Chicago — The Orlando Magic took its first loss since trading away star center Dwight Howard, unable to resist a second-half surge by the Chicago Bulls in their 99-93 victory on Tuesday.
Luol Deng scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half and combined with Nate Robinson to key a 15-2 second-half burst that turned a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead.
Robinson hit two straight jumpers to put the Bulls ahead 74-70 early in the fourth quarter.
Joakim Noah had 20 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for Chicago, while Robinson added 11 points and six assists off the bench.
Arron Afflalo led the Magic with 28 points, 19 in the second half. E’Twaun Moore added a career-high 17.
Glen Davis, who entered fourth in the NBA with 25.5 points per game, scored 16 but shot just 7 of 22 and fouled out.
Nicola Vucevic had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who had won three of four in Chicago.
Orlando had started the season 2-0 after trading star center Dwight Howard to the Lakers over the summer.
Thunder 108,
Raptors 88
In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook shrugged off a sore shoulder to score 19 points and Oklahoma City cruised past Toronto.
Wearing a black padded sleeve to protect his bruised left shoulder, Westbrook held Toronto’s leading scorer, Kyle Lowry, to two points on 1-of-4 shooting. Lowry exited with 1:29 left in the second quarter with a right ankle sprain and did not return.
Serge Ibaka added 17 points for Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant and reserve Kevin Martin each scored 15.
The Thunder led by as many as 29 points and never trailed after Durant converted a pair of free throws with 7:44 remaining in the first quarter. Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks rested his starters in the fourth as the Thunder improved to 2-2 with their highest-scoring game of the season.
Jonas Valanciunas led the Raptors with 18 points.
Nuggets 109,
Pistons 97
In Denver, Andre Iguodala scored six of his 17 points over the final 3 minutes to help Denver hold off Detroit and snap a three-game skid.
The Nuggets broke out their new canary yellow uniforms for their home opener and played pretty snazzy, especially late in the third quarter when they began opening up a 17-point lead. The Pistons rallied late, before Iguodala closed the door with two baskets and a pair of free throws. He also finished with 10 rebounds.
Greg Monroe scored 27 points for the Pistons, who dropped their fourth straight. Detroit and Washington (0-2) are the only winless teams in the NBA.
The Nuggets avoided their first 0-4 start since 1998. /ap