DALLAS - Winning 50 games and making the playoffs was apparently enough to satisfy the Grizzlies, who didn't put up much of a fight against the Mavericks with the West's fifth seed on the line.
Rookie Marquis Daniels continued his recent roll with 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, helping the Mavericks secure the No. 5 spot with a 110-103 victory over the Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
The Mavs finished 36-5 at home, tops in the league and the best in the franchise's 24 seasons. But by going 15-25 on the road, Dallas can't host a playoff series - a first for the league's best home team since Utah in 1990-91.
Memphis, which lost its third straight and fifth in six games, trailed by 13 after one quarter and was down at least nine until the final minute.
The Grizzlies have the sixth seed. Either team could wind up playing Minnesota, the Lakers, San Antonio or Sacramento in the first round.
It'll all be settled tonight. The Grizzlies will be a player in how things work out because they play the Timberwolves at home.
LAKERS 109, WARRIORS 104: Kobe Bryant bounced back from one of the least productive games of his career to score a season-high 45 as host Los Angeles rallied. The victory was just the second in five games after an 11-game winning streak for the Lakers (55-26) and lifted them into a tie for the Pacific Division lead with Sacramento. Because the Kings hold the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series 3-1, the Lakers can win the division title only if they win at Portland and the Kings lose at Golden State in the regular-season finales tonight.
RAPTORS 87, PISTONS 78: Donyell Marshall had 27 points and 16 rebounds as host Toronto ended Detroit's eight-game winning streak. Detroit's Ben Wallace became the first player in the league to have four consecutive seasons of at least 1,000 rebounds, 100 steals and 100 blocks.
CLIPPERS 98, SUNS 96: Chris Wilcox's rebound basket at the buzzer snapped visiting Los Angeles' 13-game losing streak.
76ERS: Allen Iverson told team president Billy King what he wanted to hear at their season-ending meeting: Iverson wants to stay with the Sixers. "He said he wants to be a part of it," King said. "He's been here when it was bad, when it was good, to now when we're not in the playoffs. Iverson is signed through 2008-09.
Jacksonville joined the American Basketball Association, becoming the 14th expansion city for the 3-year-old league. The ABA does not compete with the NBA but is made up of some former NBA players. Its newest team is expected to be called the Jacksonville Wave. Other expansion teams for next season are: Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Gwinnett, Ga.; Little Rock, Ark.; Louisville, Ky.; Mahwah, N.J.; Minot, N.D.; Nashville, Tenn.; Pittsburgh; Portland, Ore.; Reno, Nev.; and Vancouver, British Columbia. Teams already in the league are: Long Beach, Calif.; Fresno, Calif.; Las Vegas; Philadelphia; Kansas City, Mo.; Juarez, Mexico; and Tijuana, Mexico.
