CHICAGO — Jimmy Butler had 52 points, 12 rebounds and six assists as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Charlotte Hornets 118-111 on Monday night at the United Center.
Doug McDermott, starting in place of injured guard Dwyane Wade, scored 11 points for the Bulls (17-18), who also got 12 points off the bench by Nikola Mirotic. Michael Carter-Williams, starting in place of benched point guard Rajon Rondo, had 10 points.
The Bulls won for just the fourth time in their last 12 games and snapped a two-game losing streak.
Kemba Walker led Charlotte (19-16) with 34 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 19 points by Nicolas Batum. Jeremy Lamb (15 points) and Spencer Hawes (10 points) reached double figures for the Hornets.
Butler, who was 15 of 24 from the field and 21 of 22 from the free-throw line, took over in the final minutes when the Bulls created some distance from the Hornets.
Rockets 101, Wizards 91
HOUSTON — Eric Gordon scored 31 points off the bench and James Harden recorded his third consecutive triple-double as Houston erased a 15-point deficit in its win over Washington.
After combining for 22 points in the turnaround third quarter, Gordon and Harden totaled 17 points in the fourth. Gordon shot 11 for 18 in 36 minutes while Harden overcame a poor shooting night to post 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Houston stretched its winning streak to five games.
Bradley Beal paced the Wizards with 27 points while his backcourt mate John Wall added 18 points and 12 assists.
Magic 115, Knicks 103
NEW YORK — After watching film of the previous night’s loss to the Indiana Pacers, Frank Vogel challenged his Orlando Magic team to put forth a better collective effort against New York.
The Magic responded with a lopsided win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in which two players recorded double-doubles, three players scored at least 20 points and six players netted 10 or more points.
Nikola Vucevic and Elfrid Payton came off the bench to record their 17th and third double-doubles, respectively, this season. Vucevic scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Payton contributed 13 points and a career-tying 14 assists for the Magic.
Jazz 101, Nets 89
NEW YORK — Gordon Hayward scored 13 of his 30 points in the third quarter and Utah overcame sluggish offense at times, increased its defense and opened a five-game road trip with a victory over Brooklyn.
Utah began its second five-game trip of the season ranked first in points allowed and third in defensive rating but gave up 52 points by halftime.
The Jazz held the Nets to 11 points in the first six-plus minutes of the third quarter but missed 10 of its first 11 shots and fell into a 62-53 hole.
Bucks 98, Thunder 94
MILWAUKEE — Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook put forth his usual contributions with a game-high 30 points, but it was Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo who came out on top. He scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds and five assists to lead the Bucks to a victory in front of 17,423 at the Bradley Center.
Westbrook, the NBA leader in triple-doubles this season, led all scorers but had to work for every point as he went 9-for-28 from the floor and just 2-for-10 from beyond the arc.
Cavaliers 90, Pelicans 82
CLEVELAND — Cleveland’s Big Three has been shipped to the sick bay, yet they still scraped out a win over New Orleans on a night both teams struggled shooting.
LeBron James scored 26 points despite being the latest victim to the NBA’s flu epidemic and Channing Frye, who has been sick for the last week, added 14 off the bench.
Kevin Love scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds before departing for the locker room late in the fourth quarter due to a bout with food poisoning. He shot just 5 of 19 from the floor and missed all seven of his 3-point attempts.