Matas Buzelis scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished seven assists as the host Chicago Bulls defeated the Orlando Magic 121-114 on Friday.
Kevin Huerter added 20 points and Nikola Vucevic and Jalen Smith both notched double-doubles for Chicago, which won its second game in a row and improved to 7-2 in the past nine.
Paolo Banchero put up a game-high 31 points for the Magic and Anthony Black had 18 points, but Orlando faded in the fourth quarter, shooting 33.3% in the period and 1-for-11 from long range.
Desmond Bane swished a trey to put Orlando ahead 100-95 with 10:01 remaining. The Magic went cold after that, going 2:37 without a field goal. Banchero’s driving layup tied the game at 102 before the Bulls regained control as Buzelis scored every Chicago point during a 7-2 run.
Chicago pushed the lead to as many as seven points down the stretch. The Magic pulled within three on Black’s alley-oop dunk off a feed from Banchero with 2:24 to go, but the Bulls had the answer again, scoring eight of the game’s final 12 points.
Vucevic contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago while Smith had 11 points and 10 boards. Ayo Dosunmu (17 points) and Patrick Williams (15) also finished in double figures.
Wendell Carter Jr. amassed 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic. Bane logged 14 points and Jalen Suggs chipped in 11 before departing late in the third quarter with a right knee strain.
Solid contributions from the bench buoyed the Bulls in the first half as they played the Magic to a 59-all tie.
Reserves Huerter (13 points), Dosunmu (11) and Williams (11) combined to shoot 14-for-19 from the floor.
Banchero scored Orlando’s first nine points as part of a 14-4 Magic run to open the game. He had 13 points at halftime, followed by 10 from Black.
Orlando led by as many as 13 before the break.
Buzelis’ emphatic dunk over Suggs with 7:29 left in the second quarter put the Bulls ahead 40-39 and got the crowd stirring but didn’t have the same impact on the game’s momentum. The Magic responded by scoring eight straight points in 1:02 as the game of runs continued.
–Field Level Media
