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Bulls subdue 76ers to earn playoff ticket

The Chicago Bulls' Ben Gordon, left, of England, steals the ball from the Philadelphia 76ers' Allen Iverson in the first half of their NBA game on Wednesday in Philadelphia. Behind them is the Sixers' Kevin Ollie. PHOTO: AP

Andre Nocioni scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Ben Gordon had 21 points on Wednesday to lead the Chicago Bulls past the Philadelphia 76ers 99-92 in a game with major playoff implications.

Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich both scored 14 points and Tyson Chandler grabbed 15 rebounds for the Bulls, who moved into the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. The Bulls (35-40) own a half-game lead on the slumping Sixers (34-40) and the rematch is tomorrow night in Chicago. The Sixers host Boston today while the Bulls don't play again until tomorrow.

The Bulls have won four straight, six of seven and two in two nights on the road after winning on Tuesday night against Indiana. The Pacers are the next team ahead of Chicago in the East.

The Sixers have gone into a nosedive, losing 12 of their last 16 games, none bigger than a 33-point loss on Tuesday at Cleveland. Two of their wins in that span came against the lowly New York Knicks.

Allen Iverson scored 26 points and Chris Webber had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers.

Wizards 108, Celtics 91

At Boston, Gilbert Arenas scored 38 points and Caron Butler added 26 as the Wizards moved a stop closer to qualifying for the playoffs for a second straight season. The last time Washington made the playoffs in consecutive seasons was when it had five straight berths in the 1980s, ending with the 1987-88 season.

Washington is currently fifth in the East, holds a five-game lead over ninth-place Philadelphia, and has eight games remaining.

Paul Pierce scored 29 points for the Celtics to surpass 2,000 points on the season for the fourth time of his career, tying Larry Bird's franchise record.

Hawks 101, Timberwolves 99

At Atlanta, Josh Childress delivered the game-winning basket as time expired, handing Minnesota its 13th straight road loss.

After Ricky Davis made a layup to tie the game at 99, the Timberwolves didn't defend Childress as he streaked down the court to catch a long pass from Zaza Pachulia. Childress scored on an uncontested layup as time expired.

Officials reviewed the replay to confirm the shot left Childress' hand before time ran out.

Pacers 111, Raptors 103

At Indianapolis, Peja Stojakovic and Stephen Jackson scored 25 points each, and Indiana held on to win.

Jermaine O'Neal scored 18 points and Anthony Johnson added 16 as the Pacers (36-38) snapped a five-game losing streak. They held the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race and closed within a half game of sixth-place Milwaukee (37-38), which lost to Orlando.

Magic 108, Bucks 105

At Orlando, Florida, Hedo Turkoglu had 24 points, including two key last-minute free throws and a steal. It was Orlando's eighth straight win at home.

Dwight Howard had 19 points and 17 rebounds, while Carlos Arroyo had 17 points and Keyon Dooling scored 14 -- 10 in the fourth quarter.

Milwaukee guard T.J. Ford finished with a career-high 34 points, 11 assists and six rebounds, while Bucks star Michael Redd had 25 points and six rebounds.

Knicks 96, Cavaliers 94

At New York, Jamal Crawford scored a season-high 37 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 6.4 seconds left. The Knicks snapped their nine-game losing streak and ended Cleveland's winning streak at nine. They were doing it easily until LeBron James helped the Cavs erase all of a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit.

James scored 21 of his 36 points in the final period, including a basket that tied it for the final time at 94 with 27 seconds left. But Crawford, who hit winning baskets against Toronto in February and Detroit last month, came down and hit a high-arching jumper to put New York back ahead.

James scored 35 or more points for the eighth straight game, but Cleveland failed to win 10 straight for the first time since 1997.

Kings 97, Spurs 87

At San Antonio, Mike Bibby scored 31 points and had eight assists, and the Kings bolstered their playoff hopes.

The Kings (39-37) have the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference over New Orleans. Sacramento has six games remaining in the regular season and has won four of its last five.

San Antonio (58-17) has a two-game lead over Southwest Division-rival Dallas for the best record in the West. The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Spurs.

Hornets 114, Warriors 109, OT

At Oklahoma City, Chris Paul got his second triple-double in three games and set up Kirk Snyder's go-ahead alley-oop dunk in overtime. Paul had 17 points, a career-high 16 assists and 10 rebounds, with marks in each category proving crucial down the stretch.

Paul got his final assist on a lob to Snyder with 41.6 seconds left in overtime. He then got his 10th rebound to complete the triple-double when Aaron Williams blocked Derek Fisher on the Warriors' next possession. The Hornets remained two games behind Sacramento in the West.

Trail Blazers 76, Rockets 75

At Portland, Sebastian Telfair hit a jump shot with 27.7 seconds to go and Portland beat Houston to snap an 11-game losing streak.

Zach Randolph had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers, who led by as many as 10 points but nearly squandered the win. Houston, which never led by more than four points, kept it close in the final quarter, then fell behind 74-71 on Telfair's layup with 2:02 left.

Clippers 119, Suns 105

At Phoenix, Elton Brand had 34 points and 15 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Phoenix to keep their faint Pacific Division title hopes alive.

Corey Maggette added 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who are five games behind the first-place Suns with eight to play.
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