The Cleveland Cavaliers survived the Atlanta Hawks 122-116 on Wednesday night.
Donovan MIthcell led the Cavs with 31 points, Evan Mobley had 22 and a career high 19 boards, and James Harden added 21 points.
Cleveland has won four straight and seven of eight, and can finish no lower than fourth place in the Eastern Conference and is 1/2 game behind New York for the third seed.
On the other hand, Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Hawks with 25 points, and Jonathan Kuminga added 24 off the bench and was unable to clinch a playoff berth with the loss.
Atlanta (45-35) has dropped its last two after winning four straight. They are 1 game ahead of Toronto for the fifth seed, but only 1 1/2 games ahead of Orlando to avoid the play-in tournament.
The Hawks took a 67-56 lead on a dunk by Dyson Daniels with 57 seconds remaining in the first half before the Cavaliers went on a 17-3 run over the final minute of the second.
The Cavaliers outscored Atlanta 44-20 in the third to take a 104-87 advantage into the fourth as Dennis Schroder hit a triple to make it 110-92 before the Hawks rallied for an 18-2 run.
Both teams will meet again on Friday, the fourth and final time in the regular season.
