Bulls ground Hawks; Knicks thrash Magic
Atlanta — Chicago’s Luol Deng led a flurry of 3-pointers to help the NBA-leading Bulls blow out the Atlanta Hawks 98-77 on Wednesday for another road victory.
Deng was 5 of 8 from beyond the arc and the Bulls finished 9 of 16 to improve to their NBA-best record away from home to 21-6 and their overall mark to 41-11, even though Derrick Rose was missing for the eighth straight game with a shoulder injury. The Bulls haven’t missed a beat, winning six times without their MVP.
Deng finished with 22 points and had plenty of help, with Carlos Boozer scoring 20.
Josh Smith led Atlanta with 19 points.
Knicks 108,
Magic 86
Article continues after this advertisementIn New York, the hosts climbed above .500 for the first time since mid-January by convincingly beating Orlando.
Article continues after this advertisementThe Knicks scored 21 straight points in the third quarter to set up their eighth win in nine games.
Carmelo Anthony and Iman Shumpert each scored 25 points for New York, which moved 2 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and pulled within 2 1/2 of Philadelphia and Boston for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Jameer Nelson scored 17 points and J.J. Redick had 15 for the Magic, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Celtics 94, Jazz 82
In Boston, Kevin Garnett scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds to lead Boston to its fifth win in six games, downing Utah.
Rajon Rondo had 14 assists for the Celtics, who moved into a tie with Philadelphia atop the Atlantic Division.
Former Celtic Al Jefferson had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz.
Spurs 117,
Kings 112
In Sacramento, San Antonio edged Sacramento to record a sixth straight win.
Manu Ginobili scored 20 points and Kawhi Leonard had 19 for the Spurs, who were playing their fifth game in six nights but still shot 54 percent and outrebounded the Kings.
Isaiah Thomas scored a career-high 28 points and had 10 assists for Sacramento, which has lost four straight. OTHER RESULTS: Nets 100, Pacers 84; Raptors 105, Nuggets 96; Pistons 87, Cavs 75; Hornets 102, Warriors 87; Timberwolves 88, Bobcats 83; Clippers 103, Suns 86. /ap
