体坛英语新闻：Celtics wrap up best record

BEIJING, April 7 -- The Boston Celtics played without their "Big Three" on Saturday but still clinched the National Basketball Association's best regular season record with a 101-78 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

    Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were rested, while Paul Pierce was at home after the birth of his daughter on Friday, but that did not keep Boston from securing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

    "If you could write a script on a way to clinch home court, this would probably be it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after Leon Powe scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Boston's sixth straight win.

    Elsewhere in the NBA, it was: Magic 101, Cavaliers 86; Hawks 92, 76ers 85; Nets 99, Raptors 90; Kings 118, Nuggets 115; and Wizards 99, Bulls 87.

    In New Orleans, Emeka Okafor had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bobcats, who were eliminated from playoff contention.

Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins (R) blocks the shot of Indiana Pacers center Jeff Foster during the first quarter at the TD Bank North Garden in Boston, Massachusetts April 2, 2008

    The Celtics, spurred by the offseason acquisitions of Garnett and Allen, have already added 37 victories to last year's total of 24. They have six games remaining in the regular season.

    The turnaround breaks the record of the 1997-98 San Antonio Spurs, who went from a 20-62 record the previous year to 56-26 in Tim Duncan's first year in the NBA.

    The Celtics, who are 33-6 so far this season at home, now have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, including for a deciding Game 7 in the NBA finals if they make it that far.

    In Cleveland, Hedo Turkoglu scored 23 points, Rashard Lewis added 21 and Orlando locked up the Eastern Conference's No. 3 playoff seed.

    The Magic, who have sat behind Boston and Detroit in the standings for much of the season, won despite getting only four points on 1-of-8 shooting from All-Star center Dwight Howard - 17 below his average. Orlando's defense, though, was the difference.

    The Magic held Cleveland to 14 points in the fourth quarter and didn't let Cavaliers superstar LeBron James get his first points of the period until there was 1:48 left. James, who has been bothered by back spasms, finished with 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

    At Philadelphia, Joe Johnson scored 22 points, Josh Smith added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Atlanta built a big lead and held off Philadelphia.

    Al Horford added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks.

    Andre Iguodala scored 25 points for Philadelphia, which had clinched a playoff berth for the first time in three years on Friday.

    At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Vince Carter scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half and New Jersey beat Toronto, snapping a four-game losing streak and keeping its faint playoff hopes alive.

    Despite the win, the Nets' magic number for being eliminated from postseason contention for the first time in seven years was reduced to two when Atlanta beat Philadelphia earlier.

    Rasho Nesterovic had 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the playoff-bound Raptors.

    At Denver, Kevin Martin scored 36 points despite missing Sacramento's shootaround with the stomach flu, and the Kings dealt a blow to Denver's playoff plans with a surprising win at the Pepsi Center.

    The Kings, out of playoff contention and missing Ron Artest (thumb) and Brad Miller (leg), won their fourth straight and snapped Denver's nine-game home winning streak. The Nuggets got 47 points from Carmelo Anthony, two shy of his career high.

    Instead of moving into a seventh-place tie with Dallas, Denver fell into a tie with Golden State for the eighth and final playoff spot in the wild Western Conference.

    At Chicago, Brendan Haywood scored a career-high 25 points, Caron Butler added 18 and short-handed Washington beat Chicago.

    The Bulls got 18 points from Ben Gordon and 16 from Larry Hughes, but fell 5 1/2 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot.