Butler Leads Bulls Past Lakers, NBA Scores

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Published on November 21 2016 6:57 am
Last Updated on November 21 2016 6:57 am

By ESPN

Even when Dwyane Wade takes a night off to rest, Jimmy Butler gets the benefit of his new Chicago Bulls teammate's veteran experience.

Not that Butler needed a whole lot of help while he carved up the Los Angeles Lakers.

Butler scored a season-high 40 points and Isaiah Canaan added a season-high 17 in the Bulls' fifth victory in six games, 118-110 over the Lakers on Sunday night.

Nikola Mirotic had 15 points and 15 rebounds and the Bulls held off Los Angeles' late rally for their third win in four stops on their annual circus road trip. They also bounced back solidly after blowing a 19-point lead in a loss to the Clippers on Saturday night.

"It was a quick turnaround from last night to today, but I saw everybody working on their body and everybody watching the film," Butler said. "That's how it's supposed to be."

Chicago got a vintage game from Butler, its two-time All-Star and gold medal-winning Olympian. He destroyed a series of Los Angeles defenders with his usual flair, scoring inside and on the perimeter without hitting a 3-pointer.

"He was attacking all night," Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He told me before the game, `Coach, I'm going for 40 tonight,' and he did it."

Even on the second half of back-to-back road games, Chicago outrebounded the Lakers 56-37 -- including 16 offensive boards -- and constantly outhustled Los Angeles to loose balls.

The Bulls did it all without Wade, who rested for the first time this season. He scored 28 points on Saturday, but the Bulls are monitoring their 34-year-old guard's long-term health.

"Even though D-Wade is out, he's still helping me through this process and letting him know what I should be doing, helping me read the game," Butler said. "It's great to have him in my corner."

Lou Williams scored a season-high 25 points and Larry Nance Jr. had a career-high 18 for the Lakers (7-7).


Pacers 115, Thunder 111

Indiana coach Nate McMillan wrote an instruction on the white board in the Pacers' locker room Sunday: "Scrap."

Jeff Teague did just that, scoring eight of his 30 points in overtime, harassing Russell Westbrook defensively all night and lifting the short-handed Pacers to a 115-111 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It was Indiana's first road victory of the season and it came without star forward Paul George, who missed his second straight game with a sore left ankle.

"You've got to fight for everything," McMillan said. "I thought the guys tonight, we did that. We were without a couple of players, but the guys in uniform came out and played the game the right way. They played hard and we got our first road win."

Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook had his fifth triple-double of the season -- as many as the rest of the NBA combined -- with 31 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, but went 13 of 34 from the field. Westbrook calmly used an expletive to describe the way he played.

"We just wasn't ready," he said. "Just wasn't ready tonight, starting with myself. ... I could have did a lot of things better, man. Got to come out and be ready to play. Tonight I felt like I let my guys down all around. I've got to be better."

Teague matched his season scoring high and added nine assists and six steals. He hit two free throws with 4.6 seconds left in regulation to put the Pacers up three.

Westbrook hit a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left to tie it for the Thunder and Glenn Robinson III missed a well-guarded 10-footer at the buzzer, forcing overtime.

Teague's 3-pointer in the opening minute of overtime put the Pacers ahead for good. With 1:09 left, he converted a three-point play to make it 113-107, and he hit two free throws with 19.1 seconds left to put Indiana up 115-111. He said the Pacers weren't flustered after Westbrook's tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation and that McMillan told his team "just to go win the game.


Sunday, November 20 Scoreboard

New York 104, Atlanta 94

Portland 129, Brooklyn 109

Indiana 115, Oklahoma City 111 (OT)

Sacramento 102, Toronto 99

Denver 105, Utah 91

Chicago 118, Los Angeles Lakers 110

 

Monday, November 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

Miami at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Phoenix at Washington, 6 p.m.

Memphis at  Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Golden State at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Houston at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.

Orlando at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

Boston at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Dallas at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

Toronto at Los Angeles Clippers, 9:30 p.m.