Nikola Vucevic collected 24 points and 15 rebounds and Matas Buzelis scored 24 points as the Chicago Bulls pulled away down the stretch for a 136-125 victory over the host Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Josh Giddey scored 17 points and Coby White had 13 points, six rebounds and a season-high nine assists for the Bulls, who swept their home-and-home set with the Cavaliers. Chicago won for the third time in its last 11 games.
Darius Garland paced Cleveland with a season-high 35 points and added eight assists, while Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Cavaliers have dropped nine of their past 14 games and are 1-5 on their home court since Nov. 30.
Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell, who is averaging a career-best 30.7 points with a league-high 105 3-pointers, and backup Craig Porter Jr. missed the game with illnesses. Reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley (strained left calf) remains sidelined.
A Garland 3-pointer pulled the Cavaliers even at 115-all midway through the fourth quarter, but Vucevic and Zach Collins answered with consecutive baskets to put Chicago ahead for good.
Garland later missed a 3-point attempt that could have knotted the score with 3:17 to go. He later walked off the court while the Bulls were running out the clock, reaching the tunnel when the buzzer sounded. He was still in the game at the time.
Chicago netted its largest victory margin of the season Wednesday in the opener of the back-to-back series, 127-111 behind a Giddey triple-double.
Referee crew chief Tre Maddox sustained a leg injury between the first and second quarters while running to the locker room. Ray Acosta and Phenizee Ransom worked the rest of the game as a two-man crew.
A wild third quarter saw the Bulls take their largest lead at 74-60, only to have the Cavaliers answer with a 27-11 run capped by a Nae’Qwan Tomlin 3-pointer that put them up 87-85. Allen scored 10 in the period, which ended with Chicago up 101-99.
Chicago carried a 66-55 lead into halftime as Buzelis scored 14 points and Giddey had 11 points and six rebounds. White added five points and five assists for the Bulls, while Garland had 16 points and four assists.
Garland scored 11 points and Buzelis and teammate Tre Jones had eight apiece in the first quarter, which ended in a 32-all tie. Cleveland jumped in front 11-0 with rookie Tyrese Proctor sinking two 3-pointers in his initial start, but the Bulls pulled even at 13.
Proctor finished with 16 points and six rebounds.
