Nikola Vucevic, Zach LaVine lead Bulls to 117-96 win over Nuggets

DENVER (AP) —Nikola Vucevic had 25 points and 15 rebounds, Zach LaVine scored 29points on 12-of-18 shooting and the Chicago Bulls gave theirplayoff hopes an unexpected boost with a 117-96 victory against theWestern Conference-leading Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

It wasVucevic’s 40th double-double of the season, the third-most in theNBA. LaVine is averaging 34.8 points in Chicago’s last fourgames.

With the win,the Bulls moved within a game of the Washington Wizards for thefinal playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 16 gamesremaining in the regular season. The victory was just the fourth inthe past 13 games for Chicago.

Nikola Jokicled Denver with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Aaron Gordon added17 points and nine rebounds. Jokic made only seven of his 16 shots,snapping a 51-game streak in which he shot at least 50% from thefield.

Entering thenight, Denver was an NBA-best 30-4 at home, which included wins in24 of its last 25 games. The Nuggets, who lead the NBA in fieldgoal and 3-point percentage, made only 42% of their shots. The 96points were their second-fewest in a game this season.

Trailing byone at halftime, 52-51, the Bulls went on a 19-4 run in the thirdquarter to take a 79-66 lead, capped by Patrick Williams’ 3-pointerwith 3:22 remaining in the period.

Chicago’sadvantage grew to as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter.

TIP-INS

Bulls: GDeMar DeRozan had 17 points and eight assists. ... The win wasChicago’s second in a row at Denver, the first time it has done sosince the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.

Nuggets: GJamal Murray made the 804th 3-pointer of his Nuggets career, tyingWill Barton for the franchise record. ... F Vlatko Cancar missedhis third consecutive game with a sprained right wrist. Cancar isaveraging 5.8 points and 2.4 rebounds off the bench for Denver thisseason. ... Nuggets coach Michael Malone remains one win shy of his400th.

UPNEXT

Bulls: AtHouston on Saturday.

Nuggets: AtSan Antonio on Friday.