Game notes: April 22, 2012

Lakers 114, Thunder 106. 

• The Lakers missed their first eight 3-pointers before Blake's 3 with 4:36 to play. ... Bryant wore no support on his knees, and Lakers point guard Ramon Sessions ditched the harness he has worn for several games on his sprained left shoulder. 

•  Derek Fisher got another loud ovation from his longtime Lakers fans when he checked in for the Thunder. The veteran point guard had five points. 

• Jack Nicholson celebrated his 75th birthday in his usual courtside seat. Other fans near courtside included Denzel Washington, Will Ferrell, Mark Harmon, Ashton Kutcher, Steven Spielberg, Jerry Ferrara and Flea.

Heat 97, Rockets 88. 

• Miami finished the regular season 28-5 at home, the second-best percentage in team history. 

• The Heat will finish no worse than tied for the NBA lead in home wins this season. 

•  Houston's Kyle Lowry did not play and is expected to sit the Rockets' regular-season finale against New Orleans as well. He missed 15 games after the All-Star break because of a bacterial infection and struggled since returning. 

• Udonis Haslem had a game-high 11 rebounds for Miami.

Knicks 113, Hawks 112. 

• Knicks  Jared Jeffries  missed his third straight game with a sore right knee, and Woodson said he will not play in the last two regular-season games Wednesday against the Clippers and Thursday at Charlotte. ... 

• Knicks uber-fan Spike Lee was at the game. 

•  Hawks center Zaza Pachulia missed his fifth straight game with a sprained left foot.

•  Josh Smith started at center & Stoudemire started at center for New York.

Pistons 76, Raptors 73.

• Casey said he doubted  Jose Calderon will play in either of the team's final two games. He's been out since suffering a cut above his right eye in an April 11 loss at Philadelphia. 

• Pistons  Ben Wallace returned after missing Thursday's loss to Minnesota to attend a funeral. 

• Linas Kleiza (right knee) played for the Raptors after missing two games. 

• Indiana and Boston had the league's lowest-scoring first half Jan. 6 when they had a combined 58 points at the break.

Kings 114, Bobcats 98. 

• Bobcats guard Reggie Wiliams had cleared his concussion test before the game and was ready to play, but his knee tightened up and he wound up sitting out. 

•  Former Boston Celtic star Robert Parish, who lives in the Charlotte area, was at the game. 

•  The Kings shot 55 percent from the field, their best effort of the season.

Warriors 93, Timberwolves 88. 

• The Wolves made all 21 of their foul shots. 

•  McGuire finished with 12 points and seven boards. 

•  The Timberwolves hosted Rochester resident Igor Voykovinsky, who at 7-foot-8 is the tallest man in America.

.Spurs 114, Cavs 98. 

• Spurs  Boris Diaw started for Duncan and had six points on 3-of-7 shooting. 

•  Scott ranked third-lowest in a poll of players when asked which coach they would most like to play for, finishing ahead of Orlando's Stan Van Gundy and last-place Scott Skiles of Milwaukee. "The thing I know about both those guys is they're pretty demanding guys," Scott said. 

• "So if that's the case, and I'm put in that category as being a very demanding coach, I don't mind that. You've got a lot of guys that want you to kiss their butts. I'm not doing that. That ain't happening. And I'm not going to tell them all the time what they want to hear." Popovich ranked third-highest.

Nuggets 101, Magic 74. 

• Nuggets forward Al Harrington, one of the league's top sixth men who has been playing through a torn meniscus in his right knee, was given the night off. It's the first time he's missed a game this season. 

• Karl said in a pregame news conference that Harrington probably will play in only one of the team's two remaining regular-season games to try to get him in the best possible shape for the playoffs. 

•  The Magic, who lost in overtime at Utah on Saturday, were 18-18 in back-to-back sets this season. 

• Miller finished with 11 assists. ... The season series sweep of Orlando by the Nuggets was Denver's first since the 1991-92 season. ... The Magic's point total represented a season low by a Nuggets' opponent.

Clippers 107, Hornets 98. 

• Asked about his neck, Griffin said, "Once I got loose and got going it was good." 

•  Del Negro suggested Phoenix Robin Lopez should have been suspended for his flagrant 2 foul on Griffin last Thursday. He said Griffin is still in pain after Lopez hooked him by the neck on a breakaway layup attempt. "To me it doesn't make a lot of sense when a player gets a flagrant 2 and he's able to play and the other player is still in pain," Del Negro said before the game. "To me what makes sense is that player doesn't play until that player is healthy and playing. 

• Clippers  Caron Butler didn't return after sustaining a left hip contusion late in the first quarter. 

•  Clippers Nick Young missed the game because of flulike symptoms. 

•  Evans returned after missing two games with the flu. 

•  Center Deandre Jordan and Butler addressed the crowd before the game, thanking them for their support. "We'll see you guys in the playoffs," Jordan said to cheers.

Credit:  ESPN
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press


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