Chicago pulls away, tops hapless Philly
BULLS 111, 76ERS 88
PHILADELPHIA — Jimmy Butler stuck a Sharpie inside a media scrum, using the marker as an imaginary recorder to pick up sound bites from teammate Doug McDermott.
Butler could have used the Sharpie to mark a W on the schedule before the opening tip.
Playing the winless Philadelphia 76ers is about as automatic a win as a team gets these days — this decade, really — in the NBA.
Nikola Mirotic had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Pau Gasol scored 16 points to lead the Chicago Bulls past Philadelphia 111- 88 on Monday night.
The Bulls played without Joakim Noah and still cruised to a 15- point lead in the first quarter that they eventually stretched to 26. McDermott scored 18 points, Derrick Rose had 12.
“We needed something like this,” McDermott said. “We’ve had a couple of good practices but it’s good to play against someone else.”
The Bulls might have had tougher competition in an intrasquad scrimmage.
Philadelphia ( 0- 7) has lost 17 consecutive games dating to March 27. That matches the fourth- longest mark in franchise history, and three of those streaks have come since the start of the 2013- 2014 season.
The Sixers matched an NBA record with 26 consecutive losses from Jan. 31, 2014, to March 27, 2014, and also lost 17 in a row from Oct. 29, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2014.
“The reality is, we’ve had a lot of practice at this the last two years,” third- year coach Brett Brown said.
The Sixers’ last victory was March 25 against Denver.
Led by Gasol and Rose, the Bulls went on a 22- 4 run in the first quarter to race to a 15- point lead, only to lose it in the second quarter. The Bulls are the latest team to cruise to a big lead early, then appear to lose interest and cough it up, only to wake up and step on the gas and put away the game.
Mirotic, starting for Noah, hit 3 three- pointers in the third quarter.
Jahlil Okafor continued to serve as a lone bright spot for the Sixers, shaking off a 2- for10 start from the floor to finish 9 of 25 with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Without Noah around to help out Gasol, Okafor shot 6 of 9 in the third and scored 14 points.
“He’s good in the locker room, he’s good on the bench,” Brown said. “He continues to work.”
PACERS 97, MAGIC 84
INDIANAPOLIS — Paul George made a pivotal go- ahead basket late and finished with 27 points to lead Indiana over Orlando.
George’s three- pointer with 5: 51 remaining gave the Pacers an 83- 81 lead. Indiana used a 17- 3 fourth quarter run to take the lead and pull away for its fourth victory in five games.
After George’s basket, Chase Budinger made a three- pointer and George Hill drove to the basket to make it 88- 81. Hill finished with 23 points and seven rebounds,
Evan Fournier had 21 points and Victor Oladipo added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Magic.
Orlando had 21 turnovers, including four during Indiana’s big run that ended with a three- pointer by Hill to make it 9584 with 1: 22 left.
TIMBERWOLVES 117, HAWKS 107
ATLANTA — Andrew Wiggins tied a career high with 33 points, Karl- Anthony Towns added 17 and Minnesota blew a 34- point lead before snapping Atlanta’s seven- game winning streak.
Atlanta never led until Paul Millsap’s runner with 3: 26 remaining made it 107106, but Wiggins scored the next seven points to prevent one of the biggest collapses in NBA history.
Jeff Teague finished with 24 points and Millsap had 22 for the Hawks.
The Timberwolves avoided what would have been the franchise’s biggest blown lead in a loss. They led by 29 before falling to Dallas on Dec. 30, 2008.
It marked the first time in Wiggins’ two- year career that he’s had consecutive 30- point games. His three- pointer early in the third made it 81- 47.
NUGGETS 108, TRAIL BLAZERS 104
DENVER — J. J. Hickson scored 19 points and rookie Emmanuel Mudiay hit two game- sealing free throws with 18.3 seconds remaining, helping Denver beat Portland.
Mudiay finished with 18 points and Kenneth Faried added 17 — and drew a key late charge — as the Nuggets ended an eight- game skid to the Trail Blazers.
Hickson came up big down the stretch, hitting four free throws in the final 1: 49 to keep the Blazers at bay.
With Denver up 106- 104, Mudiay made two free throws. He then blocked Damian Lillard’s layup to close out Denver’s first victory at home this season.
Lillard led Portland with 30 points. Backcourt mate CJ McCollum had a rough shooting night early, but scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Blazers in the game.