Butler stars as Bulls enter playoffs

Chicago: Jimmy Butler scored a team-high 25 points as the Chicago Bulls clinched a berth in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 112-73 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. Rookie forward Paul Zipser added a career-high 21 points off the bench as the Bulls (41-41) earned the number eight seed. They will meet top seeded Boston. Archie Goodwin scored 20 points to lead the Nets, who benched a half-dozen players in their final game. Brooklyn (20-62) finished with the worst record in the NBA and the fourth-most losses in franchise history. Pacers 104, Hawks 86 Paul George tallied 32 points and 11 rebounds, and Jeff Teague added 19 points and seven assists before rolling his left ankle late in the fourth quarter, leading Indiana to a playoff-clinching victory over Atlanta. The Pacers earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and will open against the second-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. Teague went directly to the locker room after being injured with 2:06 to play. Having clinched the number five spot in the East on Tuesday, Atlanta rested Kent Bazemore, Tim Hardaway Jr, Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap and Dennis Schroder. The Hawks will begin the playoffs against the fourth-seeded Washington Wizards. Jazz 101, Spurs 97 Gordon Hayward scored 14 points and Rudy Gobert, George Hill and Shelvin Mack added 13 apiece to help Utah extend its home winning streak to a season-best nine games with a victory over San Antonio. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points and Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker added 14 apiece to lead the Spurs, who have lost four straight as they prepare to open the playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies. The fifth-seeded Jazz will oppose the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in a first-round Western Conference playoff series. Heat 110, Wizards 102 Goran Dragic scored 28 points but Miami fell short of reaching the playoffs despite a win over Washington. The Heat became the first team in league history to finish .500 or above after being at least 12 games below parity. Miami reversed an 11-30 record the first half of the season with a 30-11 finish. Trey Burke scored 27 points for the playoff-bound Wizards, who played without John Wall and Bradley Beal. Otto Porter Jr, who was inactive in Washington’s previous two games, scored 11 points in 15 minutes. Celtics 112, Bucks 94 Gerald Green scored 18 points and Boston emerged with the top seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs after beating Milwaukee.  — Reuters