Nets lock up NBA playoff berth, Warriors and Lakers keep pressure on

LOS ANGELES: The Brooklyn Nets booked an NBA playoff berth on Friday as the Eastern Conference puzzle pieces fell into place, but suspense remained in the wild West with wins for Golden State, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Nets beat the Orlando Magic 101-84 and clinched the sixth seed in the East, avoiding the play-in tournament in which the seventh- through 10th-placed teams will fight for two remaining playoff berths.

The Nets actually knew they had secured the spot in the fourth quarter of the contest — when the Miami Heat fell 114-108 to the Washington Wizards to finish seventh in the East.

The Heat, clearly content to headline the play-in, rested six of their top players — including Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro — a strategy repeated around the league by both playoff-bound teams and those already eliminated.

Even with the boost from Miami, the Nets had reason to celebrate their guaranteed berth in a tumultuous season that saw coach Steve Nash sacked after a stumbling start and Kyrie Irving suspended in an anti-Semitism row.

All that before the stunning trades of Irving and superstar Kevin Durant in February.

“I think it speaks to the character of the group, the maturity and just the selflessness,” said Spencer Dinwiddie, who returned to Brooklyn from Dallas in the trade for Irving.

“I think everybody came in here and tried to figure out what their job was going to be and execute it to the best of their ability and push forward.”

Atlanta clinched eighth place in the East despite a 136-131 overtime loss to the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers thanks to Boston’s 121-102 victory over Toronto.

Jayson Tatum scored 21 points for Boston and sat out the second half as the Celtics easily overcame the