The Chicago Bulls powered their way to their season-best victory Thursday with a 101-92 over the visiting Boston Celtics, Jimmy Butler leading the way with 19 points and 10 assists.
The Bulls (22-12) have now had six straight victories.
Spaniard Pau Gasol and guard Derrick Rose also shared in the glory. Gasol collected 17 points and 18 rebounds, while Rose netted 18.
The team turned an early 10-point deficit into a 48-47 halftime advantage. That's when they really began running away with the game.
The Bulls turned up their defensive heat in the third quarter, holding the Celtics 7-of-32 shooting and outscoring their guests 26-16 behind eight Gasol points, to carry a 74-63 advantage into the fourth.
The Celtics got it back to 76-70 early in the final quarter, but the Bulls did not let them enjoy the moment. Kirk Hinrich hit a 3-pointer and Doug McDermott added two more from behind the arc, making it 87-78 with six minutes remaining.
Boston clawed its way back to 87-81, but again Chicago snuffed out the comeback.
Butler made 1-of-2 free throws and Rose bookended a pair of layups around two free throws by Nikola Mirotec (11 points), quickly pushing the lead to 94-83. From then on, the Bulls stayed in front for the final three minutes for the win.
Jae Crowder scored 17 points and Kelly Olynyk had 16 with nine rebounds for the Celtics (19-17), who shot just 35.7 per cent from the field in their fourth loss in five games.
Elsewhere DeMarcus Cousins made two free throws with 6.8 seconds left to cap a 29-point, 10-rebound, seven-assist effort, helping the Kings (15-21) survive a late charge by the visiting LA Lakers in Kobe Bryant's final game in Sacramento.
The Lakers trailed 90-63 midway through the third quarter, but went on a furious 46-18 tear, capped by Jordan Clarkson's running jumper to go ahead 109-108 with 3:50 remaining.
The Kings regained the lead, 116-115 on a Rajon Rondo floater in the lane with 21.7 ticks to go. He then poked the ball away from Clarkson at the other end, leading to Cousins' free throws.
The Lakers had a shot to send the game into overtime, but Lou Williams' 3-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer.
Bryant topped the Lakers (8-29) with 28 points and rookie D'Angelo Russell added a career-best 27, but left the game with 1:46 remaining after suffering a right ankle sprain.
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