Rose and Butler lead Bulls’ late surge past the Raptors…
The Chicago Bulls used a 49-point fourth quarter to bury Eastern Conference rivals the Toronto Raptors on Monday night while the San Antonio Spurs got back to winning ways.
Derrick Rose scored 29 points, Jimmy Butler added 27 and 11 rebounds as the Bulls snapped the Raptors’ six-game winning streak with a franchise-record 49 points in the fourth quarter.
Chicago have now won three straight and got back a full roster in time to face their rivals in the East, as Kyle Lowry (34 points) and Jonas Valanciunas (20 points) were unable to do enough down the stretch to avoid a second defeat to the Bulls so far this season.
Nikola Mirotic added 12 points while Aaron Brooks had 17 points off the bench as coach Tom Thibodeau continues to get good production off his reserves, but he will have been delighted with the way that Rose in particular took over in the fourth and showed positive signs in his play.
Over in the Western Conference, Tony Parker returned from injury to score 26 points to lead the Spurs past the Los Angeles Clippers.
Tim Duncan added 21 points and 12 rebounds while Chris Paul had 25 points and nine rebounds for the visitors, but it was San Antonio (18-11) who came out on top with the Clippers now slipping to 19-9.
Staying in the West, the Golden State Warriors continued to dominate as they secured a comfortable 20-point win over the Sacramento Kings.
Klay Thompson had 25 points but all 13 active players scored including six players in double digits while the reserves had a season-high 62 points off the bench.
The Warriors stretched its NBA-best record to 23-3, with Stephen Curry putting up 12 points and 11 assists as he was able to rest through most of the fourth quarter.
In Houston, the Rockets buried the Portland Trail Blazers behind 44 points from James Harden as the visitors were missing LaMarcus Aldridge.
Damian Lillard led Portland with 18 points while CJ McCollum had 17, but it wasn’t enough to avoid defeat which leaves them at 22-7 for the season, while Houston improve to 20-7.
Arguably the shock of the night came in Dallas as the Mavericks fell to defeat against the Atlanta Hawks with Paul Millsap filling the stat sheet with 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists while Dennis Schroder scored a career-high 22 points.
Rajon Rondo had 13 points, four rebounds and 11 assists for the hosts, but it wasn’t enough as Atlanta made it four straight wins and have now won 13 of their past 14 games.
NBA Results
Denver Nuggets 82-110 Charlotte Hornets
Toronto Raptors 120-129 Chicago Bulls
Portland Trail Blazers 95-110 Houston Rockets
Utah Jazz 97-91 Memphis Grizzlies
Atlanta Hawks 105-102 Dallas Mavericks
Los Angeles Clippers 118-125 San Antonio Spurs
Sacramento Kings 108-128 Golden State Warriors
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