Jazz beat slumping Spurs, Bulls win again
The Utah Jazz upstaged the slumping San Antonio Spurs in NBA action on Monday, while the Chicago Bulls continued their good run of form.
Trey Burke starred off the bench as the Utah Jazz overcame reigning NBA champions the San Antonio Spurs 90-81.
Burke was nine-of-17 from the floor for a game-high 23 points in 28 minutes as the Jazz condemned the Spurs to a third consecutive defeat since the All-Star break.
Gordon Hayward chipped in with 18 points, while Derrick Favors had a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) for the Jazz (21-34) on home court at EnergySolutions Arena.
The slumping Spurs (34-22) were led by veterans Tim Duncan (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Boris Diaw (13 points).
Related Links
Bench players Tony Snell and Nikola Mirotic made solid contributions as the Chicago Bulls downed the Milwaukee Bucks 87-71.
All-Star centre Pau Gasol scored 15 points and collected 10 rebounds, while Jimmy Butler had 11 points for the Bulls (36-21), who have now won six of their past seven games.
But Snell (20 points) and Mirotic (16 points, 14 rebounds) provided plenty of support off the bench in the absence of reserves Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich in Chicago.
James Harden posted a triple-double as the Houston Rockets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-102.
All-Star guard Harden, who missed his first seven shots, sunk 31 points, dished off 10 assists and collected 11 rebounds to lead the Rockets (38-18) to victory against the visiting Timberwolves (12-48).
Josh Smith (17 points), Terrence Jones (15, 15 rebounds), Donatas Motiejunas (12), Corey Brewer (11) and Trevor Ariza (10) all had double-digit points for the Rockets.
Andrew Wiggins was the pick of the Timberwolves players with 30 points, while Nikola Pekovic tallied 16 points and 13 boards.
Elsewhere, Goran Dragic (23 points, 10 assists) had his first win as a Miami Heat player after helping the franchise to a 119-108 win against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The New Orleans Pelicans rallied from 18 points down to edge the Toronto Raptors 100-97.
Isaiah Thomas came back to haunt his former team, scoring 21 points off the bench as the Boston Celtics defeated the Phoenix Suns 115-110.
The Memphis Grizzlies trumped the Los Angeles Clippers 90-87 and the Denver Nuggets were routed 110-82 by the Brooklyn Nets.
