Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ó For the New Jersey Nets, missing the playoffs took a lot of the fun out of rallying from a 20-point deficit to beat the Charlotte Bobcats.
Richard Jefferson scored 28 points and hit a go-ahead jumper in overtime and the Nets limited the Bobcats to 47 points in the final 29 minutes in a 112-108 meaningless victory on Tuesday night.
Vince Carter added 18 points, Devin Harris had 17 and eight assists and Bostjan Nachbar added eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Nets won their second straight.
Jason Richardson had 31 points to lead Charlotte in the game between two non-playoff teams. Nazr Mohammed added 19 points, Raymond Felton had 18 and Okafor had 15 rebounds.
Richardson said the Bobcats got complacent with the big lead and the Nets got aggressive.
iI think we thought we had them buried in the books, and you canít do that to any NBA team. You have a team down, you have to kick them. In the NBA, if you donít kick them, they are going to kick you..îî
Hornets 114, Clippers 92
NEW ORLEANS ó David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 12 during a decisive run in the third quarter as the New Orleans Hornets clinched the Southwest Division by beating the Los Angeles Clippers
114-92 on Tuesday night.
The Hornets will have at least the No. 2 seed in the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference.
Hornets coach Byron Scott earned his 300th career victory.
Pistons 115, Timberwolves 103
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. ó Jarvis Hayes scored 20 points and Richard Hamilton added 18 as the Pistons clinched the NBAís second-best record behind Boston.
With the victory, Detroit will have home-court advantage over any Western Conference opponent if it makes the NBA Finals.
Magic 121, Hawks 105
ATLANTA ó Maurice Evans scored a career-high 27 points and six of his Orlando teammates also scored in double figures.