Rockets Beat Nuggets to Clinch Playoffs

<br>One berth was secured Friday as Houston defeated Denver 106-103 to end a five-year postseason drought. Steve Francis, who scored a season-high 33 points, will be making the first playoff appearance

Saturday, April 10th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

One berth was secured Friday as Houston defeated Denver 106-103 to end a five-year postseason drought. Steve Francis, who scored a season-high 33 points, will be making the first playoff appearance of his NBA career _ as will Yao Ming.

``You can tell more from the other players because they've been here longer,'' Yao said. ``They have more of a feeling for it. It's like New Year's to me.''

At the bottom and near the top, the Western Conference playoff race is all tied up.

The Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets lost Friday night to drop into a three-tie with Utah for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Sacramento lost for the second straight night to fall into a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers atop the Pacific Division.

There were no changes in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, the Boston Celtics failing to clinch a spot when they lost 89-80 at New Orleans.

In other games, San Antonio downed Portland 84-74, Phoenix edged Sacramento 101-96, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated Memphis 103-95, Minnesota beat Golden State 92-74, Indiana topped New Jersey 90-80, Miami topped Cleveland 106-91, Detroit defeated Toronto 74-66, Washington edged Philadelphia 83-80 and Atlanta beat Chicago 116-101.

Rockets 106, Nuggets 103

At Houston, confetti dropped from the rafters at the end of the game, but the Rockets weren't in much of a festive mood in the locker room afterward.

``We want to go in the playoffs on a good note. We know we can play with anybody,'' Francis said. ``Tonight was a good game for us and we want to try and keep the same mentality. We don't want to settle for just being in the playoffs. We want to make some noise in them.''

Spurs 84, Trail Blazers 74

At San Antonio, Manu Ginobili came off the bench to spark a first-quarter surge that carried San Antonio to its eighth straight win.

The Blazers play Saturday at Denver.

``That will be a big game for us,'' said Portland coach Maurice Cheeks. ``It would have been nice to win here.''

Suns 101, Kings 96

At Phoenix, Joe Johnson's three consecutive 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter helped drop the Kings into a first-place tie in the Pacific Division. Sacramento plays the Lakers on Sunday.

The Kings got within 97-96 on Peja Stojakovic's layup with 11.2 seconds to play. Shawn Marion followed with two free throws with 10.3 seconds to go, then Stojakovic missed a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining, hitting the side of the backboard.

``It's a tough loss and you just have to deal with it,'' Chris Webber said. ``There's a lot on every game, so we just have to win and try to sew up the season the best we can.''

With Webber in the lineup since his return from knee surgery, the Kings are only 10-10.

Lakers 103, Grizzlies 95

Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and Shaquille O'Neal had 28 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who were booed when they trailed by 19 points in the second quarter before Bryant ignited a comeback.

The Grizzlies are 0-18 in franchise history against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Timberwolves 92, Warriors 74

At Oakland, Kevin Garnett had 29 points and 15 rebounds in Minnesota's seventh straight victory.

If the Timberwolves (56-24) finish the best regular season in franchise history with victories over Utah on Monday and Memphis on Wednesday, they'll have home-court advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

Pacers 90, Nets 80

At Indianapolis, Ron Artest's 24 points and four steals helped the Pacers clinch home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Pacers also set their NBA franchise record for wins in a season. New Jersey was missing All-Stars Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin.

Heat 106, Cavaliers 91

At Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 20 points and Miami eliminated LeBron James and the Cavs from playoff contention. A crowd of 20,213, a record for the AmericanAirlines Arena, saw the surging Heat win their 11th in a row at home. The Heat raised their record above .500 (40-39) for the first time since Oct. 31, 2001.

Pistons 74, Raptors 66

At Auburn Hills, Mich., Richard Hamilton scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Pistons to their sixth straight win. The Pistons extended their NBA record by holding an opponent under 70 points for the 11th time this season.

Wizards 83, 76ers 80

At Philadelphia, Gilbert Arenas sank a 3-pointer as time expired and scored Washington's final 12 points. One more loss by Philadelphia _ or a win by Boston _ will eliminate the Sixers from postseason contention.

Hawks 116, Bulls 101

At Chicago, Stephen Jackson scored 36 points and Bob Sura had his first career triple-double with 12 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for Atlanta.