



Tyler Herro scored 30 points while sinking two 3-pointers in overtime and the visiting Miami Heat regrouped after losing an early lead to beat the Atlanta Hawks 123-114 on Friday night and make play-in tournament history.
Miami will play at Cleveland on Sunday night in the opening game of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Davion Mitchell scored only seven points in regulation before added three 3-pointers in overtime for Miami.
The Heat became the first No. 10 seed in either conference to make the playoffs since the current play-in format was launched in the 2020-21 season. Miami also became the first play-in team to advance with two road wins.
Trae Young’s layup with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation tied the game at 106, forcing the overtime. Young scored 29 points and doled out 11 assists. Onyeka Okongwu had 28 points with 12 rebounds.
Miami started strongly, scoring the game’s first 10 points and leading by 17 points at 45-28 in the second period.
Grizzlies 120, Mavericks 106: Ja Morant overcame a sprained right ankle to score 22 points and add nine assists and host Memphis beat Dallas to advance to the NBA playoffs.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 24 points and Desmond Bane added 22 as the Grizzlies turned away several Mavericks rallies in the second half.
Memphis secured the Western Conference’s eighth seed and will open against top-seeded Oklahoma City in a best-of-7 series beginning Sunday on the Thunder’s home court.
Anthony Davis led the Mavericks with 40 points and nine rebounds, Klay Thompson added 18 points.
Popovich released from hospital after episode: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich is doing well at home after needing medical attention earlier this week following an incident at a restaurant, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Friday.
The 76-year-old Popovich, who missed most of this season while recovering from what the Spurs called a mild stroke, was at a restaurant in San Antonio on Tuesday night when he began not feeling well, said the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither Popovich nor the team released any details publicly.
TMZ Sports, which first reported the story, obtained video footage of what it said was Popovich being wheeled away from the restaurant on a stretcher and loaded into the back of an ambulance. TMZ said rescue officials were called by someone reporting that a person fainted in the restaurant.
Popovich had a stroke at the team’s arena in San Antonio on Nov. 2. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson took over as acting head coach that night and wound up coaching the team’s final 77 games of the season.
Popovich was in regular contact with Johnson and often in the facility, even addressing the team on at least one occasion in February. Popovich, at that time, said he hopes he can “return to coaching in the future.”
The Spurs have not given any indication if Popovich plans to be back in time for the start of next season. He is under contract with the team through the 2027-28 season.
Popovich is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, has led the Spurs to five NBA championships and guided USA Basketball to an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021.