Mirotic Leads Bulls, NBA Roundup

CHICAGO -- With his play on the court, Nikola Mirotic is demanding significant playing time even after injured big man Taj Gibson returns to action. Off the court, though, Mirotic's minutes are of little concern to him right now.

"My role? I don't know," the Chicago Bulls' rookie forward said. "If I play 10 minutes, I don't care. When I'm on the court, I'll try and play good defense and good offense and try to help the team."

Mirotic scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half, Mike Dunleavy added 21 points and Pau Gasol had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the short-handed Bulls to a 103-86 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. Mirotic, who played 31 minutes off the bench, entered averaging 20.3 points in nine games in March. His previous best scoring month was the 9.9 points he averaged in December. Gasol believes those numbers warrant a bigger role for Mirotic.

"For sure, for sure," Gasol said. "Once we get everyone back -- and hopefully we stay healthy -- the coaching staff has to figure how to make sure they take advantage of the players that are playing at a high level now.

"It's great to see young players prove their value and prove their talent and help us get wins."

The Bulls (41-28) snapped a two-game losing streak despite playing without injured starters Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler and Gibson. Solomon Hill had 13 points to lead six players in double figures for Indiana (30-37).

Cavaliers 117, Nets 92

Cavaliers coach David Blatt had seen enough, more than enough. After his team's sixth turnover in the game's first minutes, a disgusted Blatt called timeout and gave his players some very specific instructions.

"Stop turning the ball over," he told them.

The Cavs listened and then lit up the Nets. J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov scored 17 points apiece, Kyrie Irving had 10 assists and the Cavaliers shook off the sluggish, sloppy start to win their 14th straight home game, 117-92 over Brooklyn on Wednesday night.

76ers 94, Pistons 83

The lowly 76ers have been so good against Detroit, they didn't even need their most talented player down the stretch. Ish Smith scored 15 points to pace a balanced offense, and the 76ers won for the third time in six games with a 94-83 victory over the Pistons on Wednesday night. Philadelphia rookie big man Nerlens Noel departed with 4 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third quarter with a bruised right foot and didn't return. Noel, who sat out all of last season with a left knee injury, finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

Wednesday, March 18 Scoreboard

Cleveland 117, Brooklyn 92

Philadelphia 94, Detroit 83

Miami 108, Portland 104

Toronto 105, Minnesota 100

Chicago 103, Indiana 86    Mirotic

San Antonio 114, Milwaukee 103

Oklahoma City 122, Boston 118

Dallas 107, Orlando 102    Nowitzki

LA Clippers 116, Sacramento 105

Golden State 114, Atlanta 95

Washington 88, Utah 84

Thursday, March 19 Schedule (All Times Central)

Minnesota at New York, 6:30 p.m.

Denver at Houston, 7 p.m.

New Orleans at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Utah at LA Lakers, 9:30 p.m.