CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Chicago Bulls clinched the NBA’s last unclaimed playoff spot on Wednesday night, as Derrick Rose scored 27 points and Joakim Noah added 21 points and 13 rebounds in a 98-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Bulls closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak to beat out Toronto for the right to face Eastern Conference top seed Cleveland.
Needing a win or a Raptors loss to New York to get in, the Bulls quickly took it to the Bobcats, never trailing and leading by as many as 18 points.
Tyrus Thomas scored 16 for the Bobcats, who had already locked up the seventh seed in the East and a first-round matchup with Orlando.
Thunder 114, Grizzlies 105
At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 31 points to finish the season as the youngest scoring champion in NBA history, and Oklahoma City survived a sloppy second half.
The 21-year-old Durant finished with an average of 30.1 points, 0.4 ahead of LeBron James, and supplanted 22-year-old Max Zaslofsky of the 1947-48 Chicago Stags as the youngest scoring champ in NBA history.
Raptors 131, Knicks 113
At Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 24 points and Andrea Bargnani also scored 24 for Toronto, which owned the tiebreaker with Chicago and would have earned the No. 8 seed had the teams finished with the same record.
Mavericks 96, Spurs 89
At Dallas, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry led a 16-2 run at the end of the first quarter, putting Dallas ahead for good and setting up a first-round playoff matchup between these teams. Dallas clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and San Antonio the seventh.
Bucks 106, Celtics 95
At Boston, Jerry Stackhouse and Luke Ridnour scored 17 points apiece, and Milwaukee won its regular-season finale as Boston rested its Big Three in preparation for the playoffs.
Magic 125, 76ers 111
At Orlando, Fla., Jameer Nelson had 21 points, Vince Carter scored 17 and Orlando broke the single-season record for 3-pointers made in a season.
Dwight Howard added 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Magic finish with 841 from beyond the arc and the NBA’s second-best record.
Hawks 99, Cavaliers 83
At Atlanta, in what turned out to be nothing more than an exhibition game, rookie Jeff Teague set career highs with 24 points and 15 assists as Atlanta cruised past the LeBron James-less Cavaliers.
Heat 94, Nets 86, 2OT
At Miami, Michael Beasley had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Mario Chalmers scored 15 points and Miami wrapped up the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Nets became just the fifth team in NBA history to lose 70 games.
Wizards 98, Pacers 97
At Washington, Andray Blatche scored 26 points as Washington beat Indiana in a season-ending game for a pair of lottery-bound teams. Rookie Cedric Jackson made a 3-pointer with 1:31 to play to give the Wizards the lead, and the scoreboard didn’t budge the rest of the way.
Pistons 103, Timberwolves 98
At Minneapolis, Charlie Villanueva scored 13 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to rally Detroit past Minnesota. Tayshaun Prince added 20 points for the Pistons, who trailed by 16 points in the third quarter.
Hornets 123, Rockets 115
At Houston, David West had 35 points and 10 rebounds, and rookie Darren Collison added 26 points and 11 assists to lead New Orleans.
Trevor Ariza recorded his first career triple-double — 26 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists — for the Rockets, who will miss the playoffs with a winning record (42-40) for the fourth time.
Suns 100, Jazz 86
At Salt Lake City, Steve Nash had 11 assists in just three quarters, Amare Stoudemire finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, and Phoenix earned the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
The Jazz finish fifth in the West and will open the playoffs at Denver, which claimed the Northwest Division with and No. 4 seed by holding the tiebreaker over Utah.
Warriors 122, Trail Blazers 116
At Portland, Ore., Stephen Curry scored 42 points and Golden State finished its season with victory over playoff-bound Portland. The injury-depleted Trail Blazers finished as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and will face the third-seeded Phoenix in the first round. The Suns defeated the Utah Jazz 100-86.
Clippers 107, Lakers 91
At Los Angeles, Steve Blake scored 23 points as part of his first career triple-double, Chris Kaman added 22 points and the Clippers ended their season by beating the Lakers.
Blake finished with 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Clippers, who ended with a 29-53 record to miss the postseason for the 15th time in 17 years.
Lamar Odom scored 21 points, Pau Gasol had 18 points and 17 rebounds, and Shannon Brown added 18 starting in place of Kobe Bryant.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
