Milwaukee 110, Washington 109: Excruciating loss for the Wizards, as Milwaukee’s Ramon Sessions drilled a long jumper at the buzzer, spoiling the long-awaited return of Gilbert Arenas, who played for the first time since November. If you look at the final play, Arenas briefly left Sessions to double Andrew Bogut, who received the inbounds pass, but the big Aussie made a perfect one-touch pass to Sessions, who sank the jumper and spirits of the Wiz. Doubly difficult to swallow – Deshawn Stevenson and Antwan Jamison both left the game after getting injured with less than 10 seconds left.

Dallas 111, Golden State 86: Doesn’t look like the Rockets or Mavericks will be missing the postseason – but rather the Warriors are in deep do-do. Dirk returned early from his knee injury, and scored 18 points in 26 minutes as the Mavs beat a team with a winning record for the first time since Jason Kidd arrived in Dallas. Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson shot a combined 2-for-20 as Golden State fell a game back of Denver for the 8th seed in the West.

Atlanta 127, Toronto 120, OT: The Hawks virtually locked up the 8th playoff spot with their fifth straight win after a spectacular (lucky?) home win over the Raptors. Trailing by 17 late in the third, the Hawks toughened up on D and Mike Bibby’s three with less than a second left forced OT. (But the Raptors may protest after this TJ Ford basket was disallowed.) The loss dropped the Raptors into a fifth-place tie with Philly and Washington for the fifth seed in the East. The “winner” of that trio faces Cleveland; the “loser” plays Detroit, and whomever finishes in the middle opens the postseason in Orlando.

Cleveland 118, Charlotte 114: Do you ever wonder what became of Emeka Okafor? The former Connecticut center, so dominant in college, is on the verge of finishing his fourth straight season averaging a double-double … but he’s doing it so quietly, and Charlotte’s so irrelevant, that it’s like the guy doesn’t exist. If Bill Simmons can lobby to be GM of the Bucks, we may start a campaign to run the Bobcats. We’d get these guys into the playoffs next year, for sure.

Los Angeles Lakers 104, Portland 91: Kobe’s 36 led six players in double figures as the Lakers welcomed Pau Gasol back to the lineup with a relatively easy triumph over the Brandon Roy-less Blazers.