Cavaliers down Bulls, secure East’s No. 1 seed for playoffs

CLEVELAND — Darius Garland scored 28 points, Evan Mobley had 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 135-113 win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.

Garland made four 3-pointers in eight minutes during the second quarter, triggering a 41-21 run that allowed the Cavaliers to push their lead to 21 points en route to the victory.

Ty Jerome added 18 points off the bench and De’Andre Hunter scored 17 for Cleveland, which has the second-best record in franchise history at 63-16. The Cavaliers secured the No. 1 seed in the East for the fourth time and first since 2015-16.

Cleveland did it without All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, who did not dress for precautionary reasons after spraining his left ankle Sunday against the Sacramento Kings. Coach Kenny Atkinson said Mitchell will be good to go for the playoffs, but may sit out additional games.

The Cavaliers improved to to 8-0 this season when Mitchell does not play.

Patrick Williams scored a season-high 21 points and made 5 of 6 3-pointers, and Matas Buzelis added 19 points for Chicago. The Bulls have clinched a play-in tournament berth and are tied with Miami for ninth in the East.

Chicago’s top five scorers were not in uniform, including Coby White (rest), Nikola Vucevic (right calf soreness) and Josh Giddey (right forearm). Lonzo Ball (right wrist sprain) also was not available.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Source: espn.com