Joakim Noah finished with 18 points, 19 rebounds and a career-high seven assists as Chicago beat Toronto 104-88 to seize a one-game lead over the Raptors for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Derrick Rose had a game-high 26 points on Sunday in the battle of two teams fighting to reach the NBA playoffs. Toronto holds the tiebreaker by winning the season series 2-1.
“I knew it was a really important game, I was really focused,” Noah said. “I just wanted to go out there and impose my will as much as I could, just be aggressive offensively and defensively. It was a huge win and I just wanted to make sure that our team played harder than their team.”
Luol Deng had 14 points, Taj Gibson finished with 11, while Ronald Murray and Hakim Warrick each scored 10 points for the Bulls, who can clinch the eighth and final playoff spot in the East with a win and a Toronto loss, or by winning their two remaining games.
“We haven’t done nothing yet,” Rose said. “We’ve still got two games to play.”
Chicago host Boston today and travel to Charlotte tomorrow for their final game of the regular season. Toronto were at Detroit yesterday and finish on home court tomorrow against New York.
Chicago have won eight of 12 games since Noah returned from a foot injury. The Bulls lost all 10 games without him in the lineup.
“He’s a guy who’s always energetic, always yelling and talking,” Rose said. “He’s always energy while he’s out there and you want to do the same when you see him do all that stuff.”
Sonny Weems and Andrea Bargnani each scored 18 points for the losers, who dropped their fifth straight.
“They were better than us, obviously,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “They shot the ball much better.”
The Bulls now have a potential playoff clinching game against the Celtics.
“It’s good that we have Boston coming up,” Noah said. “That’s an easy game to get up for. If we were playing in front of [a crowd of] 2,000 in New Jersey, it’s a different situation. We understand what’s at stake.”
Toronto’s playoff hopes look bleak, but the Raptors aren’t about to concede.
“We have to dig in,” Weems said. “We still have a chance. If some players on the team are giving up, they shouldn’t be here.”
Raptors forward Amir Johnson made his second consecutive start in place of Chris Bosh, who is expected to miss the remainder of the season after surgery last week to repair a broken nose.
MAGIC 98, CAVALIERS 92
In Cleveland, Ohio, Mickael Pietrus scored all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter and Jameer Nelson hit a late three-pointer to help the Orlando Magic to victory over the Cavaliers, who are resting LeBron James for the playoffs.
Pietrus made two three-pointers to open the fourth and Nelson connected with 2 minutes, 53 seconds left to make it 96-88. Dwight Howard had 22 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks for Orlando.
Delonte West had 21 points, while Mo Williams had 19 points and nine assists for the Cavaliers, who finished the regular season 35-6 at home.
TRAIL BLAZERS 91, LAKERS 88
In Los Angeles, Martell Webster hit three free-throws with 3.1 seconds left as Portland tied San Antonio for seventh place in the Western Conference to improve their chances of avoiding Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs.
Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher combined to miss three free-throws in the final 6.9 seconds, while Pau Gasol missed a three-pointer at the buzzer for the top-seeded Lakers.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who lost leading scorer Brandon Roy at halftime because of a sore right knee.
Gasol led the Lakers with 23 points and 12 rebounds, Lamar Odom added 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Bryant had 20 points on eight-of-23 shooting.
SUNS 116, ROCKETS 106
In Phoenix, Arizona, Amare Stoudemire had 35 points and 13 rebounds as Phoenix used three-pointers to pull away at the finish.
Phoenix moved into a tie with Utah and Dallas for the third playoff spot in the West, a half-game behind No. 2 Dallas, with two to play.
Nash had 23 points and 11 assists for the Suns, winners of 12 of their last 14.
Luis Scola scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half for Houston.
Sunday’s other results:
• Warriors 120, Thunder 117
• Heat 111, Knicks 98
• Hornets 114, Timberwolves 86
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