The summary
The Bulls locked down the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday night when they rallied from 18 points down without Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah or Kirk Hinrich to top the Hawks 91-85. With the Hawks using mainly subs in the fourth quarter, the Bulls finished strong. They overcame a sloppy start (eight turnovers in the first quarter) to finish 50-32 on the season and will meet the Bucks in the playoffs’ first round.
Turning point
Aaron Brooks, who scored a game-high 23 points, hit an insanely deep 3-pointer to put the Bulls ahead 87-82.
Key number
1,000 — Nazr Mohammed became the 115th player in NBA history to appear in 1,000 games when he checked in during the first quarter.
Injury update
The Bulls played without Noah (left hamstring tendinitis) and Hinrich (left knee). Both should be fine for the playoffs. Gibson departed in the third quarter after aggravating his strained shoulder.
Resting up
Rose logged zero second-half minutes after playing 10-plus quiet minutes in the first.
The quote
“He had a little bit of (knee) soreness … so we just played it safe. You’re always concerned, but I don’t think it’s anything major.” — Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau on Rose
