Playoff Hopes End for Jordan, Wizards

Michael Jordan’s career will end without a postseason run.

Jordan scored 25 points, tormenting Pat Riley for the final time, as the Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat, 91-87, Friday at Miami.

But Milwaukee and Orlando also won, eliminating the Wizards from the playoffs with three games remaining.

The night wasn’t a complete waste for Jordan, who plans to retire at the end of the season.

The 40-year-old superstar with six NBA championship rings retained the all-time scoring average lead and had his number retired by the Heat. Jordan needed only 17 points to retain the all-time scoring lead over Wilt Chamberlain. Jordan has averaged 30.2 to Chamberlain’s 30.1. He scored seven of the team’s first eight points and finished with 15 points in the first quarter, making seven of 12 from the field. He came off the bench in the second and immediately made a mid-range jumper to hang onto the all-time scoring lead.

The Heat retired Jordan’s No. 23 jersey before his final game in Miami. The jersey -- half red for the Chicago Bulls and half blue for the Washington Wizards -- was hung from the rafters, and Coach Pat Riley said no Heat player will wear the number again.

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Milwaukee 105, Toronto 103 -- Toni Kukoc scored 25 points and the Bucks clinched a playoff spot at Toronto against the Raptors, who suited up only eight players. With 6.3 seconds left, Toronto’s Alvin Williams made only one of two free throws to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 104-103. Then after a missed Milwaukee free throw, with 5.6 seconds left, Williams missed a layup.

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San Antonio 94, Seattle 86 -- Malik Rose scored 20 points and the Spurs held off a late run by the SuperSonics to win at San Antonio, post their 11th consecutive victory and move two games ahead of Dallas in the Midwest Division with three games remaining.

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Memphis 96, Portland 93 -- Stromile Swift and Pau Gasol led five Memphis players in double figures and the Grizzlies rallied from a 20-point deficit to win at Memphis, Tenn. Zach Randolph had career bests of 31 points and 20 rebounds for Portland.

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In other games: Chris Webber scored 29 points and made an acrobatic underhand shot with 0.9 of a second left to help Sacramento win at home over Denver, 105-103.... Karl Malone had 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to help Utah defeat Dallas, 95-92. Dirk Nowitzki had 34 points for the Mavericks, who lost for the third consecutive time.... Penny Hardaway had a season-high 24 points as host Phoenix moved closer to a possible playoff berth with a 117-101 victory over Golden State. The Suns moved three games ahead of ninth-place Houston with three games left.... Tracy McGrady had 35 points and 11 rebounds to help Orlando defeat Indiana, 98-86, as the Magic clinched a playoff berth for the third consecutive season with the win at Indianapolis.... Jamal Mashburn’s three-point play with 21 seconds left helped lift New Orleans over Detroit, 93-89, at New Orleans.... Jamal Crawford and Jay Williams combined for 33 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds to help Chicago beat New Jersey, 95-86, at Chicago. Kenyon Martin had 29 points for the Nets.... Allan Houston scored 25 points and Latrell Sprewell helped limit Allen Iverson to four points in the fourth quarter to help New York defeat Philadelphia, 108-103, at New York.... Atlanta scored 26 consecutive points in the first quarter and went on to defeat Cleveland, 109-89, and hand the Cavaliers their 20th consecutive road loss.