Pacers 109, Heat 92

Doug McDermott scored 23 points and Indiana beat Miami on Friday in a game delayed for several minutes late in the third quarter when Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. was carted off the court.

Jones was attempting to get around a screen when he collided with 6-foot-11 Indiana center Goga Bitadze and fell to the floor. Jones lay on his stomach with his right arm on the back of his head for several minutes before he was fitted for a neck brace and carted off the floor.

The Heat announced via Twitter on Friday night that Jones suffered a neck strain and had undergone an MRI, CT scan and concussion test. The Heat said Jones would be re-evaluated over the weekend.

The injury to the NBA’s reigning slam dunk champion came on a day when both teams were trying to stay as healthy as possible for their upcoming first-round playoff matchup.

“That just takes the air out of the building,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Even as competitors, you don’t want it on either side. You just want to be able to get through this game and be able to have everybody available for the playoffs.”

The Heat sat All-Stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler as well as Goran Dragic, Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala. T.J. Warren, Domantas Sabonis, Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner didn’t play for Indiana.

Sabonis, the Pacers’ leading rebounder, hasn’t played any games since the restart due to plantar fasciitis and is out indefinitely. Many of the other notable names who didn’t play were simply getting some recovery time as they gear up for the postseason.

Malcolm Brogdon had 16 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Pacers, who led nearly the entire way. Alize Johnson, a seldom-used 6-foot-9 forward, had 11 points and 17 rebounds to set career highs in both categories.

“He did what he always does,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said of Johnson's breakout performance. “He's been in the G League a lot for us, but he has always been a guy that rebounds the ball. He plays a lot bigger than he is.”

Aaron Holiday and Justin Holiday scored 11 points each. JaKarr Sampson added 10 points.

Kendrick Nunn scored 23 points, Solomon Hill added 21 and Tyler Herro had 16 for Miami.

Miami and Indiana entered the day tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference at 44-28 records. In a typical season, this regular-season finale would have decided which team got home-court advantage in their first-round series that begins Tuesday.

But nobody has a home-court edge this year with the entire postseason taking place at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, so nothing was really at stake Friday.

“Every time I get on that basketball court, I play to win,” Justin Holiday said. “That’s just how I see it. That’s the last game of the regular season. That’s a game we’re trying to win regardless of who’s playing, who’s out there or if we see this team again.”

Udonis Haslem, the 40-year-old veteran of all three Heat championship teams, made his first start of the season. It was Haslem’s 500th career start, but only his second over the last five seasons. The 17th-year pro also made just his fifth career 3-pointer. Haslem played 23 minutes Friday, exceeding his previous season total of 21.

Holiday has made 33 starts this season and was available to play Friday, but McMillan chose to play him off the bench and gave the start to Edmond Sumner, who was making just his third start. “I want to let Ed get some minutes,” McMillan said before the game. “I think it’s important that some of these young guys we have in the rotation tonight get some good quality minutes because you just never know in the playoffs with injuries popping up. Everybody has to be ready to go.”

The stakes will be much higher when the Heat and Pacers meet again Tuesday in the opening game of their best-of-7 series.

Raptors 117, Nuggets 109

Stanley Johnson scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half, and Toronto beat Denver to close the regular season.

Johnson hit three 3-pointers and a floating bank shot during a span of less than four minutes in the fourth quarter, helping the Raptors push their lead to 103-92 with six minutes to go.

Paul Watson scored 22 points and Normal Powell 15 for the Raptors, who’ve won four straight and seven of their eight regular-season games in Central Florida.

Both teams entered the game already locked into playoff position — Denver the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and Toronto No. 2 in the Eastern Conference. Regulars for each club played, but some of their minutes were dialed back. Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each played about 10 minutes, during which Murray hit three 3s for the bulk of his 11 points.

Denver’s PJ Dozier made five of six 3-pointers and scored 20 points.

Clippers 107, Thunder 103

Terance Mann hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:30 left in overtime and had 25 points and 14 rebounds for Los Angeles against Oklahoma City.

The Clippers rested Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Lou Williams for the playoffs starting next week. They wrapped up the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 124-111 victory over Denver on Wednesday night.

Amir Coffey added 21 points for the Clippers, and Patrick Patterson had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Hamidou Diallo had 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder.

76ers 134, Rockets 96

Tobias Harris scored 18 points and Philadelphia closed the regular season by trouncing Houston.

The 76ers and Rockets played most of their regulars for about the first 2½ quarters even though both teams already were locked into playoff matchups, making Friday night’s game meaningless.

Philadelphia begins an Eastern Conference first-round series with the Boston Celtics on Monday. Houston is facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in a Western Conference series starting Tuesday.

The Rockets were playing without All-Star guard Russell Westbrook, who is expected to miss at least the start of the playoffs with a strained right quadriceps. The 76ers continue to play without Ben Simmons, who is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on his left knee Monday.

Philadelphia’s starting lineup included All-Star center Joel Embiid, who injured his right hand Wednesday in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. Embiid played 22 minutes and scored 14 points.

Alec Burks added 16 points, Raul Neto with 14, Furkan Korkmaz with 12, Shake Milton with 11 and Al Horford and Mike Scott with 10 each.

James Harden had 27 points and 10 assists for Houston. Jeff Green scored 17 points, Eric Gordon had 13 and Bruno Cabocio added 11.