Brooks Leads Rally, As Bulls Beat Hawks, 91-85
CHICAGO (AP) — Aaron Brooks scored 23 points and the Chicago Bulls rallied from 18 down to beat the Atlanta Hawks, 91-85, on Wednesday night in the regular-season finale.
The Bulls locked up the third seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks with their fourth straight win.
The Hawks, who won a franchise-record 60 games and earned the top seed, matched a season high with their third straight loss.
Brooks carried the Bulls in the second half with Rose watching from the sideline. He scored nine in the third quarter and pulled Chicago back into it after Atlanta went up by 18.
Jimmy Butler scored 21. Pau Gasol added 18 points and 13 rebounds for his 54th double-double, and the Bulls hit the 50-win mark even though Rose scored just two points in 10 minutes.
Joakim Noah (left hamstring tendinitis) sat out the game and Taj Gibson exited with a strained left shoulder.
Dennis Schroder came off the bench to score 21 points for Atlanta on 9-of-13 shooting. Al Horford added 14 points and seven rebounds. Paul Millsap scored five after missing five games because of a sprained right shoulder.
Chicago was leading 87-85 when Atlanta's Austin Daye missed a short turnaround jumper with 1:44 left. The Bulls controlled the rebound and Butler hit two free throws. He then stole the ball from Daye and fed Gasol for a running layup that made it 91-85 with 1:16 remaining.
Atlanta looked like it was ready to bury the Bulls with a 60-42 lead after scoring the first 11 points of the third quarter. But with Rose watching from the sideline, Brooks pulled Chicago back into it.
He scored nine in the quarter and drove for a layup in the closing seconds to cut it to 72-70.
With Atlanta leading 77-73 early in the fourth, the Bulls scored eight straight. Nazr Mohammed tied it with a layup. Jimmy Butler hit two free throws and Mike Dunleavy Jr. finished the run with a jumper to make it 81-77.
TIP-INS
Hawks: F Mike Scott sat out with a back contusion.
Bulls: G Kirk Hinrich (left knee) sat out the game. ... C Mohammed played in his 1,000th game.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Will host Game 1 of the playoffs Sunday.
Bulls: Will host Game 1 of the playoffs Saturday.
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