Bulls spoil Lue’s debut

CLEVELAND—Tyronn Lue didn't make much of a difference in his coaching debut for Cleveland as Pau Gasol scored 25 points, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 96-83 win over the Cavaliers on Saturday.

Lue was promoted Friday, when the Cavaliers fired David Blatt despite him taking the team to the NBA Finals last season and currently leading the Eastern Conference. The coaching swap didn't have any immediate impact on the Bulls, who outhustled the Cavs to loose balls and won for just the third time in nine games.

Jimmy Butler scored 20 points, Nikola Mirotic added 17 and Taj Gibson 15 for Chicago, which opened a 17-point lead in the third quarter and never let the Cavs get closer than eight in the fourth.

LeBron James just missed his first triple-double this season, finishing with 26 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. J.R. Smith added 18 points for the Cavs, who shot 37 percent from the field and were only 9 for 22 from the three-throw line.

When the final horn sounded, the Cavs were booed by their own fans.

Bothered by a lack of cohesion and chemistry in the Cavs, general manager David Griffin fired Blatt, a surprising move that came just days after Cleveland suffered a humiliating 34-point home loss to the defending champion Golden State Warriors. But Griffin detected deeper issues and felt he had no choice but to remove Blatt and promote Lue, a top assistant and former point guard who won two NBA titles as a player.

Lue said his early focus would be on his team's "spirit." He believes the Cavs aren't having as much fun as they should be and is intent on improving their attitude.

"You can't be mad when you win and you can't be mad when you lose," he said.

At Phoenix, Archie Goodwin hit a 3-pointer from atop the arc with 0.1 seconds left and the Phoenix Suns beat the Atlanta Hawks 98-95 to end a six-game losing streak.

Goodwin led the Suns with 24 points, and Phoenix won for the second time in 17 games.