Bucks Squander Home-Court Edge

Joe Smith has a plea for all his dejected teammates and the fans of the Milwaukee Bucks, who blew home-court advantage in the playoffs by losing, 89-87, to the visiting Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

Forgive and forget.

He wants everybody to focus on the team that won twice as many games as expected, and not on the jittery outfit that lost its poise and a fourth-quarter lead in the last three games.

A victory in any of the three would have secured the fourth playoff position in the East. Instead the Bucks fell to the sixth spot and will open the postseason Sunday at Detroit.

“We just have to realize this is the second season and we can’t just continue to harp on what we did these last three games,” Smith said. “We have to go into the playoffs with a high level of confidence, and let’s go out there and slug it out.”

The crowd booed the Bucks, but Smith said he hopes the fans forget the trio of letdowns “because a lot of people didn’t expect us to win 20 games.”

The Bucks began the night in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, but Miami replaced them in the fourth spot and gained home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and New Orleans moved up to fifth.

“We had destiny in our own hands,” Smith said. “For us to come up short is disappointing.”

After Jalen Rose’s wide-open three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left put the lottery-bound Raptors ahead, 89-87, Michael Redd pulled up for a potential game-winning three-pointer, but it missed just before the buzzer.

“They worked so hard to [gain] home-court advantage, and that shot was the difference between playing at home and going to Detroit,” Rose said.

Milwaukee Coach Terry Porter spoke to his team for a long time after the latest loss.

“The big message was we had three opportunities to try to get the job done. For whatever reason, we didn’t get it done,” Porter said. “It’s disappointing. Now we have to regroup. We’re in the playoffs. Anything can happen in the playoffs.”

Vince Carter led Toronto with 23 points. Desmond Mason led Milwaukee with 27 points but didn’t score after halftime.

“We’ve been underdogs all year,” Porter said. “It’s nothing new to us.”

Miami 96, New Jersey 84 -- Caron Butler scored 22 points to help the Heat to its 12th home victory in a row and its first winning record (42-40) in three years. Miami will play New Orleans in a first-round playoff series.

Minnesota 107, Memphis 90 -- Kevin Garnett had 26 points at Memphis, Tenn., as the Timberwolves clinched the top spot in the Western Conference with their ninth victory in a row. Minnesota will open the playoffs against Denver.

San Antonio 93, Denver 67 -- Tim Duncan had 23 points and 16 rebounds at San Antonio to lead the Spurs to their 11th victory in a row. San Antonio will start the playoffs as the No. 3- seeded team and open against Memphis.

Indiana 101, Chicago 96 -- Al Harrington had 22 points at Indianapolis. With a franchise-record 60 wins and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, Indiana opens the postseason against the Boston Celtics.

Dallas 92, Houston 89 -- Marquis Daniels scored 21 points at Houston to lead the Mavericks past the Rockets. Dallas will open the playoffs against Sacramento. Houston will open against the Lakers.

New Orleans 94, Washington 78 -- Baron Davis scored 26 points, and Jamaal Magloire had 23 points and 14 rebounds at Washington as the Hornets (41-41) avoided their first losing season since 1991-92.

The Wizards (25-57), booed off the court, finished another miserable year 32 games away from .500, their worst season since going 19-63 in 2000-01.

Cleveland 100, New York 90 -- LeBron James finished his rookie season with 17 points and a breakaway dunk on the Cavaliers’ final play at New York. Stephon Marbury had 27 points, eight assists and six rebounds for New York, which will open the playoffs against New Jersey.

Orlando 95, Philadelphia 89 -- Juwan Howard scored 26 points at Orlando, Fla., to lead the Magic (21-61), which won its fewest games since the 1991-92 season and had a three-year streak of playoff appearances ended. Philadelphia (33-49) finished with its worst record in six years and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1997-98.

Boston 137, Atlanta 132 -- Marcus Banks had a career-high 28 points at Boston to lead the playoff-bound Celtics to their best offensive showing of the season. The Celtics’ leading scorer, Paul Pierce, sat out his second game in a row because of a sprained ankle but said he’ll be ready for the playoffs.

Phoenix 89, Utah 84 -- Amare Stoudemire scored 29 points at Salt Lake City to lead the Suns, who finished at 29-53 in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the last-place Clippers.