Bulls end Celtics’ 9-game win streak
The Chicago Bulls, led by 28 points from DeMar DeRozan, ended the Boston Celtics’ nine-game NBA winning streak with a 121107 victory on Monday.
Zach LaVine, who was frustrated to be pulled from the waning minutes of the Bulls’ loss to Orlando on Friday, scored 22 points.
Nikola Vucevic added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Chicago, who had also beaten the Celtics at home in October but fell to them in Boston on Nov 4 in the game that launched the Celtics’ streak.
At 13-4, the Celtics still own the best record in the NBA. Down by as many as 21 in the third quarter, Boston twice pulled within eight in the fourth quarter.
They were down by 10 with 4:49 minutes to play, but LaVine drained a three-pointer and DeRozan passed to Alex Caruso for a reverse lay-up that pushed the Bulls’ lead to 116-101 with less than three minutes to go and Chicago ended a four-game skid.
“There’s a sense of urgency when you lose a game,” LaVine said.
“We all have that sense of urgency, individually and collectively as a team. You need to have that. You need to be a desperate team when you go out and play and get those wins.”
Jayson Tatum, scored 28 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and handed out seven assists in the defeat. Jaylen Brown added 25 points and seven rebounds for Boston.
It was a humbling night in New Orleans for the reigning NBA champions Golden State Warriors.
One day after grabbing their first road win of the season at Houston, the Warriors — with their top stars sitting out — crashed to a 128-83 defeat.
Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins all sat out.
Kevon Looney was the only regular starter in the Warriors line-up and the Pelicans, led by 35 points from Brandon Ingram, took full advantage of 27 Golden State turnovers.
The Los Angeles Clippers, fuelled by 30 points from reserve forward Norman Powell, held off the Western Conference leading Utah Jazz down the stretch for a 121-114 victory.
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points to lead the Bucks to a 119111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, who were without star Damian Lillard because of a calf strain.
In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and Darius Garland added 26 as the Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks 114-102.
Cedi Osman added 24 points off the bench and the Cavs drained 10 three-pointers as they gained a little payback for their loss to the Hawks in last season’s play-in tournament.
RESULTS (home team in CAPS)
CLEVELAND 114 Atlanta 102; INDIANA 123 Orlando 102; CHICAGO 121 Boston 107; New York 129 OKLAHOMA CITY 119; NEW ORLEANS 128 Golden State 83; MILWAUKEE 119 Portland 111; MINNESOTA 105 Miami 101; LA CLIPPERS 121 Utah 114