Spurs secure best record in NBA with win over Suns

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SAN ANTONIO: Danny Green drained seven three-pointers and scored 33 points on Friday as San Antonio assured themselves of the best record in the NBA with a 112-104 win over Phoenix.

Green connected on 12 of 17 shots from the field and seven of 10 from three-point range for the Spurs, who rallied from a 21-point deficit for a win that clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

San Antonio point guard Tony Parker, who sat out Thursday’s victory against the Dallas Mavericks, scored 18 points as the Spurs won their 15th straight home game.

Eric Bledsoe scored 30 points with 11 rebounds and nine

assists for the Suns, who had a three-game winning

streak end.

Phoenix are now tied with Memphis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies, who beat Philadelphia 117-95 on Friday, hold the tiebreaker with the Suns by virtue of winning the head-to-head regular-season series.

Elsewhere in the West, the Golden State Warriors secured a playoff berth with a 112-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Stephen Curry posted his fourth triple-double this season, scoring 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for a Warriors team who now sit 1 1/2 games ahead of Dallas for the sixth seed in the West.

Curry joined Indiana’s Lance Stephenson and Chicago’s Joakim Noah as the only players with four triple-doubles this season.

Minnesota’s Corey Brewer scored a career-high 51 points to lead the Timberwolves to a 112-110 victory over Houston.

Brewer became the fifth player this season to surpass the 50-point mark in a game.

“I never in my career expected to score 50,” said Brewer, whose previous career high was 29. — AFP