sport

Celtics win to hand Bulls top seed

The Boston Celtics won a low-scoring NBA contest against the Miami Heat in a game where both teams rested key players ahead of the play-offs.

The Celtics overturned a 16-10 first quarter deficit to prevail 78-66 at TD Center, with Aleksandar Pavlovic top-scoring with 16 points.

The Heat's defeat means the Chicago Bulls will clinch top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Blake Griffin scored an impressive 36 points and Chris Paul poured in 34 - but their efforts were in vain as the Los Angeles Clippers were beaten 109-102 by the Atlanta Hawks, for whom Joe Johnson led the way with 28.

The result gives the Lakers the Pacific title on the day their forward Metta World Peace was suspended for seven games by the NBA for an elbow on Oklahoma City's James Harden in Sunday's match between the teams.

Kevin Durant scored 32 points for the Thunder as they finished strongly against the Sacramento Kings, with a 36-24 final quarter giving them a 118-110 success.

Marco Belinelli's 23 points were the highlight for the New Orleans Hornets in their 83-81 defeat of the Golden State Warriors at the Oracle Arena, while Paul Millsap led all scorers with 26 in the Utah Jazz's 100-88 home win over the Phoenix Suns. end

Update:

Hello, regular commenting on Orange News and Sport pages closes on Thursday 30 May 2013. We will continue to provide a commenting facility on major news and sport events on orangeworld.co.uk. Contact us via http://oran.ge/OWfeedback if you have any further questions. Thanks.