Chicago Bulls Clinch Playoff Berth with Win over Nets

"Look at these guys - Jeremy Lin, Brook Lopez, Trevor Booker - these three are going to be held out for rest. Yes".

Brooklyn didn't come close to being competitive, shooting a dismal 32 percent from the field, including a season-worst 3-for-33 from 3-point range, en route to finishing one game worse than last year's 21-61 mark.

Boston wrapped up the No. 1 seed with a win over Milwaukee. Luckily for the Heat, Washington is already locked into the No.4 seed and has nothing to play for. The fans want to see the best players on the court and a team's season should not potentially be ruined in this fashion.

Jimmy Butler scored 25 points for Chicago while Bobby Portis pulled down 10 rebounds. "They've been struggling as of late, but they're still one of the best teams in this league and have one of the best players in the world". They aren't playing back-to-back games.

The Heat's final game against the Wizards is at American Airlines Arena on Wednesday night.

"The mood is good", Hoiberg told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Not an uncommon practice this time of year throughout the National Basketball Association, but a practice usually reserved for playoff teams that have nothing to lose in resting their starters.

There are three teams vying for two remaining spots in the NBA's Eastern Conference playoffs, as the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat have taken their hopes all the way down to the season's final day. Look, I have no horse in the race, on whether it is the Pacers or the Bulls or the Heat who make the playoffs. The Celtics are the sixth different franchise to grab the No. 1 seed in the East in the past six seasons — Chicago did in 2012, followed by Miami, Indiana, Atlanta, Cleveland and now Boston. Unfortunately for the Heat, the Pacers and Bulls won their games easily and will be the seventh and eighth seeds in the Eastern Conference playoffs, respectively. They will face Cleveland in the opening round.

Following the decision to rest three key players in a regular-season finale that has no meaning to them but playoff implications for several other teams in the East, the Nets defended their move by citing the need to go into the offseason healthy and to evaluate youngsters. Thabo Sefolosha played 23 minutes but didn't score.

MEMPHIS - Nicolas Brussino and Devin Harris each scored 15 points and the Dallas Mavericks snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Mavericks won despite leaving starters Dirk Nowitzki, Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews at home.

Norman Powell scored 25 points as the Raptors beat the Cavs for the first time in four tries this season and gave the defending champions something to think about if they meet in the postseason.

The Western Conference's playoff picture is nearly complete. Marc Gasol added 13 points.

MVP ballots are due to the league office on Friday, so the victor of the projected battle between Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook and Houston's James Harden for that trophy will be decided before the Thunder-Rockets series starts. Rajon Rondo added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.