Kyle Korver came up big down the stretch to finish with 19 points, Derrick Rose scored 15, and the Bulls closed the regular season with their ninth straight win, beating the New Jersey Nets, 97-92, last night in Chicago.
Because the San Antonio Spurs (61-21) lost to the Suns in Phoenix, 106-103, the Bulls (62-20), who already had locked up the top seed in the Eastern Conference, finished the season with the NBA’s best record. They have homecourt advantage throughout the entire playoffs.
The Bulls led by as many as 13 in the second quarter and were ahead by 7 at the half, but found themselves trailing, 68-58, after the Nets scored 15 straight midway through the third. They responded by scoring 10 straight to close the period and pulled this one out in the end, with Korver scoring 7 in the final four minutes.
Lakers 116, Kings 108 — Kobe Bryant scored 36 points and forced overtime on a tying 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in regulation, and visiting Los Angeles regrouped to hand Sacramento a loss in what might have been the last game ever in this rivalry, at least in Sacramento.
With the Kings mulling a move to Anaheim, fans brought handmade signs and cheered their loudest to will the team back.
And they nearly did.
Instead, the Lakers pulled away in OT to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, dropping the Dallas Mavericks to third and into a first-round playoff series with the sixth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers.
The Lakers will play the No. 7 seed New Orleans Hornets.
Mavericks 121, Hornets 89 — Dirk Nowitzki scored 12 of his 32 points in the decisive third quarter, leading host Dallas over New Orleans.
The Hornets ended up with the seventh seed in the West when the Memphis Grizzlies lost to the Clippers, 110-103, in Los Angeles. New Orleans will face the Lakers in the first round and Memphis, the No. 8 seed, will meet the Spurs.
Bucks 110, Thunder 106 — Brandon Jennings scored 16 points, including a go-ahead reverse layup with 56.8 seconds left, in Milwaukee’s overtime victory in Oklahoma City. The Thunder will be the No. 4 seed in the West and will open against the Nuggets in the first round.
