Pau Gasol scored a season-best 31 points as Chicago overcame the disappointment of Joakim Noah’s season-ending injury with a 111-101 win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday.
The Spanish star also contributed 12 rebounds, while Derrick Rose added 20 points and Jimmy Butler contributed 16 and nine assists.
The game was Chicago’s first since Noah suffered a dislocated left shoulder on Friday, an injury expected to leave him sidelined for four to six months, ruling him out of the rest of the regular season and possibly the playoffs.
Photo: AP
Gasol said Chicago had consciously sought to block out the disappointment of losing Noah to injury.
“We spoke about it in practice emotionally after knowing Jo’s going to be out for awhile, if the team was going to notice it or feel it in this game,” said Gasol, who also had three assists and three blocks. “I think the team did a good job just focusing in, playing and competing and getting a huge win. It speaks a lot for our team, about our concentration and where our minds are at.”
Pistons power forward Ersan Ilyasova led team scoring with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Photo: AP
Andre Drummond scored his 35th double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds, while Reggie Jackson had 19 points and Marcus Morris added 18.
Detroit had won the first two meetings with Chicago earlier this season, both of which went to overtime. Those victories included a marathon 147-144 battle last month that was finally settled in the fourth period of overtime. It was the only other occasion this season that Gasol had scored 30 points.
The Bulls, who improved to 24-16 for the season, were left reeling on Friday after Noah’s injury.
The son of former French tennis star Yannick, Noah injured his shoulder in the defeat to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday and underwent surgery at the weekend.
Although the Bulls are 9-2 in games without Noah, coach Fred Hoiberg said that winning record was irrelevant.
“I don’t think you’ll find one guy in that locker room that would say we’re a better team with Jo out of the lineup,” he said. “He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score. He’s a guy we’ll absolutely miss the rest of the season.”
Knicks 119, 76ers 113, 2OT
The New York Knicks, who led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, knocked off Philadelphia in double-overtime at Madison Square Garden.
Carmelo Anthony returned to the Knicks’ lineup after missing two games with a sprained ankle. He scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had seven assists in 49 minutes.
Rookie Jahlil Okafor led the 76ers with 20 points despite sitting out the fourth quarter and both overtimes.
Hornets 124, Jazz 119, 2OT
Kemba Walker poured in a career and franchise-high 52 points on 16-of-34 shooting to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a 124-119 double-overtime victory over the Utah Jazz in one of the NBA’s afternoon games in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr holiday.
Walker scored nine points in the second overtime, including a three-pointer that pushed Charlotte’s lead to 116-110. Walker and Hornets center Cody Zeller had four free throws apiece in the final 36.3 seconds to secure the triumph.
Jeremy Lin scored nine points from the bench for Charlotte
Trail Blazers 108, Wizards 98
C.J. McCollum scored 25 points as Portland pulled away with a 23-1 run in the third quarter to beat Washington.
Meyers Leonard had 18 points and Damian Lillard scored 16 for the Trail Blazers, who led by as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter.
Garrett Temple scored 18 points for the Wizards, who have lost two straight after reaching .500 following a four-game winning streak.
Grizzlies 101, Pelicans 99
Mike Conley scored 15 points and had 10 assists in his first game back from an Achilles injury as Memphis defeated New Orleans.
Conley missed six games with soreness in his left Achilles and he played 28 minutes.
Marc Gasol also had a double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, two steals and a block for the Grizzlies.
In other games on Monday, it was:
‧ Hawks 98, Magic 81
‧ Raptors 112, Nets 100
‧ Mavericks 118, Celtics 113, OT
‧ Clippers 140, Rockets 132, OT
Additional reporting by staff writer
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