Kirk Hinrich sank two late free throws to secure a fourth straight win for the Chicago Bulls, a 83-81 home-court triumph over the short-handed Detroit Pistons on Thursday.
Hinrich missed his first of three free throws after being fouled by Detroit's Carlos Delfino on a 3-point shot with two seconds remaining, but he made the next two to enable the Bulls to clinch their third straight playoff berth.
"It's a good spot to be in," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said.
"We can focus on what seed we're going to get rather than making it," he said.
Regular Detroit starters Richard Hamilton and Chris Webber missed the game because of illness, but the Pistons, the Eastern Conference leaders, were nearly able to pull off the win.
They rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 81-81 on a field goal by Tayshaun Prince with just nine seconds remaining.
Hinrich then put the Bulls out front before Prince, who had 26 points for Detroit, missed with the final shot of the contest as the buzzer sounded.
Ben Gordon scored 25 points for the Bulls with Ben Wallace, who previously played for the Pistons, grabbing 19 rebounds.
"I'm going to be doing the same thing in the playoffs that I'm doing now," Wallace told reporters.
"And when you talk about the Bulls, we should be mentioned as a team and not an individual," he said.
"I'm glad to see the focus start to shift that way," he said.
The victory was the 11th in 14 games for the Bulls, who trail the Pistons by three games in the conference race.
They are a half-game behind second-place Cleveland.
Warriors 124, Suns 119
At Oakland, California, Jason Richardson scored a season-high 36 points, including a Warriors record eight 3-pointers as Golden State rolled after a 45-point first quarter to a victory over Phoenix.
Stephen Jackson scored 29 points and Baron Davis added 21 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds as the Warriors took a big lead in the third quarter.
However, the Warriors blew most of it in the fourth quarter before hanging on for an important win for their playoff hopes.
Golden State moved within one game of the Los Angeles Clippers for the Western Conference's final postseason spot.
Leandro Barbosa scored 27 points for the Suns, who lost in Northern California for the second time in five days with another poor defensive effort.
Grizzlies 96, Trail Blazers 92
At Portland, Oregon, rookie Tarence Kinsey had 20 points to lead four starters in double figures and Memphis went on to win back-to-back games for the just first time this season.
Rudy Gay and Hakim Warrick added 18 points apiece and Pau Gasol had 17 for the Grizzlies.
Memphis made 35 of 36 free throws (97.2 percent), including their first 25.
Zach Randolph had 43 points, a career high, and tied a season high with 17 rebounds.
Memphis was coming off a victory on Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Predators were the only team in the NBA that hadn't managed to win two consecutive games this season.
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