Western Conference

Mike Conley had 18 points and seven assists as the Memphis Grizzlies beat Charlotte 85-80 on Friday night to extend the Bobcats' franchise-worst losing streak to 19 games. The Grizzlies overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter and then held on to get an important victory in terms of playoff seeding in the Western Conference. On the 25-year anniversary of Michael Jordan scoring an NBA playoff-record 63 points against the Boston Celtics, the team Jordan now owns took a step closer toward cementing a dubious spot in league history.

Boston Globe basketball writer Gary Washburn offers a preview of the Western Conference matchups in the NBA playoffs: 1. San Antonio vs. 8. Utah After last year's embarrassing upset at the hands of the Grizzlies, the Spurs won't take the Jazz lightly. But this series will be a challenge for the West's top seed. After playing in last year's first round without Manu Ginobili, the Spurs are healthy and Tony Parker may have earned MVP votes with his career season. Utah is young and big, and this may be the first step in a return to being among the Western Conference elite.

Boston Globe basketball writer Gary Washburn offers a preview of the Western Conference matchups in the NBA playoffs: 1. San Antonio vs. 8. Utah After last year's embarrassing upset at the hands of the Grizzlies, the Spurs won't take the Jazz lightly. But this series will be a challenge for the West's top seed. After playing in last year's first round without Manu Ginobili, the Spurs are healthy and Tony Parker may have earned MVP votes with his career season. Utah is young and big, and this may be the first step in a return to being among the Western Conference elite.

The Bobcats couldn't even beat a Knicks team resting most of its starters, finishing with the worst winning percentage in NBA history after a 104-84 loss on Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C. J.R. Smith scored 22 points for the Knicks, who pulled away in the second half to clinch the Eastern Conference's No. 7 seed and a first-round playoff matchup against No. 2 Miami beginning Saturday. Gerald Henderson had 21 points for the Bobcats, whose 23d consecutive loss left them with a winning percentage of .106 (7-59)

The Boston Globe's team of hockey reporters and editors offer their picks for who will win in the Stanley Cup playoffs: FLUTO SHINZAWA Bruins vs. Capitals: Boston in seven. Russian machine finally breaks. Eastern Conference winner: New York. John Tortorella moons Penguins in series-clinching win. Western Conference winner: Nashville. Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood celebrate by releasing top-40 single. Stanley Cup winner: New York. Traffic from Cup parade causes Manhattan-wide road rage.

Nicolas Batum scored 19 points and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak with an 86-74 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night. LaMarcus Aldridge, who had just two points and three rebounds in the first half, finished with 10 points and 11 boards for Portland, which led by as many as 26 points and got a morale-boosting victory before heading out on a seven-game, 12-night road trip. Aldridge did not play in the fourth quarter. Marco Belinelli had 18 points for New Orleans, which has lost four of its last five games.

Rudy Gay had 28 points and nine rebounds to help the Memphis Grizzlies withstand a weak start to the fourth quarter and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves for the eighth straight time, 91-84 on Tuesday night. J.J. Barea scored a season-high 28 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range to go with eight assists and five rebounds, but the Timberwolves lost their 11th straight — and their 27th consecutive game in April. They have three more tries this season to stop that streak.

Rudy Gay scored a season-high 32 points and the Memphis Grizzlies won their fourth straight with a 104-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. Memphis outscored the Suns 17-6 after Phoenix tied the game at 87 with 6:27 left. Dante Cunningham had six of his 10 points during the stretch run. Zach Randolph had 17 points and nine rebounds for Memphis, which won for the ninth time in the last 11 games. O.J. Mayo finished with 15 points, and Mike Conley had 12 points and seven assists.

The Oklahoma City Thunder signed All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook to a multiyear contract extension on Thursday. Westbrook was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season, meaning the Thunder would have had to match any offer he received from another team. Instead, they locked him up with a new deal 15 games into this season. Terms were not disclosed but Yahoo Sports reported the deal was worth $80 million over five years. Oklahoma City has the best record in the Western Conference, with Westbrook averaging 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 5.0...

Jonathan Quick stopped 19 shots for his ninth shutout of the season and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Calgary Flames 3-0 Wednesday night to move into the eighth place in the Western conference. Willie Mitchell, Dustin Brown and Justin Williams scored for the Kings (38-27-12), who snapped a two-game losing streak. Anze Kopitar had two assists. Quick has the Kings record to himself now, adding onto the record of eight he shared with Rogie Vachon, who set the mark in the 1976-77 season.

