USA - Gordon, Bulls put nail in Knicks' coffin

NEW YORK (NBA) - Ben Gordon poured in 23 points and handed out seven assists and Great Britain international Luol Deng scored 15 points as the Chicago Bulls hammered the New York Knicks, 98-69, virtually eliminating New York from the post-season.

Kirk Hinrich added 13 for Chicago (47-32), who have won nine of 11 against New York and continue to maintain second place in the Eastern Conference, one-half game ahead of idle Cleveland (46-32).

"We did well to put the game away early," Deng said. "It's a good win. It is important because we want to finish second."

It was the second-lowest output by the Knicks this season, one point ahead of the 68 they tallied at Cleveland on March 23.

New York had 10 points at the end of the first quarter and 27 at the break - their lowest scoring half in more than four years.

"It wasn't our night, they had a little more firepower than we did," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "Our guys tried to give me everything they had and tonight it wasn't enough."

It also was the worst beating the Bulls have handed the Knicks, who trail the Orlando Magic by four and a half games with four games left in their season. Orlando have five games remaining.

Louis Williams scored a season-high 18 points and Samuel Dalembert, Joe Smith and Andre Miller each recorded a double-double as the 76ers posted a 90-86 victory, dealing a crushing blow to the Pacers' fading play-off hopes.

Indiana (34-43) were looking to match a season-high three-game winning streak but instead lost for the 19th time in 24 games and now look destined to miss the play-offs for the first time since 1997.

The Pacers fell two games behind the Orlando Magic (36-41) in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and they can chalk that up to a horrendous night from the field.

Richard Jefferson scored a season-high 35 points and Vince Carter had six of his 31 in the final 12 seconds to lift the New Jersey Nets to a 96-92 victory over the Washington Wizards.

All-Star point guard Jason Kidd, held to four points to match his lowest total since March 3, made his second field goal count by tipping in Jefferson's miss with 30 seconds left to give New Jersey the lead for good, 90-89.

"Hey, you know, that's the funny thing about Jason," Jefferson said. "No matter what, you always know he's going to be there. I've seen him go 0 for 10 and then hit the key three at the end of the game. You know that he plays with that kind of intensity and I think he knew I didn't have that much left in the tank so he kept following me up on that lay-up."

The Wizards, who were playing without injured All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, still came away with a positive result as they locked up a play-off berth when Indiana lost at Philadelphia.

David West scored 33 points and Devin Brown added 25 as the New Orleans Hornets defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 103-100 in overtime.

With the win, the Hornets (37-41) moved within one game of the idle Golden State Warriors (38-40) for the eighth and final play-off spot in the West.

Los Angeles (37-40), who began the day as the eighth seed in the West, fell one-half game behind the Warriors.

In Charlotte, Gerald Wallace scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Bobcats beat the continued their recent mastery against the Miami Heat, winning for the second consecutive time, 92-82.

Argentina's Walter Herrmann had 20 points and Derek Anderson added 17 off the bench for Charlotte, who beat Miami, 111-103, in overtime on Sunday. The Bobcats (32-47) have won five of their last six.

Wallace, who has averaged 26.5 points and 10.1 rebounds in his last eight contests, connected on eight of 11 from the floor for Charlotte, which led by six after the first quarter, 12 at half-time and 19 at the end of three.

"I think we're playing exceptionally well," Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "With our full compliment, I think we could have made a legitimate run at one of those play-off spots."

Herrmann, who has averaged 18.8 points since being inserted into the starting lineup nine games ago, was three of seven from three-point range for the Bobcats, who shot 44% (34 of 78).

"Walter Herrmann stepped up, and other guys stepped up, and that's a tribute to Bernie Bickerstaff," Anderson said.

Tyrone Lue scored 26 points as the Atlanta Hawks posted a 104-96 win over the Boston Celtics.

The nine-year veteran, who returned to action on March 2 after being sidelined for 27 games with groin and hamstring injuries, scored 13 points in the fourth quarter on five of five shooting.

Brad Miller recorded his third career triple-double as the Kings snapped a four-game road losing streak with a 112-100 victory over the lowly Memphis Grizzlies.

The nine-year veteran, who had scored just 16 points combined over his last four games, had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists and Bibby added 25 and seven assists for Sacramento, who won the series, 2-1.

"There's no giving up right now," Miller said. "We needed to come out and get this win tonight, because we still want to win. It's a good win on the road and being down some guys. I thought our guys were all unselfish tonight, and we competed hard to win."

The Kings were down a pair of players as Kevin Martin (illness) and Corliss Williamson (heel) both sat this one out.

"It's good to get a win on the road," Kings coach Eric Musselman said. "It's tough to win on the road, no matter where you play. ... I give our guys a lot of credit. ... I'm proud of the hustle and commitment they've had in the past few games."

Bibby had also been struggling, averaging only 10 points - seven below his average - in his last five games.

Dahntay Jones had 18 points and Pau Gasol added 17 and nine rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have lost six in a row and have locked up the dubious honors of worst record in the league (19-60).

FIBA