Hawks put end to drought

For the first time since 1999, the Atlanta Hawks are headed to the NBA playoffs.

The Hawks clinched the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference when the Indiana Pacers, the only other team with a mathematical chance, lost at Washington 117-110 on Monday night. The league’s longest playoff drought ended with Atlanta enjoying an off day.

Atlanta’s last playoff appearance came during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, when the team finished second in the Central Division with a lineup that featured Dikembe Mutombo, Mookie Blaylock and Steve Smith. The Hawks defeated Detroit in the opening round, but were swept in four games by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Wizards 117, Pacers 110: At Washington, the Wizards’ backups were more than enough to eliminate Indiana from the playoff race.

Roger Mason had 31 points while rookie Nick Young added 14.

Celtics 99, Knicks 93: At New York, with his three All-Star teammates resting, Rajon Rondo had 23 points and 10 rebounds, leading Boston to a victory over the Knicks in what may have been Isiah Thomas’ final home game as Knicks coach.

Cavaliers 91, 76ers 90: At Philadelphia, Devin Brown sank two free throws with 0.2 seconds left after the 76ers were brought back from the locker room and the game seemingly over to lift Cleveland over Philadelphia.

The Sixers appeared to have won after Lou Williams hit a fadeaway jumper with 5.1 seconds left.

Instead, Brown was fouled by Samuel Dalembert with only a couple of ticks left. The Sixers thought the game was over and ran off the court, while the refs huddled at midcourt to look at the replay.

Raptors 91, Heat 75: At Toronto, Rasho Nesterovic scored 20 points, Chris Bosh had 15 and the Raptors beat Miami.

Anthony Parker had 13 and Jason Kapono scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter for the Raptors.

Bulls 151, Bucks 135: At Milwaukee, Luol Deng scored 32 points on 15-of-20 shooting and Ben Gordon added 29 points as Chicago fell just short of a franchise record for points and shooting percentage with a victory over the Bucks.

Jazz 105, Rockets 96: At Salt Lake City, Carlos Boozer scored 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as Utah beat Houston.

Mehmet Okur added 12 points and 12 rebounds and Deron Williams finished with 17 points and nine assists for the Jazz.

Suns 122, Warriors 116: At Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and Phoenix recovered after blowing a 17-point lead to beat Golden State, eliminating the Warriors from playoff contention.

Golden States’ loss clinched the final playoff spot in the West for Denver.

Spurs 101, Kings 98: At Sacramento, Tony Parker had a season-tying 32 points and 11 assists as San Antonio clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a victory over the Kings.

The victory, coupled with Houston’s loss to Utah, gave the Spurs third place in the conference for the second straight season.

Anthony arrested

NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony was arrested early Monday in Denver on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, hours after his worst game of the season.

The Denver Nuggets forward was arrested on Interstate 25, police said. He was alone in the car and pulled over for weaving and not dimming his lights.

Detective Sharon Hahn said Anthony failed a series of sobriety tests. He was charged with DUI, and then taken to police headquarters before being released to a “sober responsible party,” Hahn said. Anthony is due in court May 14.