NBA ROUNDUP : Heat Still Alive in Playoff Race After Victory

Players for the Miami Heat know that they are going to need help from other teams to make the playoffs for the first time.

But they got more help than they could have hoped for from the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night.

The Bucks made 38% of their shots and scored a combined 30 points in the second and third quarters, sending the Heat to a 95-87 victory at Miami.

Glen Rice scored 23 points for the Heat, including a three-point basket during an 11-0 third-quarter run.

“What you saw tonight were two teams heading in different directions,” Milwaukee Coach Frank Hamblen said. “One’s the oldest team in the league and the other is the youngest.”

Several Heat players said they had trouble shaking their disappointment over blowing a late lead Tuesday night in a loss to New Jersey.

“I was down,” center Rony Seikaly said. “I just kept thinking this should have been our clincher. It was like I lost a member of the family.”

Miami will make the playoffs if Atlanta loses its last two games, if the Hawks split their last two and Miami wins its season finale at Boston on Sunday, or if Miami beats Boston and New Jersey loses Saturday at home to Orlando.

“We’ll check the box scores. That’s basically all we can do now,” Heat Coach Kevin Loughery said. “The big thing is to concentrate on Boston. We just have to play our hearts out in Boston and try to come up with the win.”

Miami (38-43) is half a game behind Atlanta (38-42), which has the eighth-best record in the Eastern Conference, and one game behind seventh-place New Jersey (39-42). If Miami winds up with the same record as Atlanta or New Jersey, the Heat will make the playoffs.

“I’ve said several times that it’ll come down to the last game of the season against the Celtics,” Rice said. “We’ve got to go out and play the best basketball the Miami Heat can play.”

Brad Lohaus scored 23 points for the Bucks, who missed 17 of 22 shots in the third quarter.

Milwaukee finished with a 6-35 road record, tying the franchise record for futility on the road set in 1976-77. The Bucks lost 25 of their final 26 games as the visiting team.

Indiana 119, New Jersey 113--Reggie Miller scored 11 of his 24 points during the fourth quarter when the Pacers rallied from a 12-point deficit for the victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

The victory clinched sixth place in the Eastern Conference for the Pacers and set up a first-round playoff pairing with Cleveland.

The Nets, who have not been in the playoffs since 1986, can qualify for the postseason by defeating Orlando Saturday or with a loss by Miami or Atlanta.

Detlef Schrempf led the Pacers with 26 points.

The Nets appeared to have the playoff berth wrapped up when Derrick Coleman’s layup gave the Nets a 103-91 lead with 10:22 to play.

Miller put Indiana ahead for good with a reverse layup with 50 seconds to play and Chuck Person added a cushion with a jumper with 26 seconds to go.

Washington 119, Orlando 106--Michael Adams scored 34 points at Landover, Md., as the Bullets ended a six-game losing streak.

Adams made 13 of 21 shots, including five three-point baskets, to help the Bullets win their final home game. The Bullets’ 14-27 record at home was the second-worst in the history of the franchise.

Ledell Eackles scored 27 points for the Bullets, who lost 14 of 16 and played without injured starters Pervis Ellison and Harvey Grant.

Nick Anderson led the Magic with 27 points and 12 rebounds.

Adams scored 19 points in the first half, including 12 during a 22-6 run that gave the Bullets a 58-43 lead late in the second quarter.

Phoenix 121, San Antonio 101--Cedric Ceballos scored 13 of his 27 points in the third quarter to lead the Suns at Phoenix.

Ceballos, making his second consecutive start, also had 13 rebounds.

Ed Nealy scored 17 points in 21 minutes for the Suns.

Sean Elliott scored 20 points for the Spurs.