Salt Lake City ? Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley each heated up in the fourth quarter and finished with 20 points, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 105-96 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.

Van Exel had 12 points in the final period and Finley had 10 as the Mavericks remained a half-game ahead of San Antonio for the Midwest Division lead and the No. 2 playoff position in the Western Conference.

BOSTON'S PAUL PIERCE drives to the basket as Chicago's Trenton Hassell looks on. Pierce scored 24 points in the Celtics' 105-100 loss to the Bulls in Chicago.

And Dallas did it without leading scorer and rebounder Dirk Nowitzki, who had 10 points when he rolled his left ankle with 1:54 before halftime and limped to the dressing room. He didn’t return for the second half.

The severity of the injury wasn’t immediately known.

Karl Malone scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. He also had eight rebounds, returning to the Utah lineup after missing Friday’s loss to Sacramento with a swollen right knee.

Spurs 99, Blazers 87

San Antonio Tim Duncan scored 24 points, including a key late basket to break San Antonio out of a scoring slump, and the Spurs held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Portland Trail Blazers. Trailing by 20 points with seven minutes remaining, Portland tore off an 18-4 run that made the score 93-87 with 2:32 left.

Pistons 105, Hawks 99

Auburn Hills, Mich. The Detroit Pistons clinched their first division title since their championship era 12 years ago, beating the Atlanta Hawks. Zeljko Rebraca had career highs with 18 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks. The Yugoslavian rookie replaced injured Ben Wallace (ankle) and helped Detroit (47-30) win its first Central Division title since 1989-90.

Magic 83, Rockets 74

Orlando, Fla. Tracy McGrady had 22 points, 14 in the fourth quarter, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Magic moved within one victory or another Indiana loss of clinching a postseason berth. Troy Hudson scored 19 points, and his 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining capped a 16-1 run that sealed the Magic’s 10th straight win over Houston.

Cavaliers 111, Pacers 99

Indianapolis Ricky Davis had 32 points, while the Cavaliers limited Indiana to just five baskets in the final 18 minutes and ended a seven-game road losing streak.

Bulls 105, Celtics 100

Chicago Trenton Hassell made a key 3-pointer and Jalen Rose converted a pair of free throws, all in the final minute, to lead Chicago over the Boston Celtics, snapping the Bulls’ nine-game losing streak.

Sonics 102, Clippers 100

Seattle Desmond Mason had 26 of his career-high 36 points in the second half, and the Seattle SuperSonics clinched a playoff berth that eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers from postseason contention. Utah, which lost to Dallas on Monday night, got into the playoffs with the Clippers’ loss. Mason broke a tie at 98 with an 18-footer from the top of the key with 18.8 seconds left, and Ansu Sesay made two free throws with 3.2 seconds to go for Seattle’s final points.

Timberwolves 100, Warriors 93

Oakland, Calif. Wally Szczerbiak scored 21 points through constant boos, and Kevin Garnett had 22 points and 12 rebounds. All five Wolves starters scored in double figures.