DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine lead Bulls to 128-109 win over Magic

ORLANDO, Fla.(AP) — DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine each scored 32 points, NikolaVucevic added 26 points and 13 rebounds and the Chicago Bullsturned back a late rally and beat the Orlando Magic 128-109 onSaturday night.

Mo Wagner ledthe Magic with 27 points, combining with Cole Anthony and JalenSuggs to lead a furious second-half rally that cut a 25-pointdeficit to six with 5:08 remaining.

“I thought wecontrolled most of the game,” said Vucevic, who had 17 points andeight rebounds in the first half. “They made a really good run andthey cut it close. It’s been an issue for us all year long, playingwith big leads. We let them back in the game, but this time we wereable to finish the game off.”

PatrickWilliams had 16 points and six rebounds for the Bulls, who shot59.3% for the game just two nights after getting outscored by 23points in the second half of a loss at Charlotte.

“In theCharlotte game we never responded,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Theencouraging part is we did respond (tonight). I think it’s goodthat we had that. ... Being pressed against it, we needed a gamewhere we could respond and come out on the winning side.”

The Bulls led60-47 at halftime. A 3-pointer by Vucevic, who played more thaneight seasons in Orlando, stretched their lead to 24 points and afree throw by LaVine made it 89-64, Chicago’s largest lead of thegame, with 3:27 left in the third quarter.

“I don’t knowhow, but we found some energy and we went on a run, got some easybuckets, hit some shots,” said Anthony, who finished with 21points, six rebounds and six assists.

Wagner scoredthe Magic’s final 11 points in the third period and their firstfive points in the fourth, pulling the Magic back into contention.But when the Bulls’ lead got down to six, DeRozan and LaVineresponded with baskets, and a 3-pointer by Williams made it 116-106with 3:29 left.

Magic coachJamahl Mosley thought the bad start cost his team the game.

“Obviouslythe energy level wasn’t where we wanted it to start the game,” hesaid. “I really think sometimes it falls down to taking the easyroute, in some ways. When it’s hard, you just want to catch andshoot. But we weren’t making shots, and that takes its toll on thedefense. But we have to be a defensive team first, whether theshots are falling or not.”

“This is notan excuse but we were just flat,” said Mo Wagner, “and part of thatwas we put our head down too quickly. We kind of let go of ourfocus.”

TIP-INS

Bulls: GLonzo Ball, who has not played since tearing his left meniscus onMay 10, 2021, is not yet back to running on a consistent basis andwill likely not play this season, unless he is making progress bythe All-Star break, according to coach Billy Donovan. ... F DerrickJones Jr., limped off the floor in the third quarter, but came backto play four minutes in the fourth. . . . G Goran Dragic had sevenpoints in 13 minutes after missing three games due to illness. ...DeRozan, who came into the game with a 26.3 scoring average, playedeight scoreless minutes in the first quarter without taking ashot.

Magic: FJonathan Isaac had five points and four rebounds in nine minutes inhis third game back from a knee injury. ... The Magic missed theirfirst eight 3-point attempts and finished 10 for 28. . . . Anthonyhas scored 18 or points in four of his last six games, all off thebench.

UPNEXT

Bulls: Hostthe L.A. Clippers on Tuesday night.

Magic: Playat Philadelphia on Monday night.