ORLANDO, Florida: Courtney Lee scored 20 points as the Boston Celtics clinched the seventh play-off seed in the Eastern Conference standings yesterday by routing the Orlando Magic 120-88.
Lee was one of seven Boston players to reach double-figures in scoring. Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford had 17 and 16 points, respectively.
“I like our team, I like our team a lot,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
“The key for us is to get through these two games, have some great practices and get ready for the playoffs. That’s what you play the whole season for.”
Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass and Avery Bradley also scored 14 points apiece for Boston who were coming off a 109-101 loss to Miami on Friday.
Garnett finished with nine rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 12 points for the Celtics, who beat Orlando for the eighth consecutive time.
Boston has just two games remaining in the regular season as they will face Indiana at home on Tuesday before finishing the regular season in Toronto on Wednesday.
Tobias Harris scored 22 points and Nik Vucevic recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for Orlando, who have lost six of their last seven games.
“Very disappointed,” said Harris. “Played a great team and just didn’t live up to the opportunity.”
Both teams shot well in the third quarter, especially the Magic who scored 27 points, with Harris and Vucevic combining to record all but one.
Boston had 28 points in the quarter on 64.7 percent shooting from the field.
The Celtics led by as many as 27 points late in the third to take a 85-64 advantage into the final quarter.
Meanwhile, Chris Paul sank one of two free throws with 18 seconds left as the Los Angeles Clippers snapped the Memphis Grizzlies’ 13-game home win streak with a 91-87 NBA victory yesterday.
Paul finished with 13 points and five assists, while DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Los Angeles who have won five straight contests. Blake Griffin chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers in the win.
Marc Gasol had a game-high 18 points and 15 boards and Zach Randolph finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who lost their first game at home since February 5 against Phoenix.
Memphis are in fifth spot in the Western Conference, one position back of the Clippers.
Paul put the Clippers ahead 89-87 late in the fourth. After Los Angeles forced a turnover on a pass from Memphis’ Mike Conley, Griffin went to the free throw line to try and extend the lead, but he missed both shots.
But Griffin was fouled on a clear path violation, giving the ball back to the Clippers. Jamal Crawford then made two free throws with 2.2 seconds left to ice the victory.
With the win, the Clippers took the season series 3-1 and are looking to earn home-court advantage, even though they currently share the same record with Memphis with two games left in the 2012-13 season.
The Clippers are now one-half game behind the Denver Nuggets for the third seed in the Western Conference.Agencies
