National Basketball Association results | Thursday
Bulls 127, Pistons 105
DETROIT — DeMar DeRozan scored 39 points and the Chicago Bulls sent the Detroit Pistons to their franchise-record 67th loss of the season, 127-105 on Thursday night.
Detroit (13-67) broke the franchise mark set by the 1979-80 team, while Chicago (38-42) moved closer to wrapping up homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference play-in game against Atlanta.
Nikola Vucevic had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago, and Coby White had 18 points.
Jalen Duren had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Detroit, and Marcus Sasser scored 20 points. The Pistons have lost six straight and 14 of 15. They played without Cade Cunningham because of knee management.
Knicks 118, Celtics 109
BOSTON — Jalen Brunson scored 39 points in three quarters and the New York Knicks kept up their quest to finish with the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Boston Celtics 118-109 on Thursday night.
One day after clinching a playoff spot, the Knicks pulled within a game of the Milwaukee Bucks for second, with each team having two games remaining. New York would have to win both and have the Bucks lose their games at Oklahoma City and Orlando, because Milwaukee has the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Brunson shot 15 of 23 from the field and 6 of 11 from 3-point range. Backcourt mate Donte DiVincenzo had 17 points and Josh Hart finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds. New York also received a lift off the bench from its primary acquisition at the trade deadline, as Bojan Bogdanovic had 14 points.
Jazz 124, Rockets 121
SALT LAKE CITY — Luka Samanic scored a season-high 22 points to help the Utah Jazz snap a 13-game losing streak with a 124-121 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Keyonte George chipped in 20 points for the Jazz, who finished 21-20 at home this season. Brice Sensabaugh added 17 points and Talen Horton-Tucker had 16.
Fred VanVleet knocked down nine 3-pointers and scored a season-high 42 points for the Rockets, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. VanVleet was 9 for 13 from 3-point range while also tallying seven assists and seven rebounds.
Warriors 100, Trail Blazers 92
PORTLAND, Ore. — Stephen Curry had 22 points and the Golden State Warriors won their third straight with a 100-92 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points for the Warriors, who have won nine of their last 10. Golden State has already clinched a play-in spot but can potentially improve its playoff seeding in the final two games.
Deandre Ayton led Portland with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Scoot Henderson had 18 points and 12 assists. It was his eighth game this season with at least 10 assists, which leads all rookies.
The Trail Blazers, sitting in secondto-last in the Western Conference, have won just two of their last 15 games.
Pelicans 135, Kings 123
SACRAMENTO — CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson each scored 31 points and the New Orleans Pelicans beat Sacramento 135-123 on Thursday night to complete a five-game season sweep of the Kings.
McCollum tied a season high with nine 3-pointers in 12 attempts added seven assists to help the Pelicans improve their chances of avoiding the play-in tournament. They are sixth in the Western Conference, the final guaranteed playoff spot.