To rest or not to rest? Magic lose Turkoglu to injury

Resting star players toward the end of the season as the Playoffs approach may rub basketball purists in a similar way to teams mailing it in, in an effort to land more lottery balls.

They want to see the best players on the floor hustling and giving their all, regardless of if it's November or April.

Magic fans can only wish that Stan Van Gundy gave Hedo Turkoglu the night off on Saturday like he did for Rashard Lewis, who is dealing with tendinitis in his right knee.

Even though Orlando's bid for the East's No. 2 seed was slim (the bid eventually ended with in its 103-93 loss to the Nets), Turkoglu was on the floor late in the fourth quarter long enough to sprain his left ankle, knocking him out of the game.

Van Gundy had promised to limit Turkoglu's minutes in the last two games, but what's done is done. Heading into The Playoffs, the Magic can ill afford injuries to pile up on their key players.

"I don't know what to call this," Dwight Howard said of the Magic's play, who lost their second straight and third in four. "I just know we have to get out of it soon or we are going to be in trouble come playoff time. We have to do something about this."

Indiana 106, Detroit 102
New Jersey 103, Orlando 93
Phoenix 110, Minnesota 97
Chicago 113, Charlotte 106
Milwaukee 115, Oklahoma City 98
Golden State 118, Utah 108
Portland 87, L.A. Clippers 72

• Ben Gordon, Bulls, scored 39 points to lead Chicago over Charlotte, 113-106.

• C.J. Watson, Warriors, scored a career-high 38 points and had nine assists and seven rebounds in Golden State's 118-108 victory over Utah.

• Richard Jefferson, Bucks, tied a season high with 35 points as Milwaukee snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Oklahoma City 115-98.

• Vince Carter, Nets, had 27 points and nine assists as New Jersey beat Orlando 103-93.

• Grant Hill, Suns, scored 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting in 23 minutes to lead Phoenix over Minnesota, 110-97.

Star forward Hedo Turkoglu injured his left ankle with 6:51 left in the Orlando Magic's 103-93 loss in New Jersey and he had to be helped to the locker room. Turkoglu, who was going to get limited minutes in the last two games according to coach Stan Van Gundy, had 16 points before being hurt. The Magic were already playing without fellow forward Rashard Lewis, who was getting time to rest his knee tendinitis.

Chicago kept up its sizzling stretch by beating Charlotte 113-106 for its fourth straight win and 11th in 14 games, moving a game ahead of Detroit for the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls (40-40) have won 14 of 15 at home and reached .500 for the first time since mid-November.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Kevin Garnett will likely return only for the last game of the regular season Wednesday against Washington. The All-Star forward hasn't played since March 24, missing 20 of 24 games because of a strained right knee.

Despite having only seven healthy players, the Golden State Warriors stunned the Jazz 118-108 in Utah. The Warriors suited up the minimum eight players, but Marco Belinelli was not really available because of a sore right ankle. Still, the Warriors' reserves -- Robert Kurz and Ronny Turiaf -- combined for 30 points, only one fewer than the five Jazz backups managed to score.

Detroit and Utah both made it difficult to avoid the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences with losses to non-playoff teams Saturday. The Pistons fell a game behind Chicago for seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 106-102 loss to Indiana, and will draw Cleveland in the first round if they lose to the Bulls on Monday night. The Jazz were stunned 118-108 at home by Golden State, dropping 11/2 games behind Dallas and New Orleans, who are tied for sixth. They were left needing plenty of help to avoid a first-round series with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"This is bad. I just don't know what's going on right now with us. We're just limping into the playoffs. It's like we're kind of content with being there and being the eighth seed instead of trying to better ourselves." -- Utah's Deron Williams, after the Jazz lost 118-108 at home to a Golden State team playing with just seven healthy players.

Minnesota's Kevin Love had six rebounds against the Suns to break Christian Laettner's franchise record for rebounds in a season by a rookie.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.