Bulls-Nets Preview

While some of the NBA's elite teams have earned the luxury of resting their stars ahead of the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls and New Jersey Nets will complete their regular season Wednesday night trying to finalize postseason positioning.

Chicago (49-32) has more at stake than New Jersey (40-41) heading into this game. A win would give them the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but a loss -- coupled with a win by the Cleveland Cavaliers -- would drop the Bulls to fifth, and they would open at home against reigning NBA champion Miami.

The Nets need a victory to clinch the sixth seed, which would put them in a first-round series against their Atlantic Division champion Toronto. New Jersey also would be able to hang onto the sixth spot with a loss if Washington also loses its season finale since it holds the tiebreaker over the Wizards.

Additionally, the Nets would get the sixth spot if they, the Wizards and the Orlando Magic all finish the season 40-42.

Chicago routed Washington 101-68 on Sunday for its third straight victory and 10th in its last 12 overall. Ben Gordon, who hit six 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, doesn't care who the Bulls play in the first round -- he just wants to start the postseason.

"I am definitely not overlooking the Nets," Gordon wrote in his blog on the Bulls' official Web site. "We have a chance to lock up the two seed and get our 50th win, which was a goal of ours early on in the year.

"Truthfully, I don't really care who we play. Once you get into the playoffs, whoever you go up against, you have to be ready. The teams we have a possibility of facing, they're all tough teams. I am just concerned with the way we play. If we play to our capabilities, we can beat anybody."

Gordon has averaged 25.4 points in his last five games, shooting 56.7 percent (17-for-30) from 3-point range and 50.6 percent (44-for-87) overall in that span. His recent surge started with a 27-point effort in a 105-74 rout of New Jersey on April 6.

The Nets also have won three straight games and nine of their last 12 overall after a 104-95 road victory over New York on Monday. Vince Carter had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double in six games and is hoping to carry this momentum into the postseason.

"It's important to be playing great basketball and go into the playoffs with a lot of confidence," Carter said. "If we move up, that's great. If we don't, we just want to make sure we're at the top of our game when the playoffs start."

Carter, who had 21 points in the loss at Chicago, has averaged 32.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists in his last six games.

New Jersey needs a victory to avoid its first losing season since going 26-56 in 2000-01, while with a victory, Chicago could notch its first 50-win season since compiling a 62-20 record in 1997-98 en route to the last of its six NBA titles.

The Nets won the other two games between the teams by a combined eight points.