Bulls hand Cavaliers third straight defeat

Raptors beat Lakers; Clippers down Pelicans

CHICAGO, Dec 3, (AP): Jimmy Butler scored 26 points, Dwyane Wade had 24 and the Chicago Bulls beat LeBron James and the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers 111-105 on Friday night.

Taj Gibson added a season-high 23 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago. Rajon Rondo had 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds as the balanced Bulls handed the Cavaliers their third straight loss.

James showed up in a Cubs uniform to honor a World Series bet with his buddy Wade, then scored 27 points. Kyrie Irving added 20 points and eight assists, but the Cavaliers matched their longest losing streak in a year.

Chicago dominated Cleveland 7860 in the paint and came out on top despite hitting shooting 3 of 18 on 3-pointers.

The Bulls used a strong third quarter to turn a one-point halftime deficit into an 88-80 lead. And they withstood several pushes in the fourth to knock off the defending NBA champions.

In New York, Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points, Derrick Rose had 24 and Kyle O’Quinn added 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Knicks defeated the Timberwolves.

Zach LaVine scored 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 for the Timberwolves.

Despite trailing 98-88 after three quarters, the Timberwolves went on a 12-2 run to start the fourth, aided by five Knick turnovers in the first four minutes, and took their first lead of the game, 102-101, on LaVine’s dunk with 6:33 remaining.

O’Quinn got the Knicks’ lead back with consecutive baskets, and after Minnesota got within one, Rose scored the next five points to give New York a 110-104 lead.

In Denver, James Harden scored 20 points and the Rockets led from start to finish in beating the Nuggets.

Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson had 18 points each and Sam Dekkar added 17 points for Houston, which completed an impressive road backto-back sweep that began with its 132-127 win over Golden State in double overtime on Thursday.

Wilson Chandler had 24 points to lead the Nuggets, who saw their three-game winning streak against the Rockets come to an end. The Nuggets have lost four of their last five and fell to 3-7 this season at home, the high-altitude venue they once routinely dominated.

Up by 10 points at halftime, the Rockets took a 99-84 lead into the fourth quarter and kept the pressure on the rest of the way as part of a sharpshooting display that included converting 17 of 37 3-point attempts against a listless Nuggets defense.

Butler

In Boston, Al Horford scored 26 points and blocked six shots, Isaiah Thomas scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and the Celtics held off the Kings.

Jae Crowder added 24 points and Avery Bradley had 15 points and nine assists for Boston, which needed a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull away and finish off the Kings.

Sacramento outrebounded Boston 51-44, but hurt itself in the final period with turnovers, missed shots and a technical foul called on Matt Barnes as Boston surged ahead.

In Philadelphia, Aaron Gordon scored a season-high 20 points, Nikola Vuvevic had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and the Magic cruised by the 76ers in a matchup of slumping Eastern Conference teams.

Serge Ibaka, Evan Fournier and Jeff Green all added 16 points for the Magic (8-12), who had lost five of six coming in. Bismack Biyombo had 13 rebounds.

The Sixers (4-15) lost their fifth straight despite 25 points and 10 rebounds from rookie Joel Embiid. It was his fifth double-double of the season.

Philadelphia 76ers’ Robert Covington (center left), goes up for a shot against Orlando Magic’s Bismack Biyombo during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Dec 2 in Philadelphia. (AP)

Jahlil Okafor, who saw extended action with Embiid for the first time this season, also had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

In Toronto, Kyle Lowry had 24 points and seven assists and the Raptors rolled past the Los Angeles Lakers for their fifth straight victory.

The Toronto point guard tied his season high for 3-pointers, going 6 of 9 from beyond the arc as the Raptors beat the Lakers for the fourth straight time with their biggest win of the season. The 33-point victory surpassed the 27-point win over Philadelphia on Oct. 28.

DeMar DeRozan and Norman Powell both added 16 points for Toronto.

Brandon Ingram had 17 points for the Lakers, while their bench, the top scoring unit in the NBA, chipped in with Jordan Clarkson’s 14 and former Raptor Lou Williams’ 13.

In Atlanta, Kentavious CaldwellPope scored 23 points, Tobias Harris added 18 and the Pistons beat the reeling Hawks.

The Pistons, who tied a team record with 17 3-pointers, have won five of six and are 3-1 on a trip that included stops at playoff contenders Oklahoma City, Charlotte and Boston.

Andre Drummond finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds and Ish Smith had 13 assists as seven players scored in double figures for Detroit.

The Hawks, losers in eight of their last nine games, were 9-2 and tied for the Eastern Conference lead after beating Milwaukee on Nov. 16. Now they are one-half game behind eighth-place Detroit and headed to play Toronto, the East’s second-best team, on Saturday.

In New Orleans, Blake Griffin had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists, and the Clippers beat the Pelicans.

Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and Luc Mbah a Moute had 15 for Los Angeles, which capped a 10day, six-game trip with victories on back-to-back nights on the shores of lakes Erie and Pontchartrain, having defeated Cleveland on Thursday night. Anthony Davis hurt his right shoulder but played through it, scoring 21 points for New Orleans.

In San Antonio, Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points, including the winning jumper with 6 seconds left, and the Spurs overcame another sluggish start at home to beat the Wizards.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points for San Antonio, which won its 17th straight home game against Washington.

Bradley Beal was 5 for 5 on 3-pointers in scoring 23 points for the Wizards.

Beal’s final 3 gave Washington a 103-102 lead with 53 seconds remaining. Danny Green’s 3-pointer, his first points of the night, put San Antonio ahead 105-103 with 19 seconds to go.