Knicks earn No. 2 seed in NBA Eastern playoffs with win over Bulls and Bucks loss to Magic

The New York Knicks jumped up to the No. 2 seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference playoff standings with a 120–119 victory in overtime over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday in the season finale. The Knicks leapfrogged the Milwaukee Bucks, who lost 113-88 to the Orlando Magic.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 40 points and seven assists. Donte DiVincenzo added 25 points (shooting 5-of-14 from three-point range) while playing 52 minutes in the regular-season finale.

The Bulls were led by DeMar DeRozan's 30 points, but the veteran missed a floater over Precious Achiuwa and DiVincenzo with 2.1 seconds left that would've given Chicago a one-point lead. Nikola Vucevic added 29 points and Coby White scored 26 as they took the Knicks to the final buzzer.

Brunson's 40-point effort was his 11th of the season, tying Patrick Ewing for second-most by a Knicks player in a single season. Bernard King holds the record with 13 40-point games.

Additionally, Brunson finishes with an average of 28.7 points per game, tying Carmelo Anthony for the third-best average in team history. King holds that record as well, averaging 32.5 points during the 1984-85 season.

With the victory, the Knicks finished with 50 wins (50–32) for the first time since the 2012-13 season, when the team featuring Anthony and J.R. Smith won 54 games.

New York will face either the Philadelphia 76ers or Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs, which will be determined by the winner of their play-in tournament matchup on Wednesday.

The 76ers won Sunday's regular-season finale over the Brooklyn Nets, 107–86, while the Heat defeated the Toronto Raptors, 118–103.

Chicago finishes as the No. 9 seed and will face the No. 10 Atlanta Hawks in the East's other play-in game, with the winner to face the loser of the 76ers-Heat matchup.

The Eastern Conference's playoff seeds are as follows:

1. Boston Celtics
2. New York Knicks
3. Milwaukee Bucks
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Orlando Magic
6. Indiana Pacers
7. Philadelphia 76ers*
8. Miami Heat*
9. Chicago Bulls*
10. Atlanta Hawks*
(* = play-in tournament)