Coby White matched a season high with 27 points and Matas Buzelis added 21 as the host Chicago Bulls defeated the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 138-110 on Tuesday, stopping the Clippers’ six-game winning streak.
Seven players scored in double figures for the Bulls, who led by as many as 31 points on the way to their third win in four games. Chicago tied a franchise best with 25 3-pointers, sparked by a 6-for-10 showing from White.
Fueled by 11 points from John Collins, LA scored 25 of the first 35 points of the third quarter. Moments after converting an alley-oop dunk off a feed from Ivica Zubac, Collins drained a 3-pointer to bring the Clippers within six points after they trailed by 21 at the break.
Chicago regrouped soon after, though, connecting on nine successive shots during one sequence as part of a 13-0 run that pushed the advantage back to 20. Five different Bulls scored during the spurt, with Buzelis leading the charge with five points.
Nikola Vucevic had 19 points for Chicago, Ayo Dosunmu followed with 18 and Tre Jones had a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists. Kevin Huerter scored 14 points and Jalen Smith had 10.
James Harden (24 points) and Collins (23) paced the Clippers. Zubac registered a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, Jordan Miller scored 12 points and TyTy Washington Jr. chipped in 11.
Smith grabbed nine boards and Jones and Vucevic snagged eight each as Chicago outrebounded LA 42-41.
The Bulls sidestepped an 0-for-5 start from the floor to shoot 49% in the first half, including 14-for-27 accuracy from deep.
That helped Chicago to a 70-49 lead at intermission behind a balanced attack from Buzelis (14 points), Dosunmu (11), and White (10).
Harden led the Clippers with 14 points at the break, though his 1-for-6 struggles from long range mirrored those of his team. LA connected on just 3 of 13 of their 3-pointers in the first half.
Chicago built some breathing room behind a 45-point second quarter that matched a season high for points in a quarter.
Clippers leading scorer Kawhi Leonard missed his third straight game with a left knee contusion. Bulls counterpart Josh Giddey (left hamstring strain) also was out while teammate Patrick Williams was sidelined with a sprained right ankle.
