| Toronto Raptors forward Julian Wright (L) steals the ball from Philadelphia 76ers forward Andre Iguodala (R) during the third quarter of their NBA basketball game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday. (Reuters |
The Chicago Bulls secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating Cleveland 93-82 Friday with the help of a 24 point and 11 rebound performance from Carlos Boozer. Ronnie Brewer had 12 points while Derrick Rose added 11 points and eight assists for the Bulls who won all the games in the season series from Cleveland for the first time since winning all four meetings in the 1995-96 regular season. “It’s good to be the No. 1 seed, but at the end of the day we understand that there is a bigger picture,” centre Joakim Noah said. “We’re staying focused. It’s definitely an achievement and we’re excited about it.” The Bulls will have home-court advantage through the first three rounds of the National Basketball Association playoffs. Chicago have now won six consecutive games and 18 of the last 20. The Bulls had not finished with the best record in the East since the Michael Jordan-led team of 1997-98, the most recent of their half dozen NBA titles. J.J. Hickson led the Cavaliers with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Cleveland Cavaliers dropped into a tie with Minnesota for the league’s worst record. Cleveland had a modest two game win streak heading into Friday’s contest.