Howard overcame being popped hard in the face in the first quarter to score 13 points with a career-high seven steals and the Mavericks finally clinched the final playoff spot in the hard-fought Western Conference, beating the Utah Jazz 130-101 on Wednesday night.

"He looked pretty busted up," said Dirk Nowitzki, whose 31 points included a game-clinching surge in the third quarter.

With four games left, Dallas matched the Jazz at 47-31 for seventh place and within a game of New Orleans, which lost at home to Phoenix. The Suns were eliminated from playoff contention by the Mavs' victory.

With its spot in the playoffs secure, Dallas can now work on trying to avoid a first-round series in Los Angeles against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers (62-16), who have won all three meetings against Dallas this season.

The Mavericks play their next two games against New Orleans, on Friday night at home before their final road game Sunday.

"It's a playoff-type atmosphere already," Nowitzki said.

New Orleans, which eliminated the Mavs in five games in the first round of the playoffs last year, has won the first two games in the season series.

Since a 107-102 loss at 22-win Memphis on Friday night, the Mavericks have scored more than 125 points in consecutive games for the first time since April 2004. They won 140-116 Sunday against Phoenix.

"As I have been saying, I just feel like we have been getting better," coach Rick Carlisle said.

"Knowing the importance of each game and the sense of urgency, we treat every game like it's a Game 7 playoff game," said Jason Terry, who added 21 points off the bench. "We go out there and fight and scrap and do whatever it takes."

Utah was within 73-64 midway through the third quarter when Deron Williams, who led the Jazz with 17 points and 12 assists, made a free throw to convert a three-point play.

Nowitzki then scored 12 consecutive points for Dallas, and 15 of its last 18 in the quarter to push the lead to 19.

"They beat us all night long. They were so much quicker. We looked like we'd been on the road for 10 months," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "They deserved to win because we didn't make it a contest for them."

Howard, who missed 12 of the previous 15 games with a sore left ankle, got knocked in the face attempting a shot late in the first quarter. He returned in the second, and left again early in the second half before returning again.

"It kept bleeding. I was playing with one eye. But I was able to see the ball to steal it," said Howard, who was 3-for-11 from the field. "As long as my eyeball wasn't falling out or I was half dead, I was going to come back out there."

Cavaliers 98, Wizards 86

At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 21 points before spending the fourth quarter playing air guitar on the bench and the Cavs avenged an embarrassing loss to Washington.

The Cavs improved to 38-1 at home and became the first team in NBA history to have two 15-game winning streaks at home in the same season.

Nick Young scored 16 to lead the Wizards.

Celtics 106, Nets 104

At Boston, Rajon Rondo had 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and the Celtics overcame an early 10-point deficit and a last-minute scare.

The Celtics, coming off four days of rest, assured themselves of a lead over the Orlando Magic in the race for the No. 2 seed in the East, and kept the Cavs from locking up the best record in the conference.

Vince Carter had 33 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets.

Suns 105, Hornets 100

At New Orleans, Steve Nash had 24 points and 13 assists, but Phoenix was still eliminated from the postseason.

Chris Paul had 29 points and 16 assists for New Orleans.

Nuggets 122, Thunder 112

At Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, helping the Nuggets to their eighth straight win.

Linas Kleiza scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for Denver, which inched closer to the No. 2 seed in the West with its ninth straight home win.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 31 points.

Trail Blazers 95, Spurs 83

At San Antonio, Brandon Roy scored 26 points and Portland won in San Antonio for the first time since 2002.

The Blazers moved into a three-way tie with the Spurs and Houston for the third-best record (50-28) in the West with four games left.

Roger Mason scored 18 points for the Spurs.

Magic 81, Grizzlies 78

At Orlando, Fla., Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points, Dwight Howard added 14 and the Magic rallied to beat pesky Memphis.

Rudy Gay had 18 points for the Grizzlies.

Hawks 113, Bucks 105

At Milwaukee, Joe Johnson scored 30 points for the Hawks, who are in control of the No. 4 playoff seed in the East but having trouble wrapping it up.

Keith Bogans scored 22 for the Bucks.

Pistons 113, Knicks 86

At New York, Richard Hamilton scored 22 points, Rasheed Wallace had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Detroit rolled into a tie for seventh place in the East.

The Pistons lowered their magic number to one to clinch their eighth consecutive playoff berth.

Al Harrington scored 26 points for New York.

Pacers 130, Raptors 101

At Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 29 points, and the Pacers had their highest point total and largest margin of victory of the season.

Chris Bosh had 21 points and nine rebounds for Toronto.

Timberwolves 105, Warriors 97

At Oakland, Calif., Sebastian Telfair scored 21 points and Kevin Love added 20 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota.

Jamal Crawford scored 31 points to pace Golden State.