The San Antonio Spurs thrashed the Denver Nuggets to pick up their 50th win of the season, reaching the mark for the 16th year in a row.
The defending NBA champions opened the game with their highest-scoring quarter of the season, adding 45 points in the first 12 minutes to lead by 20.
The Nuggets tried to fight back, with Danilo Galinari and Jameer Nelson combining for 34, but the deficit was too big for the visitors.
The Brooklyn Nets finished strongly to beat the Toronto Raptors and continue their late charge towards a playoff place.
With the scores level, Thaddeus Young put the Nets ahead with just 22 seconds remaining before a string of free throws from Joe Johnson sealed the win, leaving Brooklyn on a season-high six-game winning streak.
The Portland Trail Blazers clinched the Northwest Division title with an emphatic win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Blazers always looked the stronger as they outscored the Lakers 26-12 in the opening quarter, with CJ McCollum finishing as the team's top scorer with a career-high 27.
The Boston Celtics dropped out of the final playoff place in the Eastern Conference as they were beaten by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks had to come from behind in the second half, with Ersan Ilyasova leading an 18-2 run early in the third quarter to put the visitors in front, giving them a lead that they maintained for the rest of the meeting.
The Memphis Grizzlies kept Russell Westbrook quiet as they took a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, leaving them tied for second in the Western Conference.
Westbrook, who has been in strong scoring form in recent weeks, added 12 in the first quarter, but was restricted to six for the rest of the night, while Marc Gasol and Jeff Green led the charge for Memphis.
The New Orleans Pelicans made the most of the Thunder's defeat, beating the Sacramento Kings to close the gap to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
After opening up a 14-point lead in the first half, Eric Grdon and Tyreke Evans made sure that the Pelicans did just enough to keep Sacramento behind, securing a fourth straight victory.
The Detroit Pistons fell just short as they tried to come from behind late on against the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls had been 12 points up at half time, but Andre Drummond cut the lead to a single point, before Pau Gasol went down the other end to seal the win inside the final six seconds.
The Indiana Pacers recovered from back-to-back losses to clinch a comfortable win over the Charlotte Hornets, leaving them just outside the playoff places in the Eastern Conference.
Rodney Stuckey came off the bench to score 15 points as the Pacers pulled ahead either side of half time, taking the game away from the visitors.
The Washington Wizards were dominant from the start as they eased to a win over the New York Knicks.
The visitors spent the evening chasing the game after John Wall made a quick start, helping Washington open up a 20-point advantage by the end of the first quarter, condemning New York to their ninth straight loss.
The Orlando Magic ended their three-game losing run with a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Nikola Vucevic added a career-high 37 points to ensure that the visitors established a lead early on, leaving injury-hit Minnesota to slip to their sixth loss in a row.
Results in full: Charlotte Hornets 74-93 Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks 87-101 Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks 110-101 Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors 109-114 Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons 82-88 Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder 92-100 Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic 97-84 Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets 93-123 San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans 10195- Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers 107-77 Los Angeles Lakers
