CLEVELAND — There was no celebration, no champagne, nothing really to signify the win's importance. The Cleveland Cavaliers made the playoffs and hardly cared.

"We got one goal," LeBron James said. "That's to win an NBA championship."

James scored 23 points, Delonte West had 13 with a career-high eight steals and the Cavaliers became the first team to clinch a spot in the NBA playoffs by beating the Milwaukee Bucks, 91-73, last night in a potential first-round series preview.

At 48-12, the Cavaliers wrapped up their fourth straight postseason berth with more than one month left in the regular season. The Cavs moved 36 games over .500 for the first time, improved their league-best home record to 27-1 and stayed in step with the Boston Celtics for the No. 1 seed in the East.

"We knew we were going to make the playoffs," he said. "If we didn't make the playoffs, that would be a disaster for us."

Mo Williams scored 15 against his former team and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 14 for Cleveland, which lowered its magic number for winning the Central Division to six.

Knicks 109, Hawks 105: Larry Hughes scored 23 points, and Al Harrington added 20 points, 10 rebounds and a 3-pointer early in the third quarter for a 54-51 lead that host New York never lost in beating Atlanta to snap a three-game losing streak.

Heat 135, Suns 129: Dwyane Wade scored 35 points and tied his career high with 16 assists, and reserves Michael Beasley added 28 points and Daequan Cook 27 as host Miami spoiled the return of Shaquille O'Neal.

Celtics 115, Nets 111: Paul Pierce scored 31 points, including a 17-footer with 20.9 seconds to play for a 113-11 lead, and Ray Allen, who tied the game at 111 with a 3-pointer, iced it with two free throws with 7.5 seconds left as visiting Boston beat New Jersey.

Thunder 88, Wizards 83: Thabo Sefolosha made a reverse layup with 1:47 to play for an 84-81 lead with 1:47 left, and Russell Westbrook hit a jumper with 33.3 seconds left to make it 86-83 as host Oklahoma City beat Washington for its first three-game winning streak of the season.

Bulls 110, Warriors 88: John Salmons had 23 points and seven rebounds, and Joakim Noah added 14 points and 17 rebounds as host Chicago beat Golden State to pull into a tie with Milwaukee for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Jazz 101, Rockets 94: Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 17 rebounds, Deron Williams scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, and host Utah broke away from a 81-all tie with a 10-4 run to beat Houston and extend its winning streak to nine games.

Mavericks 107, Spurs 102: Josh Howard scored 29 points, including a layup in the final minute, and Jason Kidd hit a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left as host Dallas — perhaps inspired by a tongue-lashing from owner Mark Cuban before the game — beat San Antonio.

Grizzlies 118, Clippers 95: Marc Gasol had 20 points and Rudy Gay scored 20 of his 35 points in the third quarter when visiting Memphis opened an 85-74 lead en route to beating Los Angeles to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Trail Blazers 107, Pacers 105: Brandon Roy scored 28 points, including four free throws in the final 40 seconds, as host Portland rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit to beat Indiana and improve to 25-5 at the Rose Garden.