Luol Deng scored 25 points to lead a strong effort from the starting unit as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Boston Celtics for the first time this season with a 96-83 victory on Thursday.
All five starters reached double figures for the Bulls (17-20), who recorded a third straight win and avenged two lopsided defeats to Boston earlier in the season.
“That’s the most complete game we’ve played all year,” Chicago point guard Derrick Rose told reporters. “That’s something we’ve been working on.”
The Celtics (27-11) could not say the same. Playing their fourth game in five nights, they had drubbed Chicago by a combined 54 points in their two previous meetings, but the ailing home team struggled this time around.
Playing without captain Kevin Garnett, out with a hyper-extended knee, and off-season acquisition Rasheed Wallace, who had a foot injury, Boston fell 29-18 behind after the first quarter and only flirted with contention late in the game.
Paul Pierce, who led his team in scoring with 20 points, made a three-pointer to pull Boston to within 86-80 with 3 minutes, 49 seconds remaining, but the streaking Bulls finished the game with a 10-3 run.
Pierce led his team in scoring, but made just six of 18 shots as the Celtics lost for the sixth time in their last 10 games.
“They just played with more effort than us,” said Kendrick Perkins, who finished with 14 points and 10 boards. “I don’t think our communication tonight was where it needed to be for us on the defensive end.”
A veteran team, injuries were also an issue for Boston last season when they faced a hungry young Bulls side in the playoffs, eventually prevailing in an epic seven-game first-round series.
Chicago were every bit as tenacious against the Celtics on a night they got 17 points and eight rebounds from Rose. Center Joakim Noah added 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
The Bulls out-rebounded their opponent 50-39 and only trailed 2-0 before controlling the rest of the way.
■JAZZ 97, CAVALIERS 96
AFP, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Rookie Sundiata Gaines was Utah’s unlikely hero on Thursday, hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Jazz to victory over Cleveland.
Superstar LeBron James had led Cleveland on a 22-4 scoring run earlier in the fourth quarter and the Cavs led by six with 32.5 seconds remaining, but Cleveland couldn’t seal the victory from the foul line.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed one of two free-throws with 5.6 seconds to play, leaving Utah needing one basket to tie — or a three-pointer to win the game.
After a timeout, Utah’s Ronnie Price got locked up behind the three-point line and managed to get the ball to Gaines, who drained the winner.
Gaines, who signed to a 10-day contract with the Jazz when starter Deron Williams sprained his right wrist earlier this month, finished with nine points in nine minutes.
He notched his first three-pointer in five career NBA games.
Williams was back in action on Thursday before injuring his right wrist again early in the fourth quarter in a collision with Mo Williams — an injury that led to Gaines going into the game.
Utah also lost forward Andrei Kirilenko in the third quarter with a hyper-extended right knee.
James led Cleveland with 36 points, scoring 20 in the fourth quarter, but the Cavaliers committed a season-high 23 turnovers.
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