FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER: Bulls 90, Orlando 80. (Bulls: 8-25, 5-12 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: Markkanen: 32 points. Orlando: Fournier: 24 points.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Holiday: 10. Orlando: Vucevic: 19.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Arcidiacono: 8. Orlando: Fournier: 6
CCI RECAP: The Bulls were without five - count em’ five players - so the Bulls had to rely on defense and it was stifling, holding the Magic to 33% from the floor. The Bulls out rebounded the Magic 41-34, snapping a stretch of 13 straight games by an opponent out boarding the Bulls.
Lauri Markkanen was fabulous, scoring 32 points including a wicked dunk on Nikola Vucevic that rocked the UC crowd.
Justin Holiday registered a double-double and Kris Dunn flirted with a possible triple double finishing with a 12-8-8 game. Robin Lopez came off the bench and scored 14 points.
CCI GAME BALLS: Bulls: Markkanen, Dunn, Lopez and Holiday...let’s toss one out to Arcidiacono who dished out eight assists.
CCI IN THE LOCKER ROOM: Coach Boylen: "Lauri is a great kid. He's coachable. He's only been back for eight games or so, so it's a process. He's still a young player, but he was competitive and aggressive... I'm really proud of him."
UP NEXT: At Cleveland Sunday.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Charlotte 98, Detroit 86: Marvin Williams with a career high 7-3s as the Hornets beat the Pistons for the third time this season.
Toronto 126, Cleveland 110: Kawhi Leonard matched his season high with 37 points. Pascal Siakam with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Lowry missed his fourth straight game because of a sore thigh. The Cavs have lost four out of their last five games.
Indiana 114, Brooklyn 106: The Pacers snapped the Nets seven-game win streak.
Atlanta 114, New York 107: John Collins continues to impress: 20 points and 17 rebounds. The Knicks have lost four straight.
Milwaukee 120, Boston 107: Giannis with 30. The Celtics have lost three straight and had a closed door meeting in the locker room after the game.
San Antonio 124, Minnesota 98: The Spurs drained 19-3s. The Spurs have held their opponents to under 100 points in seven straight games.
Utah 120, Portland 90: The Blazers suffered their worst home loss since December of 2004.
Sacramento 102, Memphis 99: Buddy Hield with 28-8. The Kings outscored Memphis by 12 over the final six minutes.
Los Angeles Lakers 112, New Orleans 104: LeBron with 22-12-14. Anthony Davis 30 points and 20 rebounds.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out to cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure!