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NBA: Bulls beat Jazz to stay in playoff hunt

The Chicago Bulls scored a 108-96 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Tuesday to maintain their push for an unlikely Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Despite a 26-38 record, the inconsistent Bulls have pulled to just one-half game behind Atlanta for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

"As bad as it's been, we're lucky to be in the position that we're in," Chicago's Luol Deng told reporters. "We just have to try to make a run, even though our longest [winning] streak has been two games. We just got to get going from here and put a streak of wins together."

The Northwest Division-leading Jazz saw a five-game winning streak come to an end.

The Jazz's record on the road dropped to 14-20.

The Bulls' Drew Gooden, who was picked up in a major trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, tied his season high with 24 points. He also had 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Mehmet Okur scored 22 points and had 18 rebounds for the Jazz, while Deron Williams added 20 points and 10 assists.

Wizards 105, Bucks 97

At Washington, Antawn Jamison scored 23 points, rookie Nick Young had a career-high 22, and the Washington Wizards rallied in the fourth quarter for a 105-97 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

The victory moved Washington, eager to hold onto sixth place in the Eastern Conference, 1.5 games ahead of charging Philadelphia.

Michael Redd scored 26 points, Andrew Bogut had 23, and Charlie Villanueva had 24 points and matched a season high with 16 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost for the sixth time in seven games with another lackluster defensive performance.

Pacers 114, SuperSonics 107

At Indianapolis, Mike Dunleavy scored 32 points and Indiana snapped a three-game losing streak and sent Seattle to its fifth straight loss.

In other games it was:

rail Blazers 103, T'wolves 96

Suns 132, Grizzlies 111

Lakers 117, Raptors 108
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