Butler comes up big in the clutch for Bulls vs Hawks

Jimmy Butler capped his 33-point performance by making two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining as the Chicago Bulls beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 106-104 on Saturday night.

Butler scored 25 points in the second half and Chicago’s final nine points of the contest.

Rajon Rondo had 25 points, Denzel Valentine added 13 and Paul Zipser had 10 for the Bulls.

Chicago drew even with the idle Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Dennis Schroder scored 29 points for the Hawks, who nearly pulled out the victory when Tim Hardaway Jr. – who scored 20 points – narrowly missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Clippers 115, Lakers 104

In the battle of LA, the Clippers started strong and experienced some lulls again before holding off a late charge by the Lakers as Doc Rivers won his 800th game as a coach.

Blake Griffin scored 36 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Clippers, who pulled within a game of the idle Utah Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Griffin topped 10,000 points for his career in the first quarter. Griffin, who now has 10,034 points, is the first player to achieve the feat in a Clippers’ uniform and the second in the franchise.

Randy Smith scored 10,467 as a member of the Buffalo Braves.

Chris Paul contributed 29 points and 12 assists and J.J. Redick added 19 points for the Clippers.

Trail Blazers 130, Suns 117

Portland moved closer to clinching a playoff spot as Damian Lillard scored 31 points and C.J. McCollum 29 to help beat Phoenix.

The Blazers remained solidly in the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 31 points, while Marquese Chriss added 19 points and 13 rebounds in defeat.