Then, under the Bulls’ basket after a Magic rebound, Butler came up with another takeaway to again foil Orlando.
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Vucevic played a solid game, and even contributed two steals and thre blocks on the defensive end.
There was also a traditional post-up for Gasol in which he made a quality move but missed a shot at the rim after a few good help defense from the Magic.
Leading 37-34, Chicago seized control of the game. Orlando (0-3) remained winless under new coach Scott Skiles.
“I chuckled after I made the free throws because I was barely hitting the backboard at (University of) Arizona, ” said Gordon, who shot 42 percent from the free throw line as a freshman and 48 percent last season as a rookie with the Magic.
On Friday, with Skiles as coach, Oklahoma City broke the Magic’s hearts with a 139-136 double-overtime victory. “We had a nice stretch in the fourth quarter where we had five stops in a row”. We started kind of getting something going, but we were down 15. Not to detail every single game or each Blake Griffin dunk (there’s simply too many to keep track of), but to give you the best-of-the-best from each week in the National Basketball Association this season.
Derrick Rose scored just six points on 2-of-8 shooting in the Bulls’ win over the Magic on Sunday, but he did have eight assists and seven boards. He said he’s happy to be an assist man since Chicago has so many offensive weapons.
“As long as we’re winning games I (couldn’t) care less about anything else, about my eye or anything”, Rose said. Jimmy Butler knocked down a pair of free throws, to all but lock up the victory for the Bulls. According to basketball-reference.com, Mirotic has averages of 19.7 ppg, 8 rpg, and has shot 51.4% from the field, including 50% from three through the first three games. Nikola Vucevic added 15 and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Tobias Harris had 11 points.
Payton cut the Bulls’ lead to 58-48 by swishing a 19-foot jumper – scoring his first points of the game. Orlando has connected on a 3-pointer in 659 consecutive games, dating to March 17, 2007….
Butler’s dream of becoming a multi-sport star might have to wait, but Chicago’s vision of building a consistent victor under first-year coach Fred Hoiberg is starting to come into focus.
Skiles, however, wasn’t attaching any added significance to coaching in the United Center. However, Westbrook caught fire late in the game, scoring 27 of his 48 points in the fourth quarter and two overtime periods.
Noah’s buckets ignited an 8-0 Bulls surge that extended their lead to 45-34.
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Bulls, beaten by Detroit Pistons last time out, had to see off a late comeback by Magic to seal the win, which was set up by a dominant opening two quarters.
