Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, Al Horford added 17 and the Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 117-94 on Wednesday for their 50th win.
The Celtics have won three consecutive games and are 27-6 since January 22. With a win in Milwaukee on Thursday, he could finish second in the East.
Jason Tatum scored 16 points for Boston.
The Bulls have lost two consecutive games. However, they confirmed their place in the playoffs on Tuesday.
DeMar DeRozan had 16 points for Chicago and Nikola Vucevic added 13 points.
The Celtics made it 16-4 in the middle of the first ten minutes and led 31-14. They shot 57.8% in the first half.
After a home defeat by Milwaukee on Tuesday, the Bulls made ten upset in the first half. Their depth was weakened when striker Patrick Williams committed his fourth foul with 4:31 remaining in the second half.
“We arrived with a lot of energy,” Celtic Horford said after the game, stressing that the team was determined to stay in shape despite Robert Williams’s serious knee injury in March.
“We have been playing basketball at the level of a series for a month now. “This is what I expect from our children,” he added.
Former President Barack Obama attended the rally.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
Dallas 131 – Detroit 113
LAD: Luka Doncic had 26 points, eight rebounds and 14 assists
DETE: Cade Cunningham had 25 points and nine assists
Brooklyn 100 – New York 98
BROTHER: Kevin Durand scores a hat-trick with 32 points, ten rebounds and eleven assists
New York: Alec Berks scored a total of 24 points
Washington 103 – Atlanta 118
IT WAS: Christaps Porzingis had 26 assists and 18 rebounds
ATL: Tray Young had 30 points and eleven assists
Oklahoma City 101 – Utah 137
OC: Jalen Howard scored 23 points
UTA: Bojan Bogdanovic scored 27 points
Phoenix 109 – Los Angeles Clippers 113
PHO: Ish Wainright got 20 points
LAKE: Norman Powell had 24 points