Kevin Durant had 29 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 103-92 victory over the struggling Sacramento Kings on Friday night. The Thunder took the lead for good midway through the first quarter and went on to their second consecutive victory and fourth in five games. Oklahoma City (46-17) remained in contention for the best record in the Western Conference. The Thunder are one-half game behind San Antonio and have three games remaining, including Tuesday against the visiting Kings.

Ty Lawson went 5 of 5 on 3-pointers and had 29 points and 10 assists to lead Denver to a 118-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday that clinched a playoff berth for the Nuggets. The Suns fell a half-game behind Utah for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Jazz played at home against Orlando on Saturday night. Phoenix plays at Utah on Tuesday and holds the tiebreaker over the Jazz. Steve Nash of the Suns had 13 assists, nine in the first quarter, and passed Oscar Robertson into fifth place on the NBA's career list.

Mike Conley had 18 points and seven assists as the Memphis Grizzlies beat Charlotte 85-80 on Friday night to extend the Bobcats' franchise-worst losing streak to 19 games. The Grizzlies overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter and then held on to get an important victory in terms of playoff seeding in the Western Conference. On the 25-year anniversary of Michael Jordan scoring an NBA playoff-record 63 points against the Boston Celtics, the team Jordan now owns took a step closer toward cementing a dubious spot in league history.

James Harden scored a career-high 40 points, including making 5 of 8 3-pointers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder dealt Phoenix a blow in its scramble to make the playoffs with a 109-97 victory over the Suns on Wednesday night. Kevin Durant added 29 points and Russell Westbrook 15 for the Thunder, who stayed a half-game behind San Antonio for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference. Phoenix's loss, coupled with Utah's‘ victory over Portland, moved the Jazz a half-game ahead of the Suns for the West's eighth and final playoff spot.

Rudy Gay had 28 points and nine rebounds to help the Memphis Grizzlies withstand a weak start to the fourth quarter and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves for the eighth straight time, 91-84 on Tuesday night. J.J. Barea scored a season-high 28 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range to go with eight assists and five rebounds, but the Timberwolves lost their 11th straight — and their 27th consecutive game in April. They have three more tries this season to stop that streak.

Tony Parker had 29 points and 13 assists, Tim Duncan had 19 points and eight rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs handed the Los Angeles Lakers their worst loss of the season, 112-91 on Tuesday night. Manu Ginobili scored 15 points as the Spurs improved their spot atop the Western Conference with their fourth straight win. They also snapped Los Angeles' four-game winning streak while dominating a meeting of division leaders — albeit with Kobe Bryant sitting out his sixth straight game to rest his bruised shin.

Kevin Martin scored 31 points to lead the Houston Rockets to their seventh straight victory, 107-92 over Minnesota on Monday night in coach Kevin McHale's first game back at Target Center since he was fired by the Timberwolves in 2009. Kyle Lowry had 16 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds and Samuel Dalembert grabbed 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who put the game away with a 19-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. Kevin Love had 39 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who committed 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter in coach Rick Adelman's first game against the...

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots, Steve Sullivan had a goal and an assist and the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-1 on Saturday night. Evgeni Malkin, Arron Asham, Richard Park and Deryk Engelland also scored to help the Penguins stretch their winning streak to a season-high five games. Matt Hunwick scored, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 22 saves for Colorado. The Penguins won after losing another player to a concussion. Defenseman Kris Letang was scratched after taking an inadvertent hit to the head from Dallas' Eric...

Arron Afflalo scored 26 points, Ty Lawson had 25 and the Denver Nuggets continued their playoff push with a 105-102 victory over the fading Houston Rockets on Monday night. Al Harrington added 15 points and Andre Miller had 13 assists for the Nuggets, who swept back-to-back games with the Rockets, the team directly behind them in the Western Conference standings. Denver began the night holding the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the Rockets. Houston was only one game ahead of Phoenix and 1 ½ games ahead of Utah, who were both playing later Monday.

Tim Duncan had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Tony Parker scored 14, and the Spurs coasted past the Phoenix Suns, 105-91, Saturday night in San Antonio. The Spurs officially clinched the Southwest Division, but more importantly, stayed neck and neck with Oklahoma City for the No. 1 playoff seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio remains a game behind the Thunder with eight games to go. Sebastian Telfair scored 21 points for Phoenix, which simply wants to make the postseason.