Wizards lock up No. 5 seed; Lakers take 7th

With one last brilliant performance, Kobe Bryant helped put the remainder of the playoff picture into place.

Bryant scored 27 of his 35 points in the first half to officially win his first NBA scoring title, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Hornets 115-95 Wednesday night to clinch seventh place in the Western Conference and a playoff matchup with the Phoenix Suns.

Los Angeles needed a victory to avoid finishing eighth in the West, which would have meant facing defending champion San Antonio in the first round. Instead, Sacramento got the eighth seed and will visit the Spurs on Saturday.

The East field was determined earlier in the day, with the Washington Wizards earning the first crack at LeBron James.

Washington clinched the No. 5 seed by beating the Detroit Pistons 96-80, and will open the playoffs against James and the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. The Wizards won their final three games to vault into fifth.

Also in the East, the top-seeded Pistons will open Sunday night against Milwaukee, Southeast Division champion Miami will host No. 7 Chicago on Saturday, and No. 6 Indiana will visit Atlantic Division champ New Jersey on Sunday afternoon.

A couple of matchups in the West were set Tuesday night when Memphis beat the Los Angeles Clippers to clinch the No. 5 seed. The Grizzlies will open against Dallas, which has the second-best record in the West but falls to fourth because it is in the same division as San Antonio.

The Clippers will open against No. 3 seed Denver, the Northwest Division champion. Los Angeles has home-court advantage because it has a better record than Denver.

Pacers 89, Magic 83: At Indianapolis, Jermaine O’Neal had 24 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks, and Indiana beat Orlando.

Wizards 96, Pistons 80: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Caron Butler had 33 points and 12 rebounds as Washington beat Detroit.

Knicks 90, Nets 83: At East Rutherford, N.J., New York avoided its first 60-loss season with a win over New Jersey.

Bobcats 96, 76ers 86: At Charlotte, N.C., Matt Carroll scored 24 points and Charlotte beat Philadelphia.

Celtics 85, Heat 78: At Boston, Ryan Gomes had 19 points to help the Celtics snap a five-game losing streak in a victory over Miami.

Cavaliers 100, Hawks 99: At Cleveland, the Cavaliers tuned up for the postseason with a win over Atlanta.

Spurs 89, Rockets 87: At Houston, Brent Barry scored 19 points to help San Antonio break the franchise victory record (63) with a win over the Rockets.

Clippers 85, Mavericks 71: At Dallas, Corey Maggette returned to action with 18 points and 11 rebounds, helping Los Angeles beat the Mavericks.

Grizzlies 102, Timberwolves 92 (2OT): At Minneapolis, Brian Cardinal scored nine of his 18 points in the second overtime to lead Memphis to a victory over Minnesota.

Bulls 127, Raptors 106: At Chicago, Ben Gordon scored 24 points and the Bulls beat Toronto.

Jazz 105, Warriors 102: At Salt Lake City, rookie C.J. Miles scored a career-high 23 points and Utah rallied to beat Golden State.

Suns 106, Trail Blazers 96: At Portland, Steve Nash had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, and Phoenix beat Portland.

Iverson, Webber apologize

Allen Iverson and Chris Webber apologized for their actions a night earlier, when they didn’t arrive to the arena until just before tip-off and then didn’t sit on the bench during Philadelphia’s victory over New Jersey.