Magic 107, Bulls 78
Vince Carter scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half and Jameer Nelson added 24 points and nine assists as the Orlando Magic went on the road and blewout the Chicago Bulls 107-78 on Wednesday night to stretch their winning streak to five games.
Nelson shot 8-of-11 from the field and drained all three 3-point attempts, while Dwight Howard had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who have won eight of their last nine games.
Carter scored the last basket of the first quarter and added six more points over the first three minutes of the second as Orlando stretched the lead to 47-34. Carter and Nelson added three-point plays later in the quarter, and the Magic drained all 15 free throws in the second to outscore the Bulls by 18 and take a 61-37 lead at the half.
Chicago got within 16 points in the third before Orlando pushed it to 26 and cruised home.
Joakim Noah had 16 points for Chicago, but the league’s No. 2 rebounder did not grab a board in 25 minutes. Derrick Rose scored nine of his 15 points in the first quarter for the Bulls, which returned from a solid 4-3 Circus road trip and hoped to make a statement to the rest of the Eastern Conference.
Chicago power forward Carlos Boozer, who signed a five-year, $75 million contract as a free agent over the summer and has been out all season with a broken right hand, started and had five points and two rebounds in 22 minutes.