Depleted Cavs fall to Bulls, Thunder beaten and Curry stars in Warriors win
Jimmy Butler helped the Chicago Bulls beat reigning NBA champions and the depleted the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the Oklahoma City Thunder lost again.
Butler came up big late to lead the Bulls to a 106-94 win over the Cavs, who were without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love on Wednesday.
The Charlotte Hornets snapped a losing streak and extended the Thunder’s losing run after triumphing 123-112.
Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors outlasted the Portland Trail Blazers 125-117.
CAVS CANNOT RELY ON LEBRON
As good as LeBron James is, he does need support.
The Cavs were missing Irving due to injury and Love due to food poisoning.
And despite scoring 31 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, James and Co. could not see off the Bulls.
Butler scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to end Cleveland’s 13-game winning streak with James in the line-up.
WESTBROOK STRUGGLES FROM THE FLOOR
The All-Star scored 33 points but it papered over an otherwise difficult outing for Westbrook and Oklahoma City, who crashed to back-to-back defeats.
Westbrook finished 10-of-31 from the floor, marking the 20th game this season he has missed at least 20 shots in a game.
He was also given a technical foul for firing the ball at an inattentive official after a timeout, accidentally striking him in the head.
CURRY AND DURANT COMBINE
Reigning MVP Steph Curry and Kevin Durant came together to score a total of 65 points.
Curry added seven rebounds and five assists in his performance, while Klay Thompson (14 points) and Zaza Pachulia (13 points) made contributions.
C.J. McCollum’s 35 points were not enough for the Trail Blazers.
ANTETOKOUNMPO LIFTS BUCKS
Giannis’ game winner…#PhantomCam style!#OwnTheFuture pic.twitter.com/TRPoUu5Vam
— NBA (@NBA) January 5, 2017
MCW in traffic!#PhantomCam pic.twitter.com/FMzWDm7EGD
— NBA (@NBA) January 5, 2017
HAWKS, BUCKS WIN
The Hawks stayed hot with a 111-92 victory over the Orlando Magic, while Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to a thrilling 105-104 win against the reeling New York Knicks by scoring 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting with 13 rebounds and four assists.
The Sacramento Kings beat the Miami Heat 107-102 and the Memphis Grizzlies went down 115-106 to the Los Angeles Clippers.
THUNDER OUT TO ARREST SLUMP
The Thunder return to the court to face the in-form Houston Rockets on Thursday. The Toronto Raptors meet the Utah Jazz and the San Antonio Spurs travel to the Denver Nuggets.
