Bulls 89, Magic 81
Derrick Rose scored 24 points and Luol Deng added 16 as the Chicago Bulls defeated the host Orlando Magic 89-81 on Friday.
Omer Asik had a career-high 13 rebounds for Chicago (42-18), which exceeded last season’s victory total while winning for the eighth time in 10 games.
Dwight Howard had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando (40-23), but also drew his 16th technical foul of the season in the second quarter. That earns Howard a suspension for Orlando’s game against Portland on Monday unless the NBA rescinds the technical.
Carlos Boozer added 12 points and nine rebounds for Chicago, and Kyle Korver hit three 3-pointers over the final 4:30 to thwart Orlando’s rallies.
Jason Richardson and Brandon Bass added 16 points apiece for Orlando, which was just 6-of-23 from 3-point range as its four-game winning streak was snapped. The Magic were 16-of-29 one night earlier during their huge comeback victory over the Miami Heat.
Orlando led 27-26 three minutes into the second quarter before going scoreless for nearly five minutes. The Bulls ripped off 14 straight points, capped by C.J. Watson’s back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 13-point lead.
Orlando rallied to within 59-54 on Ryan Anderson’s 3-pointer with 1:43 left in the third quarter, but Chicago responded with a 6-0 run to boost the lead back to 11.