Lauri towers as Bulls bully Dallas

Los Angeles, Jan. 18: Lauri Markkanen scored a team-high 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls overcame a historic triple-double from Luka Doncic to beat the Dallas Mavericks 117-101 on Sunday.

Garrett Temple scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half as the Bulls snapped a four-game losing streak.

The Bulls shot 50 percent in the first half and led by 19 points at one stage, en route to a 67-52 lead heading into the third quarter.

Slovenian sensation Doncic finished with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists to record his 29th career triple-double to pass Michael Jordan and move into 15th spot on the alltime list.

Doncic shot 11-of-18 from the floor in the first half. He finished with six threepointers.

Doncic became only the fourth player in NBA history to record at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a game and the youngest to do so. Oscar Robertson did it five times.

The Bulls had six players in double-figure scoring as their bench outscored the Mavericks reserves 61-22. Chicago’s ball movement was outstanding and their defense compiled a seasonhigh 14 steals.

Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and eight rebounds for Dallas in his third game back since recovering from offseason surgery on his right knee.

Elsewhere, the New York Knicks snapped their fivegame NBA losing streak in emphatic style, holding the host Celtics to a season-low total in a 105-75 win.

Julius Randle scored 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and RJ Barrett added 19 points and 11 boards for the Knicks, who spoiled the season debut of Celtics All-Star guard Kemba Walker, absent from the first 11 games with a left-knee injury. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 25 points but his efforts went in vain.

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