DeRozan shines in double-overtime Bulls win, stellar Kyrie performance lifts the Mavericks

By Sports Desk March 18, 2023

The Chicago Bulls rode DeMar DeRozan's best game of the season to a thrilling 139-131 double-overtime home victory on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

DeRozan scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-tying basket to force overtime with 20 seconds remaining. He added nine more in the overtime periods, giving him a season-high 49 points on 15-of-25 shooting, including 17-of-18 from the free throw line.

The six-time All-Star logged 52 minutes of action – the third-most of any player this season (Immanuel Quickley 55; Luka Doncic 53) – while chipping in 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals and only one turnover.

His partner-in-crime Zach LaVine was playing a supporting role through three quarters, but he rose to the occasion from that point on, helping the Bulls claw back from a 10-point deficit with 10 minutes remaining.

LaVine had 12 in the fourth quarter, made the shot to force a second overtime, and kept it going with the Bulls' first five points of the final period. He ended up with 39 on identical shooting to DeRozan (15-of-25 from the field), continuing his excellent form since the All-Star break.

He came into Friday's contest averaging 30.7 points while shooting 54.8 per cent from the field, 47.5 per cent from deep and 91.5 per cent from the free throw line in the nine games since the break.

For the Timberwolves, Kyle Anderson put up his second triple-double from the past three games with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, while Rudy Gobert posted 21 points (eight-of-14) and 19 rebounds.

But the big story out of Minnesota will be the health of franchise player Anthony Edwards, after he went down with what looked like a serious ankle injury in the first half.

The win keeps the Bulls (32-37) just a half-game inside the play-in tournament placings.

Kyrie puts away the Lakers

The Dallas Mavericks have won back-to-back games for the first time in over a month after a buzzer-beating 111-110 road win against the Los Angeles Lakers.

They were buoyed by the return of Kyrie Irving after a three-game injury absence, and he dominated the contest with a game-high 38 points on 14-of-23 shooting, with six rebounds and six assists.

Anthony Davis was strong for the Lakers with a team-high 26 points (nine-of-14), but a missed free throw with six seconds remaining meant his side only led by two instead of three. That proved to be the difference as Irving found Maxi Kleber for the game-winning three-pointer.

A win would have pulled the Lakers up into a tie for eighth, and left them just one game out of the six seed, but instead they fell to 34-37 and are in a tie for the 10th seed.

Tatum and Brown deliver another Celtics win

All-Star Boston Celtics duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 61 points as they overcame the Portland Trail Blazers 126-112 on the road.

The Celtics had to deal with another big Damian Lillard outburst as he piled on a game-high 41 points (12-of-23 shooting), although his seven turnovers hurt the Blazers.

Tatum shot eight-of-20 and 16-of-18 from the free throw line for his team-high 34 points and 12 rebounds, while Brown was 12-of-23 for 27 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Veteran center Al Horford finished one assist shy of his career-high with 10.

The win is the Celtics' fourth from their past five games, pulling them to within 1.5 games of the Eastern Conference leading Milwaukee Bucks.

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    Thompson finished with 22 points in an emotional return to Chase Center for the first time since he departed to join Dallas in July.

    Luka Dončić started and had 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists after the team decided his left groin strain was healthy to play once he went through his warmup routine.

    The Warriors gifted captain hats to fans in a tribute to Thompson's tradition of taking his boat across the bay to games. Thompson embraced Curry shortly before tipoff and his 3-pointer gave Dallas a 110-105 lead before his old Splash Brother took over.

    Curry shot 14 for 27 with five 3s and added nine assists and six rebounds, also sparking a 20-3 burst to begin the third quarter.

    Dereck Lively II, questionable to play because of a sprained right shoulder, contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for Dallas, which committed 18 turnovers, leading to 21 Warriors points.

    Golden State got 16 points from Jonathan Kuminga and 14 from Buddy Hield.

    Curry fouled Thompson 15 seconds into the game and Thompson scored the initial two points of the contest at the free-throw line. But Thompson missed his initial two field-goal attempts before knocking down a 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining in the opening quarter.

     

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    Brown scored a season-high 37 points and Derrick White added 31 for Boston as it opened the in-season tournament on a green floor with a special parquet design. The defending NBA champions had a two-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the third time this season.

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    "It's great. We're playing well, vibes are good, but we have to continue to be this team," Mitchell added.

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    "We're going to get teams' best shots. We're going to get tested early, but are we going to continue? No doubt we will, [but] are we going to continue to be this team January, February, March, April?

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