Bulls 95, Cavaliers 85
Bulls 95, Cavaliers 85: Marco Belinelli scored a season-high 23 points and visiting Chicago posted its 10th consecutive victory over Cleveland.
Making his second start in place of Richard Hamilton (torn plantar fascia), Belinelli shot 7-for-15 from the field. He scored 10 points in the first quarter, when the Bulls raced out to a 16-point lead, and converted a clutch three-point play early in the fourth that gave Chicago a 77-64 lead.
Luol Deng added 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and helped Chicago to its latest win over Cleveland by converting three layups, three free throws and a 22-footer. Joakim Noah collected 13 points and 15 rebounds for his seventh double-double as the Bulls shot 47.2 percent.
Backup point guard Donald Sloan led the way with 14 points for Cleveland, which has dropped seven of nine since losing Kyrie Irving to a fractured finger. Anderson Varejao totaled 11 points and 15 rebounds for his 10th consecutive double-double.
The Cavaliers had two early leads, cut their deficit to 10 and hung around for most of the second half. Cleveland got within 83-74 on Alonzo Gee's long jumper as the shot clock expired with 6:42 remaining, but Noah easily drove to the hoop for a layup and Chicago scored seven straight points to take control.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cleveland G Daniel Gibson made his first start of the season in place of rookie Dion Waiters, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. It also was Gibson's first start since Feb. 22 against New Orleans. ... Jeremy Pargo had his worst game since replacing Irving in the starting lineup as he scored nine points while going 3-for-12 from the field. ... Former Cavalier Carlos Boozer played his 16th game against the team that drafted him and collected 10 points and 12 rebounds.