Rookie rallies Spurs to Midwest title

? Tony Parker thinks he’s ready for the NBA playoffs. After watching him beat the Utah Jazz, who would argue?

The 19-year-old rookie point guard drove the length of the floor and scored on a layup with 2 seconds left, lifting San Antonio to an 86-84 victory over Utah on Wednesday night to clinch the Midwest Division for the Spurs.

“I like having the ball when it’s like that,” Parker said. “It was a big game for us. We wanted to win the Midwest Division. I like being in the game when there’s a lot of pressure.”

Tim Duncan had 26 points and 16 rebounds as San Antonio won the Midwest for the second straight year and closed the regular season with a nine-game winning streak. But he gave the credit to Parker.

“Tony Parker was awesome, pushing it down there at the end and making it happen,” Duncan said. “He had a tough game all night but he stayed with it, and he was there for us at the end.”

John Stockton had 23 points and 10 assists while Karl Malone scored all of his 15 in the first half for the Jazz.

Pistons 123, Bucks 89

Auburn Hills, Mich. Sam Cassell couldn’t pull off what Joe Namath and Mark Messier did. Cassell guaranteed that Milwaukee would beat Detroit and clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Instead, the Bucks failed miserably, losing by 34 points, 123-89, and they were eliminated from the NBA playoff race.

Raptors 103, Cavaliers 85

Toronto Morris Peterson and Jerome Williams each scored 22 points, and Toronto finished seventh in the Eastern Conference.

Pacers 103, 76ers 80

Indianapolis Brad Miller scored 19 points and Jermaine O’Neal added 18 as Indiana earned the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers needed a victory and a loss by either Milwaukee or Toronto to make the playoffs. Toronto won, but the Bucks lost to Detroit.

Hornets 112, Bulls 106

Charlotte, N.C. Jamal Mashburn and Elden Campbell scored 20 points each for Charlotte, which will get homecourt advantage over Orlando in the first round of the playoffs.

Heat 103, Magic 89

Orlando, Fla. The injury-riddled Orlando Magic finished their season-ending slide by losing to Miami, snuffing their hopes of having homecourt advantage in the first round.

Celtics 89, Hawks 81

Boston Rodney Rogers, starting in place of Antoine Walker, scored 25 points as Boston beat Atlanta to head into the playoffs with seven wins in eight games.

Nets 99, Knicks 94

New York New Jersey overcame an 11-point third quarter deficit and Allan Houston’s 32 points to sweep the season series from New York for the first time in 17 years.

Timberwolves 104, Nuggets 90

Minneapolis Wally Szczerbiak scored 20 points in 23 minutes as Minnesota tuned up for the playoffs by defeating Denver.

Trail Blazers 92, Rockets 79

Portland, Ore. Damon Stoudamire got a warm ovation in his first game since his drug case became public in an otherwise forgettable regular-season finale.

Suns 89, Mavericks 76

Phoenix Jake Tsakalidis scored 19 points and Stephon Marbury had 15 points and 13 assists. The Mavs went into the finale tied with San Antonio Spurs at 57-24. But the Spurs held the tiebreaker, and their victory at Utah an hour earlier ended Dallas’ shot at its first division title in 15 years.

SuperSonics 109, Grizzlies 94

Seattle Desmond Mason scored 33 points on 13-of-16 shooting and Gary Payton had 30 as Seattle clinched the No. 7 playoff berth in the West.

Lakers 109, Kings 95

Los Angeles Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant scored 21 points each in limited duty. By winning their 15th straight home game, the Lakers finished with a 58-24 record.

Warriors 107, Clippers 103

Oakland, Calif. Antawn Jamison scored a season-high 35 points as the Warriors snapped a six-game losing streak. Golden State finished in a tie with Chicago for the league’s worst record, giving the teams equal chances 225 out of 1,001 to win the top pick in the NBA draft lottery.