39.0°

Detroit clinched the No. 1 seed in the East on Monday night, escaping with an 89-88 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers when Smush Parker missed a dunk at the final buzzer.

Since Ben Wallace was injured on April 6, Detroit has needed overtime to beat Chicago and double overtime to beat Memphis.

"Every game has been so tough lately," Carlisle said. "When (Zydrunas) Ilgauskas got the ball at the free throw line, I closed my eyes, because I thought he was going to make it. Then Parker had a shot at the dunk and he missed it somehow. Believe me, they deserved that one just as much as we did."

The win, combined with New Jersey's loss to New Orleans, ensures that Detroit will finish with the top spot in the conference. The Pistons have a one-game lead over the Nets with one game remaining, but Detroit owns the tiebreaker.

The Carlos Boozer Archive

"Eastern Conference regular-season champs, baby," said Chauncey Billups. "This is what we set out for when we started the season in training camp. We did it and we're happy, but we will celebrate when the season is over."

The final seconds of the Nets' loss were shown live on the scoreboard, and the crowd cheered loudly when that game ended and the Pistons had clinched. It will be the first time since 1990 that Detroit is the No. 1 seed.

"People felt like we couldn't do this without Ben, but we always felt like we had enough people left," said Jon Barry. "We feel good about that, but we know we've got to play better than we have been. The good thing is that we'll be getting Ben back for the playoffs."

With the score tied at 86, Richard Hamilton fouled Parker with 53.2 seconds left. Parker made both free throws, but he fouled Chauncey Billups on the other end. Billups made both shots, retying the game.

Ilgauskas missed a jumper and Cleveland rookie power forward Carlos Boozer of Juneau fouled Mehmet Okur on the rebound. Okur split the free throws, missing the first and hitting the second, to put Detroit up 89-88 with 18 seconds left.

Over the last 18 seconds, Cleveland had three chances to win the game. Darius Miles missed a jumper, but the rebound went out of bounds off the Pistons. Ilgauskas missed a shot in the paint, and Parker's slam attempt was no good.

Corliss Williamson led the Pistons with 18 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.

Ricky Davis had 25 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds for Cleveland, and Ilgauskas added 22 points. Boozer scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Cavs.

Spurs 91, Jazz 83

SALT LAKE CITY - The Spurs clinched the top seed in the Western Conference and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.

Tim Duncan scored 15 of his 21 points in the third quarter and Tony Parker finished with 25 points as the Spurs defeated the Jazz 91-83, San Antonio's 13th straight victory in the series.

Winning for the 12th time in 13 games, the Spurs clinched the Midwest Division title for the third straight season. Dallas can still tie the Spurs by winning at San Antonio on Wednesday, but the Spurs hold the tiebreaker with a better conference record.

Mavericks 109, SuperSonics 106

DALLAS - Dirk Nowitzki had 39 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but Dallas' chance to win the Midwest Division ended when San Antonio defeated Utah.

Seattle, playing its first game since being eliminated from the playoffs, did its best to play spoiler, leading by 13 in the third quarter. A frustrated Don Nelson got thrown out for strolling onto the court with 9:14 left in the period.

Hornets 87, Nets 74

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Baron Davis scored 19 points and New Orleans Hornets limited New Jersey to 11 fourth-quarter points in keeping the Nets from clinching a second straight Atlantic Division title.

Jamal Mashburn added 17 points and P.J. Brown had 14 as the Hornets won their fourth straight and kept alive their hopes of gaining homecourt advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

Hawks 100, Magic 84

ATLANTA - Jason Terry, playing perhaps his final game in Atlanta, scored 23 points as the Hawks extended their winning streak to a season-high four games.

Ira Newble also scored 23 points, setting a career high for the second game in a row as the Hawks played their final home game. They'll miss the playoffs for the fourth straight year.