Former Bull John Salmons and the Milwaukee Bucks can breath a sigh of relief. They’re in the NBA playoffs.Salmons scored 26 points against his former team and Milwaukee clinched a postseason spot Tuesday night with a 79-74 victory over the Bulls.Playing for the first time since center Andrew Bogut was injured, the Bucks rebounded from a sluggish start and wrapped up their first playoff berth in four years.They are tied with Miami for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.The Bulls, who matched a season low for points, remained a game behind Toronto for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.Ersan Ilyasova scored 17 points off the bench for Milwaukee and Luke Ridnour added 13.After the Bucks squandered a 12-point third-quarter lead, Salmons tied the game at 65 on a pair of free throws. Ilyasova followed with a dunk and Salmons made a jumper to put Milwaukee up 69-65.Salmons, shipped from the Bulls to Milwaukee before the trade deadline for Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander, increased the lead to 76-70 with 1:02 left. But the Bulls cut it to 76-74 on jumpers by Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson.The Bulls put Salmons on the line with 13.2 seconds left, and he made one of two. But the Bulls were unable to capitalize as Brad Miller was called for traveling in the lane with seven seconds left.Carlos Delfino then hit a pair of free throws to seal it.Luol Deng scored 16 points and Rose added 12, but with six turnovers.With the Bulls trailing 60-48 late in the third quarter after 23 minutes of ugly basketball, Miller started the comeback attempt with a three-point play. He made a jumper to start the fourth and later went around Ilyasova for a dunk.Rose made an acrobatic pass underneath the basket to Flip Murray, who finished with a layup to get his team within 62-59. Rose tied the game on a driving layup and Hinrich gave the Bulls the lead with a jumper to make it 65-63 with 6:13 left.Team officials said Bogut is expected to need six weeks to recover before he can begin full rehabilitation.Bogut was having a breakout season before the injury, averaging 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. He averaged 21.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocks in three games against the Bulls this season.Former Bulls Coach Skiles started a small lineup with 6-foot-9 Kurt Thomas at center. The Bucks didn’t get off to a good start, trailing by 13 at the end of the first quarter. But they took the lead late in the second.Ilyasova gave the Bucks a lift with nine points off the bench in the second quarter. He scored six consecutive points for the Bucks and got them within 36-35 on a pair of free throws. Salmons gave the Bucks a 38-36 lead on a 3-pointer, then made two free throws to give Milwaukee a 42-36 lead at halftime.Milwaukee closed the half on an 11-0 run and outscored the Bulls 28-9 in the second quarter.After scoring 27 points in the first, the Bulls totaled 24 points in the second and third, including a season-low nine points in the second quarter. The Bulls trailed 60-51 at the end of three.Rose tried to attack the basket with the absence of Bogut, but didn’t get many open looks.

NOTES—James Johnson played after missing Saturday’s game against Charlotte because of soreness stemming from a partially torn plantar fascia in his right foot……Salmons played his first game in the United Center since being traded at the deadline……The Bulls had a video tribute for Scottie Pippen in the first quarter. Pippen, who won six NBA championships with the Bulls, was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday…..The Bulls host Cleveland Thursday….Toronto lost to the Cavs but still lead the Bulls by one game for the last playoff spot,the the Raptors hold the tiebreaker.