LAVINE BARELY MISSES T-D; THUNDER, NETS TRIUMPH

CLEVELAND—ZACH Lavine fell just short of a perfect night on Saturday.

Lavine scored 44 points and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 118-106. The 6-foot-5 guard also finished with 10 rebounds and eight assists, barely missing his first career triple-double.

“I haven’t had one before, so when it got to the last two minutes, I was thinking maybe I could get those two assists,” Lavine said. “It’s all right. I’ll get one eventually.” Lavine did everything else. He made 16 of 30 shots and had 27 points at halftime. Lavine drove past his defender for clear looks at the basket, scored when he was double-teamed in the lane, hit five 3-pointers and was 7-of-8 from the line.

“Zach Lavine was just unbelievable—driving, shooting, making back-door cuts—he did it in every way,” Bulls coach Jim Boylen said.

Lavine scored 42 points on Jan. 20, including 21 in the fourth quarter when the Bulls rallied from a 15-point deficit to win. Cleveland, which has lost seven straight and 12 of 14, had no better success stopping Lavine this time.

“We’ve tried everything now,” Cavaliers coach John Beilein said. “He challenges people. None of it’s worked against Lavine.”

In Minneapolis, with veterans banged up, Oklahoma City’s young players are gaining valuable experience and learning how to win on the road.

Having Chris Paul around to stabilize things certainly helps, too.

Paul scored 25 points and hit timely shots to deflate Minnesota’s runs, and Dennis Schroder had a team-high 26 points off the bench to lead the Thunder to their fifth straight win, 113-104, over the slumping Timberwolves.

In Detroit, Kyrie Irving took over, scoring on an array of shots and even over a backboard that was simply in his way.

Irving scored 17 of his 45 points in the third quarter to overcome a double-digit deficit and the Brooklyn Nets went on to beat the Detroit Pistons, 121111, in overtime.

“It was about time,” Irving said.

The six-time All-star played in his sixth game after a 26game absence due to an injured right shoulder, which he was treating shortly after his sensational performance.

At one point during Irving’s scoring tear after halftime, he shot a floater over 6-foot-11 Andre Drummond and the backboard from the baseline.