Bulls, Pacers secure final playoff berths
Dwyane Wade is going back to the playoffs. The Miami Heat aren’t going with him.
The field for the NBA postseason was set Wednesday, with Wade and the Chicago Bulls claiming one of the last two available spots on the final night of the regular season. The other berth went to the Indiana Pacers, who downed the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bulls’ and Pacers’ victories eliminated the Heat, who finished 41-41 after beating Washington. Miami was 11-30 in the first half of the season, then 30-11 in the second half.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted something more for a team,” an emotional Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “When any one of us wanted to get into team sports, it was to be around a team like this . ... The hardest thing for any of us to wrap our minds around is that we don’t have practice tomorrow at 12. It just doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel like the basketball gods shined down on us.”
Wade, in his first season with the Bulls, is going to the playoffs for the 12th time.
“Now the fun begins,” Chicago head coach Fred Hoiberg said.
Bulls 112, Nets 73: Jimmy Butler scored 25 points in host Chicago’s clincher. Paul Zipser added a careerhigh 21 points off the bench as the Bulls took advantage of a shorthanded Brooklyn lineup to secure its first playoff appearance under Hoiberg. The Nets rested Trevor Booker, Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez, and Quincy Acy (ankle), Joe Harris (shoulder) and Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring) were out because of injuries. The Bulls face Boston in the first round.
Pacers 104, Hawks 86: Paul George finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds and Jeff Teague added 19 points to help host Indiana wrap up the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers, who finished the season with a five-game winning streak, will face Cleveland in the opening round. Atlanta, which will meet Washington, rested five of its top six players.
Heat 110, Wizards 102: Goran Dragic scored 28 points, Hassan Whiteside added 24 points and 18 rebounds, and host Miami won even as it was eliminated from playoff contention. Trey Burke scored 27 for Washington, which played without starters John Wall, Bradley Beal and Markieff Morris.
Celtics 112, Bucks 94: Gerald Green scored 18 points, 10 of them in a 25-2 fourth-quarter run, and host Boston claimed the No. 1 seed in the East. The Celtics were assured of home-court advantage through the conference finals when Cleveland lost to Toronto minutes before the game ended. Despite playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo and two other starters, Milwaukee led by as many as 13 points before Boston ran off 14 of the last 16 points in the first half. The Bucks face Toronto in the playoffs.
Raptors 98, Cavaliers 83: Norman Powell scored 25 points as visiting Toronto swamped Cleveland, which rested its “Big 3” ahead of the playoffs. Although there was still a chance for the Cavs to secure the No. 1 seed in the East, they put more value on rest and sat LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Cleveland fell to 0-4 in games this season without the trio and 0-8 minus James.
Clippers 115, Kings 95: DeAndre Jordan had 18 points and 17 rebounds for host Los Angeles, which clinched the No. 4 seed in the West and homecourt advantage in its first-round series against Utah. The Clippers head into the playoffs with momentum, having won seven in a row for the NBA’s longest active streak. Los Angeles and Utah each finished with 51-31 records, but the Clippers won three of four meetings during the season to hold the tiebreaker.
Jazz 101, Spurs 97: Gordon Hayward scored 14 and Utah won its ninth straight game at home, the longest streak for the Jazz since 2012. Pelicans 103, Trail Blazers 100: Jordan Crawford had 15 points to help visiting New Orleans snap a five-game losing streak at the expense of Portland, which rested Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum ahead of its first-round playoff series against the Warriors. Rockets 123, Timberwolves 118: James Harden had his 22nd tripledouble of the season with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for host Houston, which meets Oklahoma City in the playoffs. Harden became the first player in NBA history to finish a regular season with at least 2,000 points (2,356), 900 assists (907) and 600 rebounds (659).
Nuggets 111, Thunder 105: Russell Westbrook got an MVP endorsement from Oscar Robertson before the game, then played only the first half of host Oklahoma City’s loss to Denver. Westbrook broke Robertson’s singleseason record for triple-doubles by getting his 42nd on Sunday against Denver. Robertson endorsed Westbrook for the Most Valuable Player award during a pregame ceremony. Westbrook was on pace for another triple-double at halftime with eight assists, five points and five rebounds in 18 minutes. Nikola Jokic finished with 29 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists for the Nuggets.
Mavericks 100, Grizzlies 93: Nicolas Brussino and Devin Harris each scored 15 points and visiting Dallas ended its season by snapping a five-game skid.
Magic 113, Pistons 109: Aaron Gordon had 32 points and 12 rebounds and Elfrid Payton scored 21 points for host Orlando in a matchup of teams not going to the playoffs.
Knicks 114, 76ers 113: Carmelo Anthony scored 17 points for host New York after deciding to play in what could be his final game with the Knicks. Anthony had missed the previous two games with a sore left knee and wasn’t expected to play Wednesday, but decided he wanted to go.