Kings for the 11th consecutive time.

The Kings slipped into a tie with Seattle for the No. 7 playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“If we beat the Sonics [Tuesday at Sacramento], we’re the seventh seed,” King Coach Rick Adelman said. “They have the same schedule as we have, and it’s going to be nice to go against them as if it were a playoff game.”

Seattle 121, Houston 112--Gary Payton scored a career-high 43 points to lead the SuperSonics at Houston.

It was the third career-high of the season for Payton. He had 41 points against Washington on Feb. 15 and 40 against Vancouver on March 13.

Indiana 112, Detroit 101--The Pacers clinched the top seeding in the Eastern Conference by defeating the Pistons at Auburn Hills, Mich. Indiana will have home-court advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs. The Pistons clinched a playoff berth earlier in the day when Orlando lost at Miami. Detroit’s Grant Hill was sidelined by a bone bruise in his left foot.

Toronto 85, Chicago 84--Dee Brown made a three-point basket with 11.5 seconds left as the Raptors came back from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter at Toronto.

With the score 84-82 and 21.2 seconds left, Vince Carter took an inbounds pass from Fred Hoiberg, but missed a jump shot. Tracy McGrady got the rebound and passed the ball to Brown.

Charlotte 105, Boston 102--The streaking Hornets moved within a game of gaining home-court advantage in the playoffs as they held off a late Celtic charge at Boston.

With Eddie Jones scoring 25 points, the Hornets (47-33) moved closer to Philadelphia (48-32) for the fourth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Utah 96, Phoenix 82--Karl Malone had 32 points and 15 rebounds at Phoenix as the Jazz clinched its fourth Midwest Division title in the last five years.

The Suns’ lead over San Antonio slipped to one game with two to play in the race for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference.

Atlanta 104, Cleveland 101--Alan Henderson scored eight consecutive points when the Hawks went ahead to stay in the third quarter at Atlanta as they snapped a nine-game losing streak.

Dallas 114, Vancouver 106--The Mavericks won at Dallas to continue their late-season surge. With 38 victories, the Mavericks have their highest total since winning 47 games in the 1989-90 season.