CHICAGO – Luol Deng realizes tougher tests are coming, that the schedule is about to take a difficult turn. If the Chicago Bulls keep this up, that would be just fine with him.
Deng scored a season-high 31 points, and the Bulls pulled away for a wild 120-110 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night after blowing an early 23-point lead.
Derrick Rose added 23 points and eight assists while tying a season high with nine rebounds as the Bulls won for the seventh time in nine games.
The Bulls led by 23 in the first quarter and were up 19 going into the second, only to watch it all disappear. Then, with a 58-54 halftime lead, they broke it open in the third and sent Indiana to its sixth loss in seven games.
“In the first quarter, down by 23 – hard to do that on the road and come back and get a win,” Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said. “We came back in the second quarter but didn’t have what it took in the second half.”
The Pacers’ Danny Granger finished with 20 points after missing Monday’s loss at Dallas for personal reasons. Brandon Rush hit 5 of 9 three-pointers and scored a season-high 21, including 12 in the second quarter as Indiana outscored Chicago 36-21 to get back into the game.
MAGIC 110, ROCKETS 92: Dwight Howard had 30 points and 16 rebounds on a perfect shooting night to help Orlando cruise to a victory in Houston.
Howard scored all of his points in the last three quarters and was 11 of 11 on field goals.
GRIZZLIES 99, WIZARDS 94: Zach Randolph had 22 points, and Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol each added 20 as the Grizzlies edged the host Wizards.
Andray Blatche led the Wizards with 24 points.
TRAIL BLAZERS 101, RAPTORS 87: In Toronto, Andre Miller had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and Brandon Roy scored 20 points to propel Portland.
Hedo Turkoglu scored 24 points as the Raptors failed to top 100 points, ending a 20-game streak.
HAWKS 98, TIMBERWOLVES 92: Josh Smith scored a season-high 27 points, and Joe Johnson added 21 as Atlanta has won nine of 11 at home to improve to 22-6 at Philips Arena.
Minnesota remained stuck with five road wins.
BUCKS 115, HORNETS 95: Andrew Bogut had 26 points and 13 rebounds to continue his string of dominant performances, leading Milwaukee to a home win.
Marcus Thornton had 25 points, and Darren Collison added 22 for New Orleans.
SPURS 95, THUNDER 87: Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and made a spectacular block on a would-be Kevin Durant dunk late in the fourth quarter to lead host San Antonio. Ginobili’s crucial block in the final minutes helped stop Durant’s streak of scoring 25 points or more at 29 games.
MAVERICKS 101, LAKERS 96: Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points, Jason Terry added 30 and, despite playing without Caron Butler, host Dallas won its fifth straight game.
Kobe Bryant scored 20 points and moved into 13th place on the career scoring list. Bryant, who passed Reggie Miller, has 25,298 points.
SUNS 106, 76ERS 95: Jason Richardson scored 24 points, and Steve Nash had 20 points and 13 assists to lead host Phoenix.
Amare Stoudemire added 22 points for the Suns. Andre Iguodala led the 76ers with 20 points.
JAZZ 102, BOBCATS 93: Carlos Boozer scored 20 of his 33 points in the second half to lead host Utah. Deron Williams added 20 points and 12 assists for the Jazz.
Gerald Wallace scored 27 points for Charlotte, and Tyrus Thomas had 20.
