The Chicago Bulls secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating Cleveland 93-82 on Friday with the help of a 24 point and 11 rebound performance from Carlos Boozer.
Ronnie Brewer had 12 points, while Derrick Rose added 11 points and eight assists for the Bulls who won all the games in the season series from Cleveland for the first time since winning all four meetings in the 1995-1996 regular season.
The Bulls will have home-court advantage through the first three rounds of the NBA playoffs. Chicago have now won six consecutive games and 18 of the last 20.
The Bulls had not finished with the best record in the East since the Michael Jordan-led team of 1997-1998, the most recent of their half dozen NBA titles.
J.J. Hickson led the Cavaliers with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Cleveland dropped into a tie with Minnesota for the league’s worst record.
Cleveland had a modest two game win streak heading into Friday’s contest.
The Bulls led 54-46 at halftime, but the Cavaliers cut the lead to three halfway through the third.
Chicago, who have won five straight on the road, then went on an 18-6 to finish the third quarter.
GRIZZLIES 101, KINGS 96
In Memphis, Tennessee, Zach Randolph had 27 points and 15 rebounds to help Memphis clinch the final playoff spot in the West, eliminating Houston from the race in the process.
Marc Gasol added 18 points for the Grizzlies, who head to the postseason for the first time since the 2005-2006 season. Mike Conley finished with 12 points and eight assists.
Marcus Thornton led the Kings with 18 points, seven of them coming in the final two-and-a-half minutes to keep the Grizzlies from celebrating too early.
KNICKS 116, NETS 93
In Newark, New Jersey, Carmelo Anthony had 25 points and 14 rebounds, as New York ended a -franchise-worst streak of nine straight losing seasons with their sixth consecutive victory.
Chauncey Billups added 22 points for the Knicks, who played without Amare Stoudemire. New York remains in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and completed their first season sweep of their cross-river rival since winning all three meetings in the shortened 1999 season.
PISTONS 110, BUCKS 100
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Chris Wilcox scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Detroit.
Rodney Stuckey added 22 points for the Pistons, including four straight free throws in the final minutes to help Detroit win their second straight.
Brandon Jennings led the Bucks with 31 points and Ersan Ilyasova added 18 in his first action since a Feb. 26 concussion.
In Friday’s other action, it was:
‧ 76ers 98, Raptors 93
‧ Pacers 114, Hawks 102
‧ Mavericks 107, Clippers 96
‧ Thunder 104, Nuggets 89
‧ Hornets 109, Suns 97
‧ Heat 112, Bobcats 103
‧ Trail Blazers 93, Lakers 86
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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