CHICAGO (AP) — Denzel Valentine had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Nikola Mirotic had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Orlando Magic 112-94 on Wednesday night for their seventh straight win.
The Bulls had lost 10 straight with Mirotic out of the lineup prior to his return Dec. 8, and they haven’t lost since to improve to 10-20.
Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points for Orlando, which lost its sixth in a row.
Facing the league’s fourth-worst scoring defense, the Bulls took a 43-27 lead with 9:05 left in the second quarter on Mirotic’s layup, one of many easy baskets. Chicago’s strong ball movement resulted in easy looks inside and out, and the team had assists on 10 of its first 15 shots.
Robin Lopez connected on his first four attempts for a club averaging 111.1 points per contest since Mirotic returned to the lineup — up from 95.7 points in 23 games without the forward.
Injury-riddled Orlando, which played without leading scorers Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon, struggled to keep pace. The Magic made only 3 of 15 first-half 3-point tries en route to their 17th loss in 20 games.
