Bulls Are On Again, NBA Roundup

By ESPN

The on-again, off-again Chicago Bulls are on again. Whether that's enough for a postseason berth won't be known until the final day of the regular season.

Emergency starter Jerian Grant had 17 points and a career-high 11 assists on Monday night, and the Bulls routed the Orlando Magic 122-75 in their largest margin of victory this season.

The Bulls will be guaranteed a playoff spot if they beat the Brooklyn Nets in their finale.

"I just want everyone to lock in and realize how important this game is," All-Star Jimmy Butler said. "We're not counting on anyone else. We control our own destiny."

Chicago remained No. 8 in the Eastern Conference, one game behind Indiana after the Pacers beat the 76ers in Philadelphia. They own the tiebreaker against the Pacers as a result of a better division record.

The Bulls (40-41) also would advance in the event of a tie with the Pacers (41-40) and Heat (40-41), which outlasted the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime in Miami.

"If we don't win on Wednesday, we don't deserve to be in," Dwyane Wade said. "It is as simple as that."

The victory was the sixth for Chicago in its last eight games. Fifth-place Orlando lost for the seventh time in its last eight.

Chicago scored 14 of the first 16 points en route to a 34-13 lead at the end of one quarter. Grant led the way with seven points, four assists and one steal.

"Just making sure guys were involved, getting guys good looks," said Grant, who replaced the injured Rajon Rondo in the lineup. "Pretty much it's win or go home."

Robin Lopez scored 18 points for the Bulls and Butler added 17.

Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic each scored 14 points for the listless Magic, who shot 36 from the field in the first half and 34.5 overall.

"We just had no effort on the defensive end," coach Frank Vogel said. "Offensively, we were terrible."

Pacers 120, 76ers 111

The Indiana Pacers aren't worried about looking for help. They believe they're playing well enough to clinch a playoff spot on their own.

Paul George scored 27 points before he was ejected after a scuffle with 76ers guard Gerald Henderson and the Pacers inched closer to a playoff berth with a 120-111 victory in Philadelphia on Monday night.

The Pacers (41-40) would have wrapped up a spot Monday if Chicago or Miami lost, but both won to improve to 40-41.

"I didn't look at the scoreboard once," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "My focus is on us and what we need to do. We did that with two solid games on the road against Orlando and Philly and we've got one more at home we need to get."

Thaddeus Young added 20 points, Myles Turner scored 18 and Kevin Seraphin had 17 to give the Pacers their fourth straight victory and move them within one win (or a loss by the Bulls or Heat) of guaranteeing a playoff spot for the sixth time in the past seven years.

The 76ers (28-53) lost for the seventh straight time and finished with a home record of 17-24. They conclude their fifth straight season out of the playoffs Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot paced the Sixers with 24 points and Richaun Holmes had 17 points.

The game got nasty with 2:59 remaining in the fourth quarter when George and Henderson crashed the floor together and exchanged a few shoves. Both players were ejected because of the altercation, which was precipitated by an elbow Henderson threw at George on the previous trip down the court.

"He was throwing jabs, throwing punches at my stomach all night and I didn't retaliate until late in the game when (the officials) weren't doing (anything) about it," George said.

"(Henderson) pulled me down and I got a double technical for doing nothing. And he threw an elbow at my neck and I get another technical for nothing. It was a (crappy) officiating job. It was physical all night and they did nothing after I warned them what was going on."

Henderson said he didn't deserve an ejection either, but admitted elbowing George on the play preceding their scuffle.

"He elbowed me in the back and I elbowed him coming back down the other end," Henderson said. "As I came off the screen I knew contact was coming so I tried to bump him. I didn't try to hit him in the face, but that's exactly what happened."

George said Henderson has played physical against him his entire NBA career, but more so in games played in Philadelphia.

"For whatever reason he doesn't like getting scored on by me," George said. "Every time he's at home I guess that's when he feels confident. He's sweet on the road but at home is when he gets (brave).

"Maybe next year I'll just set some (fine) money aside and I'll have my get-back. I'm just (joking). Hopefully, the league looks at what happened and they clean that up."

The Pacers ran out to a 16-4 lead and built a 21-point lead with 1:55 to play in the first quarter.

Monday, April 10 Scoreboard

Indiana 120, Philadelphia 111

Boston 114, Brooklyn 105

Miami 124,  Cleveland 121 (OT)

Chicago 122, Orlando 75

Milwaukee 89, Charlotte 79

Washington 105, Detroit 101

Portland 99, San Antonio 98

Los Angeles Clippers 125, Houston 96

Utah 105, Golden State 99

Tuesday, April 11 Schedule (All Times Central)

Charlotte at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.

Oklahoma City at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Denver at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

New Orleans at Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30 p.m.

Phoenix at Sacramento, 9:30 p.m.