NEW YORK — What better way to end the regular season than to treat the season finale like Game 7 of a playoff series?

While all other Eastern Conference games on the last day of the calendar resulted in blowout decisions, a Chicago Bulls team with nothing to gain and a Knicks team with something to lose needed an extra period to settle the score at Madison Square Garden early Sunday afternoon.

The Knicks came out victorious in overtime, 120-119, over the Bulls, showered by a chorus of applause from the fans for two distinct reasons.

With the win:

The Knicks secured the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed

And the Knicks secured their first 50-win season since Carmelo Anthony led the franchise in the 2012-13 season

Had the former No. 2-seeded Milwaukee Bucks defeated the No. 5 Orlando Magic on Sunday, the Bucks — who won the season series over the Knicks, 3-2 — would have tied the Knicks in the standings and held onto the No. 2 seed.

The Bucks, however, have been sitting two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf), and without The Greek Freak, Milwaukee ceded the No. 2 seed to New York with a 25-point loss to Orlando.

So No. 2 it is. The best finish to a season for the Knicks in over a decade.

Jalen Brunson recorded his seventh straight 30-point game and his 11th 40-point outing of the season with 40 points on 14-of-30 shooting and by going 11-of-12 shooting from the foul line. Donte DiVincenzo played all but 29 seconds out of 53 possible overtime minutes, and Brunson, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart each logged 40 or more minutes.

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