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Bulls clinch top spot in East

Apr 9, 2011 - 5:29 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Carlos Boozer posted 24 points and 11 rebounds, and the Bulls clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 93-82 triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Ronnie Brewer had 12 points, while Derrick Rose tallied 11 points and eight assists in Chicago's sixth straight win. It's the first time they've captured bragging rights in the East since the 1997-98 season, when the Michael Jordan- led Bulls won their third straight and sixth NBA title in eight years.

Luol Deng had 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Bulls, who will play Indiana in the first round of the playoffs. The Bulls beat Indiana in seven games in the East finals in 1998.

"We are the No. 1 seed and we have home-court advantage and we are not satisfied," Bulls forward Joakim Noah said. "We're trying to catch up to San Antonio and we're focused on our next opponent and that's it."

J.J. Hickson ended with 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had won their previous two games. Cleveland was swept in four games by the Bulls this season. Chicago won all the games in the season series from Cleveland for the first time since winning all four meetings in the 1995-96 campaign.

Boozer had eight points in the final quarter on 4-of-5 shooting. The rest of the team went 3-for-14 in the period, but the Bulls still maintained a double- digit lead most of the quarter.

A jumper from Brewer expanded the margin to 87-71 with 4 1/2 minutes left but Cleveland came back with a 9-2 burst, capped by a Daniel Gibson three-pointer with 2:21 left. The rally came too late for the Cavs.

Chicago scored 10 in a row during one stretch of the opening quarter for a 24-14 lead. The visitors were up, 29-26, after 12 minutes.

The Bulls led by as many as 14 in the second and carried a 54-46 advantage into the half. It was 78-63 going to the fourth.

"We did not execute real well. In the first half we executed pretty good, but we just really hurt ourselves with our turnovers (and) we hurt ourselves with defensive rebounding," Cavs coach Byron Scott said. "n the second half, I thought we did more standing around."

Game Notes

Chicago is 13-3 in its last 16 road games...Chicago is 44-2 this year when it holds opponent to 95 points or less...The Bulls have won five in a row on the road.