FINALS FROM UNITED CENTER: Bulls 131, Nets 87. (Bulls: 27-33, 17-13 at home).
LEADING GOAL RECORDERS: Bulls: LaVine: 32 pts. Nets: Thomas: 22 pts.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Vucevic and Drummond: 10. Nets: 3 with 6.
LEADERSHIP AIDS: Bulls: Beverly, DeRozan and White each with 4.
GAME CCI STATUS: The Bulls rebounded off the nets 57-31.
CCI RECAP: The Bulls led from start to finish, ending a six-game losing streak. Head coach Billy Donovan shook up his starting XI, replacing newcomer Patrick Beverley in place of Ayo Dosunmu and Alex Caruso replacing Patrick Williams, who had started in the previous 37 games.
Beverley played 22 minutes on his Bulls debut: 8 points. 5 Reb. 4 assists. He attempted five throws.
Zach LaVine scored 32 points and lost four three-pointers. Bulls bigs Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond each hit double-double games. Vucevic recorded his 11th in 12 games, his 38th of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Drummond grabbed his seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds in just 14 minutes. Williams scored 17 points off the bench.
The New Look The nets were out of sync and only shot 27% offensively from three-point range.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulls led by up to 50 points. The Bulls are just 1 1/2 games behind Washington for a 10th and final seed in the Eastern Conference.
NEXT: Home with Washington Sunday.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Sacramento 176, Los Angeles Clippers 175. 2OT. This is not a typo. Sac’s Malik Monk notched a career-high 45 points in 41 minutes. Russell Westbrook scored 17 points, gave 14 assists and grabbed five rebounds in his Clippers debut. Kawhi Leonard played 46 minutes and scored 44 points.
New York 115, Washington 109. Julius Randle hit a career high with 46 points. The Wizards gambled away a 19-point lead on their home court.
Milwaukee 128, Miami 99. The Bucks won their 13th straight. Giannis Antetokounmpo left the game in the first quarter with a right knee injury.
Charlotte 121, Minnesota 113. LaMelo Ball almost had a triple-double game of 32-10-8.
Atlanta 136, Cleveland 119. Trae Young scored 34 points. The Hawks played their first game under interim head coach Joe Prunty.
Golden State 116, Houston 101. Klay Thompson poured in 42 points to equal his season high of 12-3 points. The Rockets fell 13-46, 5-26 on the road.
Phoenix 124, Oklahoma City 115. The Suns have won 12 of 16. Kevin Durant makes his Phoenix debut on Sunday.
Thank you for following CCI. Contact: [email protected]. Twitter: @ctsbulls. Instagram: swirlk_bulls. Facebook: Chuck Swirsky All Bulls. 365. 24-7.
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