CLEVELAND (AFP) - The Chicago Bulls secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating Cleveland, 93-82, Friday with the help of a 24 point and 11 rebound performance from Carlos Boozer.

Ronnie Brewer had 12 points while Derrick Rose added 11 points and eight assists for the Bulls who won all the games in the season series from Cleveland for the first time since winning all four meetings in the 1995-96 regular season.

“It’s good to be the No. 1 seed, but at the end of the day we understand that there is a bigger picture,” centre Joakim Noah said. “We’re staying focused. It’s definitely an achievement and we’re excited about it.”

The Bulls will have home-court advantage through the first three rounds of the National Basketball Association playoffs. Chicago have now won six consecutive games and 18 of the last 20.

The Bulls had not finished with the best record in the East since the Michael Jordan-led team of 1997-98, the most recent of their half dozen NBA titles.

J.J. Hickson led the Cavaliers with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Cleveland Cavaliers dropped into a tie with Minnesota for the league’s worst record.

Cleveland had a modest two game win streak heading into Friday’s contest.

Blazers 93, Lakers 86

In Portland, Oregon, the Trail Blazers sent the Los Angeles Lakers to their fourth straight defeat by beating the defending NBA champions, 93-86, Friday.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who stayed a half-game ahead of New Orleans for the sixth spot in the Western Conference.

Portland led by as many as 24 points and they also prevented the Lakers from clinching the second seed in the Western Conference.

Gerald Wallace also had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the winners.

Kobe Bryant had 24 points in the Lakers defeat. The fourth loss in a row tied a season-high streak.

A win by Los Angeles combined with a loss by the Dallas Mavericks on Friday would have given Los Angeles the West’s No. 2 seed.

Ron Artest nailed a pair of three-pointers that allowed Lakers to close the gap to 82-73 late in the game. Portland’s Aldridge then made a jump shot but Bryant converted two layups to get it to 84-77.

Portland answered with Nicolas Batum’s three-pointer and Wallace’s layup that extended the Blazers’ lead to a comfortable 89-77 with just over a minute left in the fourth.

In other games, New York 116, New Jersey 93; Indiana 114, Atlanta 102; Philadelphia 98, Toronto 93; Detroit 110, Milwaukee 100; Miami 112, Charlotte 103; Boston 104, Washington 88; Memphis 101, Sacramento 96; New Orleans 109, Phoneix 97; Oklahoma 104, Denver 89; Dallas 107, L.A. Clippers 96.