Butler lifts Bulls past Cavaliers

Jimmy Butler scored 26 points, Dwyane Wade had 24 and the Bulls beat LeBron James and the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers, 111-105, last night in Chicago.

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 78-60 in the paint and came out on top despite shooting just 3-of-18 on 3-pointers.

Knicks 118, Timberwolves 114 — Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points, Derrick Rose had 24 and Kyle O’Quinn added 20 points and 13 rebounds as host New York defeated Minnesota.

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

Clippers 114, Pelicans 96 — Blake Griffin had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists, and visiting Los Angeles beat New Orleans.

Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and Luc Mbah a Moute had 15 for Los Angeles, which capped a 10-day, six-game trip with victories on back-to-back nights.

Pistons 121, Hawks 85 — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 23 points, Tobias Harris added 18 and visiting Detroit beat reeling Atlanta.

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

Magic 105, 76ers 88 — Aaron Gordon scored a seasonhigh 20 points, Nikola Vuvevic had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and Orlando cruised by host Philadelphia in a matchup of slumping Eastern Conference teams.

Raptors 113, Lakers 80 — Kyle Lowry had 24 points and seven assists and host Toronto rolled past Los Angeles for its fifth straight victory.

The Toronto point guard tied his season high for 3-pointers, going 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Spurs 107, Wizards 105 — Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points, including the winning jumper with 6 seconds left, and host San Antonio overcame another sluggish start at home and beat Washington.

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.

Rockets 128, Nuggets 110 — James Harden scored 20 points and Houston led from start to finish in winning at Denver.

Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson had 18 points each and Sam Dekkar added 17 points for Houston, which completed an impressive road back-to-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 fell to 3-7 this season at home, the high-altitude venue they once routinely dominated.