FINAL: Kings 104 Bulls 98. ( Bulls 18-35, 7-21 on the road)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 27 points. Kings: Bogdanovic: 15 points.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Portis: 14. Kings: Randolph: 9.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Grant: 5. Kings: Hill: 5.
CCI 24 SECONDS COMMENTARY: The Bulls got off to a brilliant start. They jumped on the Kings 28-9 after one quarter, and led by as many as 21 in the first half. Robin Lopez became frustrated late in the first half (I’m being kind here) and was ejected from the game. He was channeling a similar meltdown of Bulls' Joakim Noah several years ago in Sacramento in the famous tirade, "You, you and you." Without Lopez, the Kings attacked the rim and their bench outplayed their starters with 55 points. The Bulls once again missed Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen. Markkanen is expected back in the lineup Friday against Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, KAT, Andrew Wiggins, and the T-Wolves.
CCI INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM: Fred Hoiberg: "We have four (games) all at home before the All Star break. It will be great to get back in our building and play in front of our fans."
CCI QUICK STATS: LaVine pumped in a season high 27 points in his third-straight 20-point game. Bobby Portis collected his second-straight double-double and his seventh of the season with an 18-14 game. He’s had three-straight games of ten or more rebounds. The Bulls attempted 36 3-pointers. Holiday and LaVine each nailed four.
CCI PLAYS OF THE GAME: LaVine with a filthy dunk on JaKarr Sampson. A big time, "Zach Attack." Late in the fourth quarter with 52 seconds remaining, Bogdan Bogdanovic put down a contested three-point field goal with the shot clock expiring, giving the Kings a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Pistons 111 Portland 91. Detroit won its fourth-straight. Portland lost it’s third-straight. Andre Drummond with a 17-17 game. He’s recorded 266 career double-double games since entering the NBA in 2012.
Wizards 111 Pacers 102. The Wizards won their fifth-straight game and moved to nine games over 500. Indiana lost Darren Collison for several weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
Denver 121 Charlotte 104. Gary Harris is earning his money: 29 points for the Nuggets star. Jokic with a 16-17-5 game.
Utah ripped NOLA 133-109. Rodney Hood, still a member of the Jazz, scored 30. The Jazz won their sixth-straight. Utah has now scored 120 or more points in four straight games. Wowza!
Dallas goes to 7-27 in games decided by five points or less, as the Clippers moved to within one half of a game of the eighth seed with a 104-101 victory. Dirk Nowitzki became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 50-thousand minutes. The Clippers ended the game on a 13-0 run.
Magic 111 Miami 109. That’s all I got.
The Bucks sent Rashad Vaughn and a second-round pick to the Nets for center Tyler Zeller.
Thanks for reading CCI. Email me at: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls.
Always a pleasure!