A Brooklyn Nets victory, coupled with losses by the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks, helped create a little separation for the Nets in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings.
The Nets currently sit in the fourth spot in the East, two games ahead of the Chicago Bulls and now three games ahead of both the Celtics and Hawks. Brooklyn sits just two back of the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers, who are percentage points apart for the second and third seeds. The Nets will be the only East playoff team not in action on Wednesday night.
With the Boston and Atlanta losses, the Milwaukee Bucks had a chance on Tuesday to move within a half game of the seventh spot, but they fell to the Dallas Mavericks. So the Bucks remain 1½ games out.
And at the top, the Miami Heat extended their lead in the East to 9½ games by winning their 19th-straight game. Ho-hum.
Here are the full East standings:
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