Hardaway, Marion Put Hurt on Dallas

Penny Hardaway got his first triple-double in 1 1/2 years, and Shawn Marion had 31 points and 15 rebounds Wednesday night to help the Suns increase their lead for the West’s final playoff berth with a 112-89 rout of the Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix.

Dallas lost for the third time in four games to drop one game behind San Antonio for the Midwest Division lead and the No. 1 spot in the playoffs. It’s the first time the Mavericks have not been at least tied for the division lead all season.

Hardaway had 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his sixth career triple-double and third with Phoenix.

Phoenix won for the fourth time in five games and increased its lead over Houston for the West’s eighth and final playoff spot to 2 1/2 games with four to play.

The Suns never trailed, shot 51% and, for the first time this season, had six players in double figures, including all five starters.

Stephon Marbury scored 20 points, Amare Stoudemire 17 and Joe Johnson 14. Bo Outlaw, who started at center, scored 11 before getting an elbow to the face from Raef LaFrentz with 7:02 left in the third quarter. He had a bruised left jaw and a cut on his left cheek that required three stitches.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and Nick Van Exel 22 for the Mavericks, who had no one else in double figures.

Marion scored 11 points and the Suns shot 63% (15 for 23) in the first quarter, outscoring the Mavericks, 14-5, over the final 3:21 of the quarter to take a 36-25 lead.

Van Exel scored seven in a 10-3 Dallas run that cut the lead to 43-39 on his 19-footer with 6:35 left in the half. But the Suns outscored the Mavericks, 14-5, the rest of the quarter to go up, 57-43, at halftime.

The run-and-gun Mavericks had no fastbreak points in the first half.

Phoenix twice led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter before Van Exel scored 10 consecutive points, the first six on three-point baskets, to cut the lead to 74-62 with four minutes to go in the quarter. Dallas never got closer.

Utah 94, Houston 73 -- Matt Harpring scored 23 points and Andrei Kirilenko had 15 points and three blocked shots at Salt Lake City, and the Jazz ended a three-game slide.

Houston’s chances of making the playoffs continued to drop. The Rockets have lost four of their last six. Utah can finish no worse than seventh in the Western Conference.

The Jazz closes out the regular season against the top three teams in the West -- Dallas, San Antonio and Sacramento.

San Antonio 84, Portland 79 -- The host Spurs held off a second-half rally by the Trail Blazers to win their 10th game in a row.

Stephen Jackson made two free throws with 10.6 seconds remaining and Tony Parker made one a few seconds later to clinch it.

Tim Duncan, battered by Portland defenders, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Derek Anderson scored 20 points for Portland.

Seattle 100, Minnesota 92 -- Ray Allen scored 33 points and Rashard Lewis had 19, and the host SuperSonics stubbornly stayed alive for a playoff berth.

Seattle remained three games behind Phoenix for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Kevin Garnett had 29 points and 18 rebounds and Wally Szczerbiak had 26 points, but Minnesota, jockeying with Portland for playoff positioning, failed to capitalize on San Antonio’s defeat.

Boston 87, Washington 83 -- Calling themselves the Bullets once more, the Wizards spoiled the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the franchise’s only NBA championship by losing at home.

Rookie J.R. Bremer scored 20 points, including the winning three-point basket with 19.4 seconds to play, to help the Celtics clinch a playoff berth and drop the Wizards 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Milwaukee in the East.

Orlando 88, Toronto 82 -- Tracy McGrady scored 37 points at Orlando, Fla., and the Magic ended a four-game losing streak. McGrady surpassed 30 points for the 49th time this season.

Coupled with Washington’s loss, Orlando’s magic number for a playoff berth fell to one.

McGrady dazzled the crowd in the third quarter when he dribbled the length of the court, flipped the ball underhanded off the backboard, caught the carom in midair and dunked with both hands.

Atlanta 97, New Jersey 92 -- Jason Terry scored 24 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Hawks at Atlanta.

Jason Kidd of the Nets had his fourth triple-double this season -- 23 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds.

Detroit 111, Chicago 102 -- Chauncey Billups scored 12 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and overtime at Auburn Hills, Mich., to help the Pistons end a four-game skid and tie New Jersey atop the Eastern Conference standings.

The Pistons blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead and let Chicago force overtime, but scored the first six points of the extra period and never looked back.

New Orleans 100, Cleveland 81 -- Jamal Mashburn scored 28 points at New Orleans and the Hornets maintained their tenuous hold on the fifth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

Returning from a nine-game absence because of a bruised left foot, David Wesley scored 17 points for the Hornets.

Wesley’s outside game forced Cleveland out of its zone defense, which seemed to create more space for Mashburn.