FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER: Miami 117, Bulls 103 (Bulls: 10-36, 5-17 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 22 points. Miami: Richardson: 26 points.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Markkanen: 9. Miami: Wade and Whiteside each with 10.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: LaVine: 6. Miami: Wade: 7.
CCI RECAP: Miami outscored the Bulls 62-46 in the second half, handing the Bulls their tenth straight loss. Miami scored 58 points in the paint on the night and drained 10 of their 13 three-point field goals in the final two quarters.
The Bulls had three players score 20 or more in Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen and Bobby Portis but as a team shot only 39% from the floor and surrendered 117 points to a team averaging just 105 per game. Dwyane Wade in his final appearance in his hometown finished with an impressive line of 14-10-7.
UP NEXT: At Cleveland Monday.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Houston 138, Los Angeles Lakers 134 OT: The Rockets rallied from a 21-point deficit. James Harden scored 48 points. Eric Gordon tossed in 30. Harden has 19 straight games of scoring 30 or more points and has scored 40 or more points in 10 of his last 13. LeBron James missed his 13th straight game with a groin injury. Chris Paul missed his 14th straight game with a hamstring injury.
OKC 117, Philadelphia 115: Big-time road win for the Thunder. It's about time we start talking about Paul George in the MVP conversation. He converted a four-point play with five seconds left. George finished with 31-6-5, 3 steals. The 76ers have lost 19 straight to OKC.
Toronto 119, Memphis 90: Danny Green had a season-high 24 and set a franchise record for three pointers in a quarter with 7 in the third.
Milwaukee 118, Orlando 108: The Bucks won their fourth straight and go to 33-12. Giannis and Bledsoe combined for 55 points.
Boston 113, Atlanta 105: The Celtics won their third straight as Kyrie Irving pumped in 32 points.
Indiana 111, Dallas 99: The Pacers suffocating defense on Luka Doncic was the story of the game. The leading candidate for Rookie of the Year finished with eight points on 3 of 14 from the floor. He missed all five attempts beyond the arc. He was ejected from the game after receiving his second technical for kicking the ball.
Charlotte 135, Phoenix 115: The Hornets matched their season high in scoring, leading wire to wire. The Suns have lost 10 of 12 games and dropped to 4-19 on the road.
Sacramento 103, Detroit 101: Buddy Hield with his first NBA game-winning shot. Hield nailed an off balance fade and scored 35 for the 24-22 Kings.
Denver 124, Cleveland 102: The Cavs fell to 9-38 and await the Bulls Monday afternoon.
One final thought...
My man Jimmy is back. It's been 14 months of chemo treatments etc. but he's now cancer free. He has been at the United Center from day one and cares deeply about maintaining the UC to the highest standard of excellence. I am overjoyed he's OK. God bless! Regardless of tonight's outcome, my day is complete seeing his smile radiate the building.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure!