CHICAGO (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 22 points, Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro added 19 apiece, and the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 127-109.
Bam Adebayo scored 16, and the hot-shooting Heat reached the 50-win mark for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Miami also increased its lead over second-place Milwaukee to 1 1/2 games and moved within a win of securing homecourt advantage in Round 1 of the postseason.
If the Heat go 3-1 the rest of the way, they’ll clinch the top seed in the East. Zach LaVine led Chicago with 33 points. DeMar DeRozan finished with 26.
In other NBA action:
— The 76ers snapped a three-game skid by blowing out the Hornets, 144-114. Joel Embiid had 29 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists for the Sixers, who tied a team record with 21 3-pointers. Tobias Harris supplied five treys and finished with 23 points.
— Klay Thompson poured in 36 points and the Warriors erased a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Jazz, 111-107. Jordan Poole added 31 and Andrew Wiggins had 17 as the Warriors snapped a four-game losing streak and clinched a playoff spot. At 49-29, they hold a one-game lead over the Mavericks for the third seed in the West.
— Darius Garland had 24 points and 13 assists to send the Cavaliers to a 119-101 win over the Knicks. Garland led seven Cavaliers in double figures as Cleveland snapped a two-game losing streak. Caris LeVert finished with 19 points for the Cavs, while Moses Brown and Isaac Okoro each added 16.
— The Hawks made it five straight wins as Trae Young provided 34 points and 10 assists in their 122-115 win over the Nets. De’Andre Hunter had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which took control by outscoring Brooklyn, 37-20 in the second quarter. The Nets lost despite Kevin Durant’s 55 points and fell into ninth place in the East, a game behind the streaking Hawks.
