Pacers, Bulls grab playoff spots
LOS ANGELES: Paul George delivered 32 points and 11 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers punched their ticket to the NBA postseason Wednesday with a 104- 86 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Jeff Teague added 19 points and seven assists before twisting his left ankle and leaving the game in the fourth quarter as the Pacers grabbed the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference on the final day of the 2016-17 regular season.
Indiana will open the postseason against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who lost the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference to the Boston Celtics after the Cavs’ defeat by the Toronto Raptors 98- 83.
“I’m exc it e d ab out t he opportunity,” said George, who made 12 of 21 field goal attempts against the Hawks. “I guess that’s because we’re doing everything right.
“When our back is against the wall, we figure things out,” he added. “It just showed the character of this team, that we knew all along that we should have been a playoff team. We just had to figure out how to play the right way.”
Boston beat the Milwaukee Bucks 112- 94 to help relegate Cleveland to the second seed and solidify home court advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs.
The Golden State Warriors are the top seed in the Western Conference and will host game one of a best- of- seven series Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Having clinched the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs
We knew all along that we should have been a playoff team. We just had to figure out how to play the right way. Paul George, Indiana Pacers guard
with a Tuesday night victory against Charlotte, Atlanta sat guard Kent Bazemore, guard Tim Hardaway, forward Paul Millsap and guard Dennis Schroder against Indiana.
Atlanta will begin the playoffs agains t the four t h- seeded Washington Wizards.
The other missing playoff c omp onent h e ad i ng i nt o Wednesday’s final games was who would get the fourth seed in the West.
Both the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers won on Wednesday, but the Clippers claimed home court advantage in their first round series based on their head-to-head tiebreaker over the Jazz.
Indiana steadily pulled away Wednesday to qualify for the playoffs for a second consecutive season and the 22nd time in the past 28 seasons.
Elsewhere, Jimmy Butler scored a team- high 25 points and the Chicago Bulls clinched a playoff berth with a 112-73 victory over the hapless Brooklyn Nets.
Chicago claimed the eighth and final seed in the East and will meet the mighty Celtics in the first round.
Guard Archie Goodwin scored 20 points to lead the Nets.
Brooklyn dropped to 20- 62 on the season and finished with the worst record in the NBA and the fourth- most losses in franchise history.
Chicago shot 43 per cent from the field and 47 per cent from beyond the arc. The Bulls finished the regular season with an impressive 25-16 record at home. But it’s a different picture when they go on the road, where they have just 16 wins and 25 losses.
However, that doesn’t worry veteran Dwyane Wade, who is just happy to be in another playoff.
“As a player, 14 years, I think I’ve been in 12 playoffs,” Wade said. “This is what I play for. This is what I enjoy. You always want to play your best when the lights are the brightest.”
Meanwhile in Miami, Goran Dragic scored 28 points and the Miami Heat fell short of reaching the playoffs despite a 110- 102 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Miami (41- 41) became the first team in league history to finish .500 or above after being at least 12 games below .500.
Miami reversed an 11-30 record the first half of the season with a 30-11 finish.