CHICAGO, April 14 – Derrick Rose finished with a career-high 39 points, Kirk Hinrich added 30 as Chicago beat Boston 101-93 Tuesday to boost their playoff chances.The eighth-place Bulls lead Toronto by a game in the Eastern Conference and will make the playoffs as long as they finish with a better regular season record.
The Bulls need to beat Charlotte on Wednesday or for the Raptors to lose to New York.
The Celtics, who got Kevin Garnett back Tuesday, lost their sixth game in the past nine and now have no hope of catching third seed Atlanta.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 28 points, and Ray Allen scored 25. Garnett finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. The coaching staff decided to rest him in the last game.
The Bulls seized control with a 14-4 run to start the final quarter.
Rose finished with 17 points in the fourth. Hinrich chipped in 10, including a jumper that made it 95-88 with 43.7 seconds left.
Chicago trailed 68-67 entering the fourth but scored the first six points.
