Basketball

Los Angeles Clippers (44-38, fifth in the Western Conference) vs. Phoenix Suns (45-37, fourth in the Western Conference) Phoenix; Sunday, 8 p.m.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves went big this season, getting Rudy Gobert for an against-the-grain pairing with Karl-Anthony Towns in a league increasingly revolving around outside shooting and small ball.

MIAMI (AP) — Max Strus and Jimmy Butler scored 31 points apiece, and the Miami Heat got into the playoffs by rallying in the final minutes to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in an Eastern Conference play-in game Friday night.

EASTERN CONFERENCE No. 1 MILWAUKEE BUCKS (58-24) vs. No. 8 MIAMI HEAT (44-38) Season series: Tied, 2-2. Story line: The Bucks, with the best record in the league, open against the team who knocked them off last time they were the No. 1 overall seed.

MIAMI (AP) — Max Strus' heel caught the attention of the NBA replay center with the Miami Heat facing elimination — again.

MIAMI (AP) — Max Strus had another 3-pointer taken away in an elimination game. He and Jimmy Butler made sure it didn't matter. The playoffs await.

METAIRIE, La.

SEATTLE (AP) — Prosecutors in Washington state charged former NBA star Shawn Kemp on Friday with first-degree assault in a parking lot shooting last month over a stolen cellphone, saying that in a text message just before the shooting, Kemp wrote, “I

NEW YORK (AP) — Nikola Jokic is a finalist to win a third straight NBA MVP award, with Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo the players who can stop him.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The New York Knicks couldn't land Donovan Mitchell last summer. They're getting him now. Just not in the way they hoped.