NBA – Warriors’ win over Mavs creates 3-way tie for 7th in West

OAKLAND (NBA) – It’s touch and go for the Dallas Mavericks with respect to their chances of making the post-season.

With the Mavs’ NBA MVP from last season, Germany international Dirk Nowitzki, injured and out of action, Avery Johnson’s team is finding it ever so difficult to stay among the top eight places in the Western Conference.

Golden State beat them on Sunday 114-104 to leave Denver, Dallas and the Warriors in a three-way tie for seventh place with nine games remaining.

All three teams are 45-28, and one of them will not advance to the play-offs.

Monta Ellis had 30 points and Latvia enter Andris Biedrins showed he is well and truly recovered from the appendectomy he underwent over a month ago by posting 16 points and 14 rebounds for Golden State.

Josh Howard had a game-high 36 for the Mavericks.

Nowitzki is expected to work out with the club on Tuesday to see how his recovery from knee and ankle injuries is coming along.

Team USA’s Chris Bosh had 21 points and Spain point guard Jose Calderon had 11 assists to go with his 10 points off the bench but that wasn’t enough for Toronto, who lost at home to New Orleans 118-111.

New Orleans clinched their 50th victory of the campaign, as did the Los Angeles Lakers who prevailed 126-120 at home against the Washington Wizards. LA have not had Pau Gasol since the Spain international suffered a badly sprained ankle on March 14.

New Orleans are first in the West, followed by San Antonio, the Lakers, Utah, Phoenix and Houston.

San Antonio won for the seventh consecutive game on Sunday. They throttled the Houston Rockets 109-88 with France playmaker Tony Parker pouring in 22 points.

Argentina’s Luis Scola had a career-high 24 points and also pulled down seven boards for the Rockets but they crashed to defeat.

The Jazz (48-26), meanwhile, were upset at the Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-103.

The Atlanta Hawks (33-30), who are eighth in the Eastern Conference, stayed on course for the play-offs with a 114-109 triumph at home over the New York Knicks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, fourth in the East at 41-33, beat the seventh-place Philadelphia 76ers 91-88.

That setback for Philadelphia allowed Toronto to hold on to sixth spot and kept the Sixers in seventh.

Also on Sunday, Eastern Conference leaders Boston, who own the best record in the NBA at 58-15, extinguished the Miami Heat 88-62.

FIBA