DeRozan,Bulls leave Sixers waiting after 2OT thriller

DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points as the Chicago Bulls snapped Philadelphia’s eight-game winning streak with a thrilling 109-105 victory in double overtime.

The red-hot Sixers had been looking to clinch their playoff ticket with victory in front of an expectant home crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.

But despite a 37-point performance from Joel Embiid -- the MVP front-runner’s 10th straight 30-point game –Philadelphia were left waiting to reach the postseason after a gritty road win from Chicago.

Embiid missed an attempted tip-in after Tyrese Maxey’s attempted three-pointer at the end of regulation which would have snatched victory for the Sixers.

Chicago improved to 3437 and remain in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings, leaving them on course for a place in the play-in tournament for teams ranked between seventh and 10th, which determine the last two spots in the eight-team conference playoffs.

Philadelphia, third in the East with a 48-23 record, remain one win away from formally clinching their playoff spot.

In other games, Julius Randle erupted for 57 points in a scintillating performance but it was not enough to stop the New York Knicks falling 140-134 at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the high-flying Sacramento Kings, who remain third in the Western Conference, came unstuck in a 128124 loss to the Jazz, while the Golden State Warriors finally snapped their miserable losing streak on the road with a 121108 defeat of the Houston Rockets.

Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 59 points, including 10 threepointers yet the Warriors still made hard work of the win, coughing up 20 turnovers, 14 of them in the first half.

In Memphis, the Grizzlies staged a late fourth quarter rally to down the Dallas Mavericks 112-108. Memphis outscored the Mavs 29-12 in the fourth to seal victory.