Bulls reach playoffs after win over Bobcats
Published:Thursday | April 15, 2010 | 1:09 PM
The Chicago Bulls clinched the NBA\'s last unclaimed playoff spot last night as Derrick Rose scored 27 points and Joakim Noah added 21 points and 13 rebounds in a 98-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Bulls closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak to beat out Toronto for the right to face Eastern Conference top seed Cleveland Cavaliers.
Needing a win or a Raptors loss to New York to get in, the Bulls quickly took it to the Bobcats, never trailing and leading by as many as 18 points.
At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 31 points to finish the season as the youngest scoring champion in NBA history as Oklahoma City Thunder beat Grizzlies 114-105.
The 21-year-old Durant finished with an average of 30 point 1 points, 0 point 4 ahead of LeBron James, and supplanted 22-year-old Max Zaslofsky of the 1947-48 Chicago Stags as the youngest scoring champ in NBA history.
Oklahoma City Thunder will meet the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
Other winners last night were Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Hornets.