Baron Davis had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-98 Wednesday night to earn a playoff berth for the first time since 1994. Golden State (42-40) claimed the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Warriors went into the season finale against the Trail Blazers one game up on the Los Angeles Clippers, but made...

The wait was worth it for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Was it ever. In a little more than an hour, they jumped three playoff spots and somehow dodged the Miami Heat. LeBron James scored 24 points and capped a decisive run to open the fourth quarter with one of his powerhouse dunks, giving Cleveland a 109-96 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in its regular-season finale on Wednesday night.

The New Jersey Nets are going into the playoffs on a high note after making the Chicago Bulls' postseason road a lot tougher. Vince Carter had 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and the Nets beat Chicago 106-97 on Wednesday night, costing the Bulls the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Carter and the Nets (41-41) clinched the No.

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points and keyed a big third-quarter run that helped the Los Angeles Lakers sew up the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 117-104 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. The season-ending win sets up a first-round rematch between the Lakers and Phoenix Suns, who knocked out Los Angeles in seven games in the opening round a year ago.

The Washington Wizards are limping into the playoffs, but the Indiana Pacers would gladly trade places with them. A surge in the final minutes lifted the Wizards to a 98-95 victory over the Pacers on Wednesday night. The victory gave Washington the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, and the Wizards will play No.

Rasual Butler hit the tie-breaking jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining to give New Orleans an 86-83 victory over the Clippers, who had been eliminated from playoff contention even before the final NBA game of the regular season ended Wednesday night. The Clippers finished 40-42 and missed the playoffs a season after losing to Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals.

Shaquille O'Neal finally did the Orlando Magic a favor: He didn't play in the regular-season finale. It ended up not mattering. Grant Hill scored 17 points, Hedo Turkoglu added 15 and Orlando beat the undermanned Heat 94-68 Wednesday night, the Magic's sixth victory in seven games. The Magic could have moved up to the No.

Holding onto a lottery pick did little to lift Minnesota Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman's spirits. "This team needs a shakeup," Wittman said after his Wolves were blown out by Memphis on Wednesday night, capping a long, frustrating season. Pau Gasol had 25 points and 16 rebounds and Tarence Kinsey added 22 points to lead the Grizzlies to a 116-94 victory in the season finale, and assuring...

Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Seattle SuperSonics 106-75 in a meaningless game Wednesday night. Seattle coach Bob Hill, who is rumored to be fired in the coming days, played all but one of his eligible 11 players as Seattle (31-51) posted its worst record since also finishing the 1985-86 season at 31-51.

As playoff previews go, Wednesday's game between the San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets might rank among the worst in history. No matter. The inconsequential matchup, which saw both teams' top players on the bench and ended with a 100-77 Nuggets' win, probably won't be remembered anyway. The clubs will meet again this weekend in the first round of the playoffs.

The New York Rangers finally got a chance to party like it was 1997. Matt Cullen banged in a shot off the crossbar early in the third period, snapping a tie and helping New York to a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night that put the Rangers into the second round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Turns out the New Jersey Devils didn't need a stellar performance from Martin Brodeur to climb back into their first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Another big game by Zach Parise and Scott Gomez's overtime goal kept the Atlantic Division champions from falling to the brink of elimination in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference matchup Wednesday night.

Chris Drury has a knack for scoring big goals. "For whatever reason, pucks seem to find people like Chris," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said after Drury scored twice to help the top-seeded Sabres beat the New York Islanders 4-2 on Wednesday night for a 3-1 lead in the first-round series. Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville also scored, and Ryan Miller made 24 saves in his second straight victory on Long...

Milan Michalek is making quite a name for himself while his San Jose Sharks gradually destroy the Nashville Predators' identity. Michalek scored two goals, Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves and the Sharks took a commanding lead in their first-round playoff series with a 3-2 victory over the Predators in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

With so many postseason failures behind them, so many disappointing swings in momentum and breakdowns in confidence, the Ottawa Senators understand they should never feel comfortable with any Stanley Cup playoffs series lead. The bad memories are too recent and their flops too frequent for them to disregard their past -- even as they take a 2-1 lead into Game 4 of their first-round series against...

Getting goals from the checking line is the kind of thing NHL teams need in pursuit of the Stanley Cup. And the Dallas Stars can proudly say they're getting that. Problem is, the guys they pay to score aren't. Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Philippe Boucher, Mike Ribeiro and Niklas Hagman -- Dallas' top five goal-scorers in the regular season -- have yet to beat Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo, a big...

Jeff Burton was in the same position as the last time he was a runner-up. He was chasing the leader in the closing laps.