Pistons surge past Hornets 118-100, locking Charlotte into the play-in

Already assured of the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons played their regular starters against the Hornets. Cade Cunningham scored 14 points, Ronald Holland II had 13 and Ausar Thompson added 12 for Detroit, which is one win shy of its first 60-win season in 20 years with one regular-season game remaining. Duren also had a game-high nine rebounds.

LaMelo Ball had 27 points and eight assists and Brandon Miller had 22 points to lead the Hornets. Through late in the third quarter, the lead had changed hands 11 times with 13 ties and neither team led by more than eight. But Charlotte held its last lead at 83-82 with 5:52 left in the third quarter and after the teams were last tied at 87 with 2:46 left in that period, Detroit went on a 24-8 burst for a 111-92 lead with 6:23 to play.

HEAT 140, WIZARDS 117 WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington clinched the worst record in the NBA with a loss to the Miami. Washington (17-64) has lost nine in a row and 25 of its last 26 to tumble to the bottom of the standings. The Wizards became the first NBA team to lose 64 games in three consecutive seasons.

The Vancouver Grizzlies lost at least 63 games in each of their first three seasons from 1995-96 to 1997-98, while the Process-era Philadelphia 76ers matched that futility from 2013-14 to 2015-16. Simone Fontecchio and Pelle Larsson both scored 24 points for the Heat (42-39), who had lost 10 of 13. Miami scored an average of 143.