DeMar DeRozan continued his torrid play with 35 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 134-122 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Nikola Vucevic recorded 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Javonte Green matched his career best of 23 points for the Bulls. Coby White equaled his season best of six 3-pointers while scoring 22 points as Chicago moved within one game of the first-place Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference.
The outing marked the fifth straight game in which DeRozan has topped 30 points. He is averaging 37.0 points during the stretch.
Anthony Edwards had 31 points and eight assists and Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Timberwolves. D’Angelo Russell added 18 points as Minnesota lost for the second straight time following a five-game winning streak.
Ayo Dosunmu registered 14 points and 10 assists and Zach LaVine scored 12 points for the Bulls, who shot 63.2 percent from the field, including 14 of 31 from 3-point range. Vucevic made 11 of 14 shots, Green sank 10 of 13 and Dosunmu hit 6 of 7.
Malik Beasley tallied 11 points and Patrick Beverley added 10 for Minnesota, which made 50 percent of its shots and was 13-for-40 from behind the arc.
Chicago led 75-66 three-plus minutes into the third quarter before the Timberwolves put together a 23-9 spurt.
Beasley’s three-point play allowed Minnesota to inch ahead at 82-80 with 5:07 left in the quarter. Beasley added a 3-pointer 90 seconds later to make it 89-84 with 3:37 remaining.
The Bulls closed the quarter with an 8-2 run. White made two 3-pointers in the final 52.5 seconds to give Chicago a 92-91 edge.
White knocked down two more 3-pointers 61 seconds apart during a 12-3 run early in the fourth quarter. LaVine capped it with a dunk as Chicago held a 106-100 advantage with 8:32 left.
A short time later, DeRozan knocked down consecutive jumpers and Dosunmu scored on a fast-break dunk to make it 112-102 with 7:22 to play.
White connected on two more treys in a 40-second span to make it 118-107 with six minutes remaining.
Green scored three straight baskets in 70 seconds to push Chicago’s lead to 126-110 with 3:43 left and Chicago cruised to the finish.
DeRozan had 17 points as Chicago led 60-59 at the break. Edwards scored 19 in the half for the Timberwolves.
–Field Level Media
