Bulls end Mavericks’ hopes
Coby White scored 24 points, and the shorthanded Chicago Bulls rallied past the depleted Mavericks 115-112 on Friday night, eliminating host Dallas from play-in contention a year after the team reached the Western Conference finals.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd said before the game that an “organizational decision” was made to limit Luka Doncic to the first quarter and sit fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving and four other regulars before the Mavericks were eliminated from postseason contention.
Kidd said the decision was made by owner Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison to rest most of the regulars. Dallas entered the game tied with Chicago for the 10th-worst record in the NBA.
If the Mavericks have a top-10 pick in the NBA draft in June, they get to keep it. If the pick is 11th or lower, it goes to the New York Knicks as final payment for Dallas’ trade to acquire Kristaps Porzingis in 2019.
The loss clinched the 10th seed and final play-in spot in the Western Conference for Oklahoma City. The Bulls will visit the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, and the Miami Heat will host the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday in the first two games of the Eastern Conference play-in.
Trey Murphy scored 31 points and the host New Orleans Pelicans improved their chances of avoiding the play-in round with a 113-105 win over the Knicks . ... Jaren Jackson had 36 points, Luke Kennard scored 19, and the visiting Memphis Grizzlies beat the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks 137-114 to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season . ... Mikal Bridges scored 22 points, and the host Brooklyn Nets, shortly after clinching the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, beat the Orlando Magic 10184. The Nets no longer needed the victory by the time the game was over, having wrapped up a playoff spot when Miami lost at Washington . ... Klay Thompson scored 29 points, and the visiting Golden State Warriors closed in on a playoff berth by beating the short-handed Sacramento Kings 119-97 . ... Center Joel Embiid didn’t play in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 136-131 overtime victory over the host Hawks, but he all but wrapped up his second consecutive scoring title, averaging 33.1 points.