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Atlanta Hawks 98, Indiana Pacers 112: Mike Dunleavy dropped 28 points for the Pacers, and Jermaine O’Neal had 10 points in his return, as the Indiana Pacers beat the Hawks to help avoid playoff elimination. Both teams have four games left; the Hawks play Boston, Orlando, New York and Miami, and Indiana faces off against Philadelphia, Charlotte, Washington and New York. It’ll be hard for Atlanta to blow this, but don’t put anything past them. They are, after all, the Hawks.

Utah Jazz 77, New Orleans Hornets 66: Chris Paul had four points and nine assists on 2-11 shooting. Peja led all Hornets players with 15 points. The Hornets shot 36 percent from the field, and only 21 perecent from beyond the arch. With the loss, the Hornets still hold the best record in the West, and can avoid having to play Dallas in the first round, which, I assure you, will give San Antonio serious problems should they meet then.

Boston Celtics 107, Milwaukee Bucks 104: Go, Boston, go. Next up for the Celtics: Chewing through the Hawks in Round 1 of the playoffs like they’re some kind of super buzzsaw.

Phoenix Suns 127, Memphis Grizzlies 113: The Suns are starting to win with Shaq, and like the ongoing theme in the West, are going to make the third ranked team seriously mad that they’ll have to play these guys in Round 1. If you’re the No. 1 seed, you play Denver. No. 2 seed, you play Dallas. No. 3 seed, you play Phoenix. Compare that to out East, where the No. 1 seed gets Atlanta, the No. 2 seed gets Toronto, and the No. 3 seed gets Philadelphia. The question of “Who’s more battle tested?” when they get to the Finals won’t be a hard one to answer.

Sacramento Kings 132, Golden State Warriors 140: Nelly’s still alive, and so are his Warriors. The game didn’t feature a whole ton of fundamental defense, but it did feature a lot of up-and-down game with multiple guys scoring multiple points. Both teams featured six players in double digits, led by Baron Davis’ 33 points. Golden State is tied with Denver, but the Nuggets hold the tie-breaker.

Denver Nuggets 117, LA Clippers 99: Keeping pace, Denver. Keeping pace.