LOS ANGELES: Kevin Durant scored 42 points as the Phoenix Suns reignited their playoff hopes with a 123-112 upset of the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
A superb performance from Durant secured a third straight victory for Phoenix as they aim to muscle their way into the postseason picture in the Western Conference.
Durant erupted for 19 points in a third-quarter burst of scoring that took the game beyond Cleveland’s grasp, with the Suns opening up a 98-79 lead heading into the fourth quarter which they never looked like letting slip.
The win lifted Phoenix into 10th place in the Western Conference and into the play-in tournament reckoning.
The top six teams in each NBA conference qualify automatically for the playoffs, while teams placed from 7th to 10th play in a mini tournament to determine the final two playoff berths.
“This is the best team in the league,” Durant said of Cleveland following the Suns win.
“We’ve been struggling and we know we’ve got the toughest schedule for the last 10 games,” he added. “So we just wanted to dial in and make sure we kept building on the work we’ve done over the last week.”
Cleveland’s fourth consecutive loss leaves the second-placed Boston Celtics just five wins behind the Cavs at the top of the East.
The Celtics improved to 51-19 after thrashing the Utah Jazz 121-99 on the back of 27 points from Kristaps Porzingis and 26 points from Jayson Tatum.
The Detroit Pistons’ progress toward the playoffs suffered a jolt in a surprising 123-117 defeat on the road to the struggling Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavs — whose season has been blown off course by the trade of Luka Doncic to the Lakers and a season-ending injury to Kyrie Irving — powered to a precious victory thanks to 31 points from Spencer Dinwiddie and 27 from P.J. Washington.
The result leaves Dallas perched on the edge of playoff contention in 11th place with a 34-37 record in the Western Conference.
Detroit occupy the sixth and last automatic playoff berth in the East.
Despite the loss the Pistons will fancy their chances of locking down a postseason ticket given a vastly superior record — 39-32 — to seventh-placed Atlanta (33-36).
In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrated their successful clinching of the No.1 seeding on Thursday with a ruthless 141-106 beatdown of the Charlotte Hornets.
The Thunder were assured of top spot in the West despite not playing on Thursday after the Los Angeles Lakers’ defeat to Milwaukee.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 30 points as no fewer than eight OKC players finished in double figures in a wire-to-win which leaves the Thunder with a 58-12 record at the top of the West.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he wanted to see his team play with the same intensity for the remainder of the regular season as they build toward the playoffs.
“We got to play with a sense of purpose — you can’t coast into the postseason,” Daigneault said.
“It was a great 48-minute effort. We played to our standards on both ends of the floor.”
With OKC already assured of top spot, Houston boosted their hopes of clinching second place in the West after rallying from 11 points down to squeeze past the Miami Heat, winning 102-98 on the road to bag their ninth consecutive win.
Fred VanVleet was the key man for Houston, finishing with 37 points after a devastating exhibition of long-range shooting.
VanVleet drained nine-of-11 attempts from outside the arc as the Rockets improved to 46-25.
The Minnesota Timberwolves remain hard on the heels of the sixth-placed Golden State Warriors (41-29) in the race for the playoffs.
The Wolves, who are one place behind Golden State, improved to 41-31 after a 134-93 pasting of the New Orleans Pelicans.
In another upset, the Portland Trail Blazers outgunned the injury-hit Denver Nuggets 128-109.
