Chicago Bulls 99 Cleveland Cavaliers 93
CHICAGO – Nikola Mirotic tied season highs with 28 points and six 3-pointers. Jimmy Butler scored 25, and the Chicago Bulls (36-39) beat the Cavaliers (47-27) on Thursday. Rajon Rondo added 15 assists, Robin Lopez recorded a double-double (10 points and 11 rebounds), and the ninth-place Bulls moved within a game of Miami and Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings. LeBron James moved into seventh place on the NBA’s career scoring list. James passed Shaquille O’Neal, finishing with 26 points. That gave him 28,599 for his career — three more than O’Neal. But the big night by the four-time MVP couldn’t prevent the Cavaliers from matching a season high with their third straight loss. Kyrie Irving scored 20 points for the Cavaliers while Tristan Thompson added 15 points and nine rebounds.
Detriot Pistons 90 Brooklyn Nets 89
DETROIT – Marcus Morris had 28 points and 13 rebounds, and Ish Smith hit the go-ahead 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, helping the Detroit Pistons (35-41) beat the Brooklyn Nets (16-59) on Thursday night. Detroit, the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, continues to battle for a postseason berth. Sean Kilpatrick scored 15 and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jeremy Lin each had 14 points for the Nets. Lopez added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Minnesota Timberwolves 119 Los Angeles Lakers 104
MINNESOTA – Ricky Rubio had a career-high 33 points, 10 assists and five rebounds and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 points to lead the Timberwolves to a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points for the Timberwolves (30-44), who have now won more games than they did last season. Minnesota had 30 assists and only 11 turnovers. Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points and D’Angelo Russell had 14 points and seven assists for the Lakers (21-54), who have lost 17 of their last 19 games. Brandon Ingram missed his third straight game with patellar tendinitis in his right knee.
Los Angeles Clippers 124 Phoenix Suns 118
PHOENIX – Blake Griffin scored 31 points, Chris Paul added 29 points and 10 assists (double-double) and the Los Angeles Clippers (46-31) held on to hand the Phoenix Suns (22-54) their 10th loss in a row on Thursday night. Jamal Crawford finished with 19 points. Devin Booker returned to the Suns’ lineup and scored 33 points. Rookie Tyler Ulis, who also played for Calipari, had 16 points and matched his career-best with 12 assists. Marquese Chriss scored 20 for the Suns.
Portland Trail Blazers 117 Houston Rockets 107
PORTLAND – Damian Lillard had 31 points and 11 assists, leading the Trail Blazers past the Rockets on Thursday night. Lillard is the first player in franchise history to score 30 points eight times in a calendar month. Jusuf Nurkic had a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with 19 points for the Trail Blazers, who have a season-high five-game winning streak and a 1 1/2-game lead over the Denver Nuggets for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. James Harden finished with 30 points and eight rebounds to lead Houston.
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