![](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/P06-260412-322.jpg\")
<\/p>\n OBJECTIVE REACHED:
\n \u2019Now for us, it\u2019s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,\u2019 the Atlanta Hawks\u2019 C.J. McCollum said after the game <\/p>\n
The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. <\/p>\n
C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. <\/p>\n
Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for the Hawks, who led 61-48 at halftime and surged away with a 16-0 scoring run late in the third quarter. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Photo: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal was getting in the playoffs,\u201d McCollum said. \u201cNow for us, it\u2019s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Cavaliers, assured of the fourth seed in the East and home court advantage in the first round, rested Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen. <\/p>\n
The Celtics, who on Thursday had missed a chance to secure the second seed with a loss to the New York Knicks, got the job done with a record-equaling 29 three-pointers in a 144-118 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. <\/p>\n
It is the second time in two seasons the Celtics have matched the record of 29 treys in a game, first set by the Milwaukee Bucks in December 2020 and also matched this season by the Memphis Grizzlies. <\/p>\n
All 30 teams played on the penultimate day of regular-season action, with more than a dozen of those headed for the post-season still jostling for playoff or play-in position. <\/p>\n
The Knicks secured the third seed in the East with a 112-95 victory over the Toronto Raptors. <\/p>\n
Toronto slipped from fifth to sixth with one game remaining and the same 45-36 record as the seventh-placed Orlando Magic \u2014 who beat the Chicago Bulls 127-103. <\/p>\n
The Charlotte Hornets were locked into the play-in with their 118-100 loss to Eastern Conference top seeds Detroit. <\/p>\n
Western Conference second seeds San Antonio, fueled by 40 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots from superstar Victor Wembanyama, beat the Dallas Mavericks 139-120. <\/p>\n
Wembanyama returned to action after missing one game with a bruised rib and with 64 regular-season games and the NBA Cup final under his belt has met the 65-game minimum to be eligible for season honors including Defensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player (MVP). <\/p>\n
The Denver Nuggets kept their bid for third seed in the West on track with a 127-107 victory over the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a contest that saw both teams rest all their regular starters. <\/p>\n
With three-time MVP Nikola Jokic among the Nuggets absentees, Jonas Valanciunas scored 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to propel Denver to an 11th straight win. <\/p>\n
It was perhaps not surprising that Oklahoma City, with the top seed in the West and best record in the league secured, would hold out stars including reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. <\/p>\n
However, Nuggets coach David Adelman said he was less concerned about his team\u2019s ultimate seeding than with having his banged-up players healthy when the playoffs start. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a competitive person, I want everybody to play,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cI think you just have to play it out with decisions that are best for your team.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Lakers are assured of no worse than fourth in the West \u2014 and home court advantage in the first round \u2014 after a 101-73 victory over the Phoenix Suns coupled with the Houston Rockets\u2019 136-132 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. <\/p>\n
LeBron James scored 28 points and handed out 12 assists for the Lakers, who are without NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic as he battles to recover from a hamstring strain in time for the start of the playoffs. <\/p>\n
Minnesota\u2019s victory snapped Houston\u2019s eight-game winning streak and ensured the Rockets would be seeded fifth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OBJECTIVE REACHED: \u2019Now for us, it\u2019s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,677,6,3974,3973],"class_list":{"0":"post-708300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-the-taipei-times","15":"tag-3973"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116387021839568796","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}