Los Angeles: The Houston Rockets clinched an NBA play-off berth with a 105-82 rout of the Mavericks in Dallas as reigning champions Golden State and the Cleveland Cavaliers both lost.
Even with Most Valuable Player candidate James Harden sitting out with a sore left knee, the Rockets had little trouble from the Mavs.
Only a spate of eight second-quarter turnovers by Houston helped Dallas erase a 15-point deficit and briefly take a six-point lead.
The Rockets soon tidied things up to take a one-point lead at half-time that they wouldn’t surrender after the break.
Point guard Chris Paul scored 24 points and 12 assists.
Houston are 1.5 games ahead of the Warriors atop the West. The depleted Warriors fell 109-103 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the defending champs’ second straight defeat.
The struggles continued for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who fell to the Warriors in last year’s finals after beating them the year before.
LeBron James and the Cavs tied it twice but never led in the second half in a 127-113 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.
