DENVER – As the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics battle for supremacy at the top of the National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference, things are calmer in the West with the Denver Nuggets way ahead of the Sacramento Kings.
On Wednesday, however, Zach LaVine poured in 29 points as the Chicago Bulls ended the Nuggets’ eight-game home winning streak with a 117-96 victory in Colorado.
“You just try to make it tough for them,” the guard said.
“Obviously, (Nikola) Jokic is a two-time MVP. If we’re letting him shoot pull-up threes, he can make them.”
Bulls forward Patrick Williams, who had 18 points, added: “We’ve got a stretch of games that we need to win to get to where we want.
“I think it was good to kind of show ourselves that, but also show other teams that we’re here.”
The Bulls (30-36), who are languishing just outside the play-in places in 11th spot in the East, took control with a 36-point third quarter to upset the runaway Western Conference leaders.
The Nuggets have been near-invincible in Denver this season, with a league-best 30-4 home record at their Ball Arena fortress before Wednesday.
But a gutsy Chicago performance ended with Denver (46-20) on the wrong end of a rare blowout as LaVine finished with 29 points from 12-of-18 shooting and Nikola Vucevic added 25 points with 15 rebounds.
Denver, whose last home loss was on Jan 22 to Oklahoma City, led by 10 in the first quarter, but Chicago erased most of the deficit by the start of the second.
Chicago took over in the third quarter and led by 11 heading into the fourth before putting it away.
Denver’s reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic was held to 18 points.
“One game doesn’t mean we’re a bad team, but I think we have weaknesses like every team has weaknesses,” he said.
In other games, Phoenix shrugged off the late injury absence of Kevin Durant – who had been due to make his home debut – to trounce the Oklahoma City Thunder 132-101.
Suns fans had been eager to get their first glimpse of Durant at their home venue since his blockbuster trade from the Brooklyn Nets in February.
But the 34-year-old superstar was ruled out shortly before tip-off, after rolling an ankle as he attempted a lay-up during the warm-up.
In Durant’s absence, Devin Booker took centre stage for Phoenix, erupting for 44 points with Terrence Ross adding 24 from the bench and Chris Paul chipping in with 18.
Phoenix coach Monty Williams said Durant had suffered an ankle sprain.
“We have to wait and see how he responds to treatment and we’ll probably get some more imaging just to make sure we’re all on the same page,” he said.
“He was out there working his tail off getting ready for the game and he twisted his ankle – that’s life.”
In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 30 points as the Celtics snapped their three-game losing streak with a 115-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Tatum spearheaded a superb all-round offensive effort for the Celtics, who had suffered a string of collapses during their recent mini-slump.
Their losses were to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks and the Nets.
Boston, who were knocked out of first place in the Eastern Conference last week, led from early in the first quarter and never looked back, surging 27 points clear in the fourth before wrapping up an encouraging win.
All of Boston’s starters finished in double figures, with Tatum’s 30-point haul leading the way, while Derrick White added 21 points.
Al Horford finished with 17, Jaylen Brown added 11 and Marcus Smart 10.
“In the third quarter, we pushed the lead out and didn’t let them back in the game, which is something we’ve struggled with the last couple of games,” said Tatum.
Boston now depart for Atlanta to commence a six-game road trip and will look to build on Wednesday’s win.
“We slipped up a bit losing three in a row. We’ve got to get back to playing how we know how to play,” Tatum added. AFP
