Bulls Having Fun Again . . . With Wins

By ESPN

Nikola Mirotic pounded his chest in celebration after a big play in the fourth quarter. Kris Dunn wagged his finger from side to side after one last stop closed it out.

The Chicago Bulls are having fun again and -- surprise, surprise -- winning, too.

Mirotic and Dunn each scored 22 points, and Chicago topped the Philadelphia 76ers 117-115 on Monday night for its sixth consecutive victory.

"These guys have made leaps and bounds from where we were as far as making plays down the stretch and going out and playing with confidence when it matters most," coach Fred Hoiberg said.

Mirotic and Dunn each hit huge shots as Chicago rallied past Philadelphia with a big finish in the fourth quarter. Mirotic also grabbed 13 rebounds, helping the Bulls remain unbeaten since he returned Dec. 8 after missing the start of the season with facial fractures due to a fight with teammate Bobby Portis during practice.

Seven players scored in double figures for Chicago (9-20), which dropped 10 in a row before its win streak. Justin Holiday scored all 20 of his points in the first half, and Portis finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"We're just trying to compete each and every game," Dunn said. "We know that eventually a loss will come, but right now we're just trying to ride on the streak."

Ben Simmons had 19 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Sixers, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. Dario Saric scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half.

"We've had too many times where we've gotten leads late in the game and we've given them up, so we've just got to learn how to finish," said Robert Covington, who had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Philadelphia played without Joel Embiid, who rested on the first night of back-to-back games for the Sixers. The 7-foot center, who scored 34 points in Friday night's triple-overtime loss to Oklahoma City, did not make the trip to Chicago.

Simmons and Saric helped Philadelphia get in position to stop Chicago's win streak in the fourth quarter, up 107-99 with 3:49 left. That's when the Bulls responded with one of the best stretches of their suddenly interesting season.

Lauri Markkanen made a 3-pointer, Mirotic blocked Saric's shot on the other end and Dunn made a tying 3-pointer with 2:46 left -- part of a 15-2 spurt for Chicago. Dunn's jumper made it 114-109 with 1:05 remaining.

"We went through a scoring drought," Dunn said. "We just needed to see the ball go in. Lauri, he's a good shooter. We just needed to see one go in, and it ignited that fire."

Simmons had a chance to tie it in the final seconds, but missed wildly and Mirotic grabbed the rebound.

"I knew I was going to take the shot," Simmons said. "Tried to get to the rim, draw a foul, but trying to get a foul in the final quarter of a game like that, you know it's going to be hard. It was a chance to win but it didn't happen."

Richaun Holmes had 14 points and seven rebounds for Philadelphia, which went 14 for 33 from 3-point range. J.J. Redick finished with 12 points.

OFF THE BENCH

David Nwaba put together another solid game for Chicago, scoring 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting. Nwaba, Mirotic and Portis helped the Bulls' reserves outscore their counterparts 49-43.

Celtics 112, Pacers 111

Boston's plan was simple: Foul quickly and send the Pacers to the free throw line.

But trailing by one with seconds ticking away, the Celtics didn't get the whistle they wanted.

Instead, they got the steal they needed.

Terry Rozier turned it into a go-ahead dunk with 1.5 seconds remaining that gave the Celtics a 112-111 victory over Indiana on Monday night.

Following an inbound pass with nine seconds left, Boston was attempting to trap Indiana's Bojan Bogdanovic along the sideline. With 4.3 seconds left, Bogdanovic, who would have almost certainly been fouled had he simply held onto the ball, threw a high pass intended for Victor Oladipo near midcourt but Rozier intercepted it and had an open court to his game-winning slam.

"Kyrie (Irving) and Marcus (Smart) had the first trap and Marcus was trying to yell to the referee, `I'm fouling, I'm fouling!' but they didn't call it. Then they threw the ball to Bogdanovic and he made the pass and I was able to get my hand on it," Rozier said. "As soon as I stole the ball I took a look at the clock and saw there were four seconds and I knew I had time."

Irving scored 30 points for Boston, which trailed 107-102 after Oladipo's basket with 31 seconds remaining. Irving made a pair of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds to keep the Celtics within striking distance.

"That was one hell of a game to be a part of," Irving said.

Al Horford had 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Celtics. Jayson Tatum added 16 points and Smart had 15.

Oladipo scored 12 of his 38 points in the final two minutes. With less than a minute remaining, Oladipo hit a 3-pointer that gave Indiana its first lead of the game and a layup that stretched the Pacers' lead to 107-102 with 31 seconds left.

Boston began the game with a dominant first quarter, making its first 10 shot attempts, jumping out to a 12-0 lead. The Celtics led by as many as 18 points in the first quarter and went into halftime leading 62-47.

The Pacers cut the deficit to single digits in the third quarter and rallied late in the fourth.

Darren Collison finished with 15 points and Domantas Sabonis scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

"It's a tough loss. It's a tough, tough loss," Oladipo said. "We've got to have a better start. It was just a crazy game. We dug ourselves the deepest hole you can imagine and again, fought our way back like clockwork, but we come up short again. We gave ourselves a chance and we competed with the best team in the Eastern Conference. We just have to continue to get better."

Monday, December 18 Scoreboard

Charlotte 109, New York 91

Boston 112,  Indiana 111

Atlanta 110, Miami 104

Chicago 117, Philadelphia 115

Houston 120, Utah 99

Minnesota 108, Portland 107

Oklahoma City 95, Denver 94

Phoenix 97, Dallas 91

San Antonio 109, Los Angeles Clippers 91

Golden State 116, Los Angeles Lakers 114 (OT)

Tuesday, December 19 Schedule (All Times Central)

Sacramento at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

New Orleans at Washington, 6 p.m.

Cleveland at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.