Wall, Beal lead Wizards' rally past Bulls
CHICAGO -- John Wall scored 23 points to go along with 21 by Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 107-97 on Wednesday night at the United Center.
The Wizards (13-15) won for the sixth time in eight games and overcame an early 13-point deficit. Marcin Gortat also scored 14 points and had 11 rebounds for Washington, which also got 10 points off the bench from Marcus Thornton.
Jimmy Butler scored 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Chicago (14-14), which has lost four of its last five games. Dwyane Wade (19 points), Taj Gibson (17 points, 11 rebounds), Nikola Mirotic (11 points) and Doug McDermott (10 points) all reached double figures for the Bulls.
A pair of Beal free throws with 4:53 remaining gave the Wizards an eight-point lead. But Wade got the Bulls back to within 97-93 with a leaning jumper with just under three minutes to play.
Beal again extended the lead with a mid-range jump shot before Gortat scored inside off a pass from Wall to push the Wizards' lead back to eight before Wall pushed the advantage to double-figures for the first time with a basket with just more than a minute to play.
The Bulls struggled down the stretch from the field and finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field and just 6-of-21 from 3-point range. Chicago also had 15 turnovers in the loss.
Chicago led 56-55 at halftime. But after falling behind early, the Wizards used a 9-0 scoring surge to take a 53-52 advantage before Butler finished off the second quarter with a jump shot that put Chicago back on top.
NOTES: Wizards C Ian Mahinmi successfully underwent platelet-rich plasma treatment on both knees Wednesday morning and will miss at least another six weeks. Coach Scott Brooks said that his rotation will be "business as usual" as the Wizards have gotten a total of 14 minutes since Mahinmi signed with the Wizards. Mahinmi underwent surgery in October to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, but then developed soreness in his left knee. ... Bulls G Michael Carter-Williams will travel with the team to Charlotte and San Antonio this weekend, coach Fred Hoiberg said Wednesday night. Carter-Williams has been out since Oct. 31 with a bone chip in his left wrist. Carter-Williams told reporters recently that he it is realistic that he could return to the lineup "around Christmas." ... G R.J. Hunter was also inactive for the Bulls.