Rockets blast to No. 4 seed in West

Tracy McGrady had 39 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists as the Houston Rockets clinched the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference with a 120-117 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night in Houston.

Yao Ming added 34 points and nine rebounds for the Rockets, who won their fifth straight game.

The Rockets secured their best record since 1997 and will open their first-round playoff series against Utah at home next weekend.

Celtics 91, Heat 89: At Miami, Al Jefferson’s jump hook with one-tenth of a second left lifted Boston to a win over Miami in the next-to-last regular season game for both teams.

Delonte West scored 28 points, while Jefferson finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds for Boston.

Nets 104, Knicks 95: At New York, Vince Carter had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and New Jersey clinched at least the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating New York to complete a season sweep.

Bostjan Nachbar added 19 points for the Nets, who won their sixth straight at Madison Square Garden.

Grizzlies 101, Spurs 91: At Memphis, Pau Gasol scored 25 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had six assists to lead Memphis over San Antonio.

Spurs Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili took the night off because San Antonio was no longer playing to enhance its third seed in the West.

Bucks 102, Hawks 96: At Milwaukee, Mo Williams scored 26 points, Ruben Patterson added 23 and Milwaukee beat Atlanta to snap a four-game home losing streak.

The Hawks got 16 points and 17 rebounds from Shelden Williams.

Nuggets 122, Timberwolves 107: At Denver, Allen Iverson scored 25 points, then sat back and watched the reserves close out Denver’s ninth win in 10 games, over Minnesota.

Carmelo Anthony added 21 in helping the Nuggets pull away with a 19-4 run in the third quarter.

Jazz 130, Trail Blazers 93: At Salt Lake City, Carlos Boozer scored 26 points and Utah tied a season high for points in a win over Portland.

Utah won its 50th game of the season, but will still open the playoffs on the road, at Houston.

Hornets 125, Kings 118: At Sacramento, Calif., David West scored 25 points to help New Orleans defeat Sacramento.

Chris Paul contributed 23 points and 12 assists for New Orleans.

Off the court

Marcus Camby, the NBA’s leader in blocked shots, sat out Denver’s game against Minnesota as a precaution after bruising his right knee Saturday. … Heat forward James Posey left Miami’s game against Boston with a sprained left wrist and shoulder. … Mike Woodson was not expected to coach Atlanta’s final road game against the Milwaukee Bucks because of food poisoning. … Wizards forward Caron Butler hopes to have the cast removed from his broken right hand in a week and thinks he could play if the team reaches the second round of the playoffs.