Chicago's Jimmy Butler broke Michael Jordan's team record for points in a half of NBA basketball, scoring 40 of his 42 after the break to lead the Bulls to a 115-113 win against Toronto on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
Jordan had 39 in the second half of a game against Milwaukee in 1989.
Among other results, Arron Afflalo led New York to victory over Atlanta and Miami dominated an undermanned Washington.
Chicago notched a fourth successive win as Butler shot 14 of 19 in the final two quarters after a one-for-four start.
Pau Gasol had his 17th double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds as Chicago beat Toronto for the seventh straight time.
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DeMar DeRozan led the way for the Raptors with 24 points.
New York's Afflalo scored a season-high 38 points to lead the Knicks to a 111-97 win against Atlanta.
Afflalo was 14 for 17 from the field and seven-for-eight from three-point range, making his first seven attempts and nearing his career best of 43 points.
The Knicks are 8-2 when Afflalo scores 15 or more points and 8-17 when he doesn't.
Paul Millsap scored 19 points for the Hawks.
Miami cruised to a 97-75 win against a Washington team that was as inaccurate as it was undermanned.
With just nine healthy players, Washington was outscored in the second quarter 25-7. The Wizards missed 20 of their 22 field goal attempts as the Heat took a 50-31 halftime lead.
John Wall, who led Washington with 14 points, hit just six of his 21 field goal attempts.
The Wizards shot just 34.1 per cent and their 75 points were a season low.
Chris Bosh scored 23 points and Goran Dragic had 18 for the Heat, who conceded the fewest points of their season.
Portland's C.J. McCollum had 25 points and seven assists to lead the Trail Blazers to a 112-106 win over Denver, who have lost six straight.
Los Angeles' Lou Williams scored a season-high 30 points as the Lakers won three in a row for the first time this season, beating struggling Phoenix 97-77, condemning the Suns to a ninth straight loss.
