LOS ANGELES – Elton Brand had 32 points and nine rebounds, Sam Cassell scored 26 points and the Los Angeles Clippers routed the Washington Wizards 116-101 on Saturday for their 40th victory of the season.
Chris Kaman added 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who reached the 40-win mark for only the third time in the last 27 seasons and the first time since 1992-93 under Larry Brown.
The franchise record is 49 in 1974-75, and Los Angeles can tie that mark by going 9-5 the rest of the way.
Antawn Jamison scored 31 points for the Wizards, who had beaten the Clippers eight of the previous 10 times they faced each other in Los Angeles. Gilbert Arenas, who averaged 34 points in the two games against the Clippers last season, had 17 points after getting 18 against them in a 102-97 loss on Nov. 9 at Washington.
Coming off a 109-97 victory at Utah in which they set a club-record for 3-point baskets with 16, the Wizards were 5-for-24 from behind the arc against the Clippers.
Cuttino Mobley was scratched because of a sprained right ankle, forcing the Clippers to use their 14th different starting lineup. Corey Maggette made his first start at small forward since Dec. 5 and scored 19 points in 32 minutes. Maggette had come off the bench in 11 consecutive games after being sidelined for the previous 39 because of a separated ligament in his left foot.
Mavericks 98, Hawks 83
ATLANTA – Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help the Dallas Mavericks to a 98-83 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
Jason Terry added 26 points and Jerry Stackhouse had 16 for the Mavericks (54-16), who are percentage points behind San Antonio (53-15) for the best record in the Western Conference.
Al Harrington scored 19 points for Atlanta, which lost its third in a row and for the seventh time in eight games. Joe Johnson added 17 and Marvin Williams had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Dallas led 76-61 after three periods. The Hawks had gotten as close as 65-56 with 2:38 left in the third before the Mavericks closed the quarter on a 11-5 spurt.
Terry scored five points during the run. He opened the fourth with a pair of 3’s for a 82-63 lead early in the period.
The Mavericks had their biggest lead at 87-66 on a basket by Erick Dampier with just under nine minutes remaining and the Hawk never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Kings 91, Jazz 89
SALT LAKE CITY – Mike Bibby scored 24 points and had eight assists to help Sacramento hold off Utah 91-89 on Saturday night and put some more distance between the Kings and the Jazz in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Trailing 91-89, Matt Harpring airballed an 18-footer at the buzzer that would have tied the game. With the win, the Kings moved three games in front of the Jazz for the final playoff slot.
Andrei Kirilenko had his second career triple-double with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocked shots, but he left Bonzi Wells wide open for a 3-pointer with 1:38 remaining that put the Kings up 88-85.
Deron Williams made a layup for Utah before Kenny Thomas stole the ball and Brad Miller scored on a drive for a 90-87 edge with 48 seconds left.
Suns 107, Nuggets 96
PHOENIX – Shawn Marion scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Phoenix beat Denver 107-96 on Saturday night in a showdown of division leaders and possible playoff preview.
With the victory, the Pacific Division-leading Suns are in the playoffs for the 16th time in 18 years.
Phoenix is the fifth NBA team to clinch a postseason berth, after Detroit, Miami, San Antonio and Dallas.
Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points and Andre Miller 21 for the Northwest Division-leading Nuggets, whose three-game win streak ended.
Phoenix and Denver are close to locking up the second and third seeds, respectively, in the Western Conference playoffs. If they avoid first-round upsets, the Suns and Nuggets would meet in the second round.
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