Bulls Offense Has Exploded, Win Seventh Straight

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Published on December 21 2017 6:22 am
Last Updated on December 21 2017 6:22 am

By ESPN

The Chicago Bulls' offense has exploded with Nikola Mirotic back in the lineup.

Denzel Valentine had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Mirotic had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the Bulls beat the Orlando Magic 112-94 on Wednesday night for their seventh straight win.

Chicago had lost 10 straight without Mirotic prior to his return from a facial fracture Dec. 8 and hasn't lost since to improve to 10-20. Behind a season-high 31 assists, the Bulls matched their longest winning streak in three years and sent Orlando to a sixth straight loss.

Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points for the Magic.

"We're improving the communication we didn't have before," said Mirotic, who missed the start of the season after teammate Bobby Portis punched him in October.

"Offensively playing finally the way we have to play, scoring a lot of points and sharing the ball, especially on fast breaks. It's been a lot of fun."

The excitement began early for Chicago, which started on a 12-0 run. Facing the league's fourth-worst scoring defense, the Bulls' strong ball movement resulted in easy looks inside and out, and the team had assists on 10 of its first 15 shots.

Robin Lopez connected on his first four attempts for a team averaging 111.1 points per contest since Mirotic returned to the lineup -- up from 95.7 points in 23 games without the forward.

Chicago took a 30-point lead with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter -- its largest advantage of the season.

"The start was key," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "I was really pleased with the way the guys came out of the gate.

"But the thing that pleases you most is the unselfishness."

Chicago had six players score in double figures, including Kris Dunn with 15 points and Portis with 14.

Injury-riddled Orlando, which played without leading scorers Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon, struggled to keep pace. The Magic shot only 39 percent, including 5-of-27 on 3-point tries, en route to their 17th loss in 20 games.

"We've got to play really above ourselves right now to get a win," Orlando coach Frank Vogel said. "We didn't play a great basketball game and the result is what it is."

TIP-INS

Magic: Fournier and Gordon were out of action yet again. Each is tied for the team lead with an 18.3-point per game average. Fournier missed his sixth straight game with a sprained right ankle while Gordon didn't play for the fourth time in five contests because of a right calf strain. Guard Terrance Ross missed a 10th straight game due to a sprained right knee.

Bulls: Guard Zach LaVine, who is rehabbing from a February surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, has been held out of several practices due to back spasms but should return soon. "Zach's doing great," Hoiberg said. "He's back to really feeling good again and, hopefully, we'll get him back on the practice court whenever our next practice is."

Pacers 105, Hawks 95

Victor Oladipo didn't quite approach 40 points this time. He didn't have to.

Oladipo scored 23 points to lead the Indiana Pacers over the Atlanta Hawks 105-95 Wednesday night, two days after scoring 38 points in a loss to Boston.

Oladipo made 8 of 15 shots Wednesday, including 3 of 5 3-pointers, and Indiana built a 20-point fourth-quarter lead before the Hawks scored the final 10 points.

Oladipo, acquired in an offseason trade that sent Indiana star Paul George to the Thunder, is averaging career highs in points (24.8) and 3-point shooting percentage (43.2). And yet, he said defense was the key against Atlanta.

"That was the difference. Now, we just have to learn how to do that for 48 minutes," he said. "I think defensively we turned it up and that's the reason why we did so well down the stretch."

Indiana led just 53-51 at halftime.

The Pacers mucked up the motion offense of Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer, whose team made just 16 of 41 shots in the second half.

The Hawks have yet to win consecutive games his season, and they were done in by their starters, who were outscored 77-49.

Atlanta's reserves outscored Indiana's subs 46-28 with rookie reserve center/forward John Collins leading the way with 18 points and nine rebounds. Marco Belinelli pitched in 13 points.

"We came out of the gate with a lot of energy, played hard, played fast, played the way Coach wanted us to play," Collins said. "Then, in the second half we kind of (slowed) down a little bit, kind of let off the gas."

The Pacers gradually grew their lead through the second half, peaking when young center Myles Turner (20 points, six rebounds) hit a 3-pointer for a 105-85 edge with 2:55 left.

Pacers coach Nate McMillan was pleased with his team's offense most of the night, especially after forward Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 points. He'd rather not wait on defense.

"We've gotten off to somewhat of a slow start defensively," McMillan said. "We don't need to pace ourselves. It seems like at times we're pacing ourselves. ... We want to try to get away from these slow starts."


Wednesday, December 20 Scoreboard

Toronto 129, Charlotte 111

Indiana 105,  Atlanta 95

Miami 90, Boston 89

Sacramento 104, Brooklyn 99

Chicago 112, Orlando 94

Los  Angeles Lakers 122, Houston 116

Oklahoma City 107, Utah 79

Dallas 110, Detroit 93

Minnesota 112, Denver 104

San  Antonio 93, Portland 91

Golden State 97, Memphis 84

Los Angeles Clippers 108, Phoenix 85


Thursday, December 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago at Cleveland, 6 p.m.

Toronto at Philadephia, 6 p.m.

Boston at New York, 7 p.m.

Memphis at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

San  Antonio at Utah, 9:30 p.m.


Friday,  December 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York at Detroit, 6 p.m.

New Orleans at Orlando, 6 p.m.

Washington at Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m.

Dallas at Miami, 7 p.m.

Los  Angeles Clipeprs at Houston, 7 p.m.

Charlotte at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

Atlanta at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

Denver at Portland, 9 p.m.

Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State, 9:30 p.m.


Saturday, December 23 Schedule (All Times Central)

Philadelphia at Toronto, 4 p.m.

Milwaukee at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Brooklyn at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Orlando at Washington, 6 p.m.

Dallas at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.

Chicago at Boston, 6:30 p.m.

New Orleans at Miami, 7 p.m.

Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis, 7 p.m.

Oklahoma  City at Utah, 7 p.m.

Denver at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.

Minnesota at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Portland at Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 p.m.

San  Antonio at Sacramento, 9 p.m.


Sunday, December 24

No games scheduled


Monday, December 25 Schedule (All Times Central)

Philadephia at New York, 11 a.m.

Cleveland at Golden State, 2 p.m.

Washington at Boston, 4:30 p.m.

Houston at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

Minnesota at Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30 p.m.


Tuesday, December 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

Indiana at Detroit, 6 p.m.

Toronto at Dallas, 6 p.m.

Orlando at Miami, 6:30 p.m.

Chicago at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

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

Utah at Denver, 8 p.m.

Memphis at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

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