CHICAGO -- Guard Aaron Brooks scored 23 points off the bench, and the Chicago Bulls rallied for a 91-85 win against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

Guard Jimmy Butler added 21 points for the Bulls, who erased an 18-point deficit in the second half. Chicago (50-32) secured the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, where they will face the sixth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

Guard Dennis Schroder led Atlanta with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting. The loss did not affect the playoff picture for the Hawks (60-22), who set a franchise record for regular-season wins and secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference on March 27.

Bulls guard Derrick Rose struggled in his fifth game back from a right knee injury that sidelined him for 20 games from late February to early April. He scored two points in 10 minutes during the first half before watching the second half from the bench.

The Bulls trailed by as many as 18 points early in the third quarter before rallying to slice the deficit to 72-70 entering the fourth. Brooks fueled the comeback with nine points in the quarter, which started with an 11-0 run by the Hawks and ended with a 28-12 run by Chicago.

Atlanta led 49-42 at halftime after closing the second quarter on a 14-4 run. Schroder sparked the Hawks with 14 points off the bench in the first half, including a running layup with 1.9 seconds remaining to extend the lead to seven.

Center Al Horford scored 10 of Atlanta's first 14 points to help the Hawks grab a 22-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Bulls did not score for the first 3:15 but finished the quarter on a 13-6 run.

Bulls forward Taj Gibson left because of a shoulder injury in the third quarter and did not return.

NOTES: Bulls C Joakim Noah sat out because of tendinitis in his left hamstring, but he is expected to be available for the start of the playoffs. Noah missed 15 games during the regular season, during which he averaged 7.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. ... Hawks F Paul Millsap returned to the lineup after missing the previous five games because of a shoulder injury. ... Bulls G Kirk Hinrich did not play because of a hyperextended left knee. Hinrich, 34, averaged 5.7 points and 2.2 assists in 66 games. ... Hawks F Mike Scott (back contusion) and G/F Thabo Sefolosha (fractured right fibula) did not play. ... Bulls C Nazr Mohammed appeared in his 1,000th career game. The 16-year veteran is the 115th player in NBA history to reach the milestone.