Spurs Move Closer to the Best Record

David Robinson had 29 points and 12 rebounds Tuesday night as the San Antonio Spurs kept their Western Conference title hopes alive with an 87-81 victory at Portland.

San Antonio (36-13) can clinch home-court advantage throughout the postseason with a victory at Golden State tonight. Utah (37-13) ended its season Tuesday and the Spurs own the tiebreaker over the Jazz after winning the season series, 2-1.

“Tonight’s game was the biggest game of the season for us,” Robinson said. “Now tomorrow night’s game is the biggest. That would give us the home court all the way.”

Robinson’s dunk off a missed jumper by Sean Elliott gave the Spurs an 83-78 lead with 12.2 seconds left to seal the victory.

“Definitely, it was David’s best game of the season,” teammate Tim Duncan said. “He was incredible tonight. He took us the whole way through, played big throughout, kept on making the big plays and had the big dunk at the end.”

Charlotte 117, Philadelphia 110--The Charlotte Hornets got 28 points from Eddie Jones and defeated the playoff-bound 76ers in overtime at Philadelphia.

Houston 100, Minnesota 83--Rookie Michael Dickerson scored a career-high 31 points leading the Rockets to a victory at Houston and tying them with the Lakers for the No. 4 spot and home court when the two meet in the Western Conference’s first round.

Milwaukee 99, Toronto 86--Even with Glenn Robinson and Dell Curry nursing injuries and Vinny Del Negro out because of a sprained left ankle, the Bucks were still able to win at home.

Miami 93, Atlanta 79--The Heat won at home to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and their third consecutive Atlantic Division title.

Indiana 100, Cleveland 78--Reggie Miller scored 24 points despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter as the Pacers clinched the Central Division and the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed at home.

Seattle 110, Dallas 100--The lottery-bound SuperSonics ended their home schedule with a victory over the Mavericks.