Rose leads Bulls over Bucks
Saturday, January 28, 2012
CHICAGO — Chicago's Derrick Rose scored a season-high 34 points to lead the Bulls to a 107-100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, maintaining its lead in the NBA standings.
Rose outdueled Milwaukee counterpart Brandon Jennings, hitting 14 of 24 from the floor.
Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds as Chicago bounced back from its first home loss of the season against Indiana.
Jennings led Milwaukee with 25 points and seven rebounds.
The Bucks played without center Andrew Bogut, who fractured his left ankle on Wednesday. The Bucks are now 0-6 without the Australian this season.
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MAVERICKS 116, JAZZ 101
In Dallas, Roddy Beaubois scored 22 points in his first start of the season to lead Dallas over Utah.
Lamar Odom added 19 points, his most since joining the Mavericks at the start of the season. He has been struggling since his departure from the Los Angeles Lakers, but he made three 3-pointers and was 7 for 12 from the floor to help the Mavs to a season-high for points.
Odom has been starting in place of the team's top scorer, Dirk Nowitzki, sidelined for a fourth straight game while he improves his conditioning and gets treatment for a sore right knee.
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THUNDER 120, WARRIORS 109
In Oakland, Oklahoma City began a crucial sequence of road games with a victory over Golden State.
Kevin Durant had 37 points and 14 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook dazzled with 28 points and 11 assists for the Thunder, who notched their fourth straight win.
Oklahoma City pulled away with a 14-3 run late in the fourth quarter to successfully begin a string of nine of 11 away from home.
Dorell Wright scored 23 for the Warriors, who pushed another one of the NBA's elite to the brink. While Golden State already topped Miami, Chicago and Orlando this season, it came up short this time.
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HEAT 99, KNICKS 89
In Miami, LeBron James scored 31 points to lead Miami over a 3-pointer-obsessed New York.
Dwyane Wade scored 28 in his return from a sprained right ankle as Miami tuned up nicely for Sunday's game against Chicago — a reprise of last season's Eastern Conference finals.
Bill Walker scored 21 points for New York, which took 43 shots from 3-point range, the most in the NBA this season and a total that had the Knicks flirting with Dallas' NBA record of 49 set in 1996. The Knicks connected on 18 from beyond the arc, Walker making seven of them.
New York actually tried more 3's than 2-point shots (41).
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TIMBERWOLVES 87, SPURS 79
In Minneapolis, Ricky Rubio scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and dished out 10 assists to lift Minnesota to victory over San Antonio.
Kevin Love had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Wolves, who have beaten the Spurs in the opening two clashes of the season for the first time since 2000.
Tony Parker scored 20 points to lead San Antonio, which was held to 20.5 points below its season average.
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CELTICS 94, PACERS 87
In Boston, Paul Pierce scored 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter, hitting a 3-pointer and two more baskets as the Celtics ran off 11 consecutive points to pull away and beat Indiana.
Pierce added 10 rebounds and eight assists to help Boston win its fourth consecutive game despite playing without starters Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Jermaine O'Neal. Kevin Garnett and Mickael Pietrus added 13 points and eight rebounds apiece as the Celtics matched their longest winning streak of the year.
Danny Granger scored 21 points for the Pacers, which had beaten Boston twice this season — both times by more than 10 points.
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NUGGETS 96, RAPTORS 81
In Denver, Rudy Fernandez scored a season-high 23 in his return from a sore Achilles tendon as Denver beat undermanned Toronto.
Danilo Gallinari added 21 points for the Nuggets in their sixth straight win. They capitalized on a Toronto lineup that was missing leading scorer Andrea Bargnani, out indefinitely after aggravating a strained calf.
The Raptors took a while to adjust to his absence, and by the time they did, it was too late as they fell to 0-7 in games Bargnani has been sidelined.
They missed 14 of their first 15 shots, fell behind 16-2, scored just a dozen points in the first quarter and trudged off the court at halftime trailing 54-32.
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HAWKS 107, PISTONS 101, OT
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Joe Johnson scored 28 of his 30 points after halftime, including a tying 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in regulation, and Atlanta went on to beat Detroit.
Atlanta forced overtime with a pair of late 3-pointers. Marvin Williams made one with 33.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three, then Johnson stole a pass inside and brought the ball up the court, sinking a tough 3 to tie the game.
The Hawks started the extra session with a 12-2 run.
Greg Monroe scored 22 points to lead the Pistons.
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TRAIL BLAZERS 109, SUNS 71
In Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge had 23 points and seven rebounds and the Trail Blazers blew out the Suns for their sixth straight win at home.
Gerald Wallace added 17 points for the Blazers.
Grant Hill had 12 points for Phoenix, which was held to a season-low in scoring.
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76ERS 89, BOBCATS 72
In Philadelphia, Lou Williams scored 17 points in Philadelphia's win over Charlotte.
Jrue Holiday had 15 for the Sixers, who bounced back from a rare home loss and still haven't lost successive games all season.
The Bobcats scored only 10 points in the first quarter and lost their seventh straight game. Kemba Walker scored 14 points.
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HORNETS 93, MAGIC 67
In New Orleans, the hosts snapped a nine-game losing streak with a victory over Orlando.
Carl Landry scored 17 points and Marco Belinelli added 15 points for New Orleans.
Dwight Howard had 28 points and 16 rebounds, but was the only player in double figures for the Magic, who appeared to be still reeling from blowing a 27-point lead in a loss to Boston a night earlier. Starting with the third quarter against the Celtics, the Magic have now gone six straight quarters without scoring 20 points in any of them.
Orlando shot only 39 percent (24 of 61).
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NETS 99, CAVALIERS 96
In Cleveland, Deron Williams scored 27 points and the New Jersey Nets won consecutive games for the first time this season with a victory over Cleveland.
New Jersey came into the game battling illness and injuries. Forward Kris Humphries missed Friday morning's shoot-around with the stomach illness, but was in the starting lineup and scored 18 points with 11 rebounds in 33 minutes. The Nets played without center Mehmet Okur (back injury) and guard MarShon Brooks (strained Achilles), but New Jersey led from the start despite dressing only 10 players.
Rookie point guard Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 32 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, for Cleveland, which has lost five of six.
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ROCKETS 103, WIZARDS 76
In Houston, Chase Budinger scored a season-high 21 points to help Houston blow out Washington.
Luis Scola added 19 points for the Rockets, who scored 41 points off Washington's season-worst 24 turnovers. The win came despite leading scorer Kevin Martin sitting out with plantar fasciitis on his right foot.
The Wizards had 10 turnovers in the last 18 minutes, helping Houston outscore them 46-21 over that span to win for the eighth time in nine games.
John Wall had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Washington. (AP)
