Bulls Win 6th Straight With 101-92 Victory Over Celtics
CHICAGO (AP) -- Pau Gasol had 17 points and 18 rebounds, Derrick Rose scored 18 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 101-92, on Thursday night for their sixth straight victory.
Jimmy Butler added 19 points and 10 assists.
The Bulls used a big third quarter to extend their longest win streak of the season and handed the Celtics their fourth loss in five games.
Boston coach Brad Stevens missed this one to visit cancer-stricken former Butler center Andrew Smith, who played on the Bulldogs' two runs to the national championship game. He has been battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and was scheduled to undergo a bone marrow transplant Thursday, according to The Boston Globe.
With assistant Jay Larranaga filling in for Stevens, Boston got 17 points from Jae Crowder. Kelly Olynyk added 16 points and nine rebounds, but the Celtics shot just 35.7 percent and were 5 of 25 on 3-pointers.
Isaiah Thomas scored 14 but missed all four 3s while shooting 5 of 17 overall. Jared Sullinger added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Boston.
The Celtics got outscored 26-16 and shot 7 of 32 as Chicago stretched a one-point halftime lead to 74-63.
It was 61-49 with just over 8 minutes left in the third quarter after Gibson hit a hook shot, finishing a 15-2 run that started with a fadeaway by Rose near the end of the first half.
Gasol, who scored eight in the quarter, had a pair of baskets during that run. Butler scored seven in the period, and the Bulls were never really threatened down the stretch.
Chicago started to find a rhythm late in the second quarter and led 48-47 at halftime.
The Bulls scored 10 in a row to tie it at 43-all, with Butler capping that spurt with a ridiculous three-point play. He flung the ball in from 19 feet after getting bumped by Crowder on the perimeter and hit the free throw with 2:12 remaining.
The Bulls visit Atlanta on Saturday.
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