Norman Powell scored 25 points and rookie Caleb Wilson added 21 as the visiting Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 132-125 in an NBA game. Chicago had fallen behind by 15 points after the first quarter, but it pulled away in the closing stages to secure the win.
Leonard Miller scored 19 points for Chicago, while Jalen Smith contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Bulls had suffered a 43-point defeat to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, and they responded with a far more competitive performance in Milwaukee.
Bulls overturn Bucks lead in a tense second half
Milwaukee started quickly, with Tyler Herro hitting a three-pointer less than five minutes in to put the Bucks up 19-6. Green sank a late three in the first quarter to extend the home side’s advantage to 32-17. Matas Buzelis then dunked to cut the gap to seven, but Kasparas Jakucionis and Rollins made consecutive threes that pushed Milwaukee’s lead to 44-31 with 8:35 left in the first half.
Chicago responded with a 16-0 run, and Buddy Hield’s three-pointer gave the Bulls a 55-51 lead. Kyle Kuzma’s layup with three seconds left in the half gave the Bucks a 62-61 edge at the break. Buddy Hield finished with 13 points for Chicago, Isaac Okoro had 12, and Tre Jones added 11 points and eight assists.
The Bucks restored a five-point lead in the third quarter, with rookie Brayden Burries making a three-pointer and Kel’el Ware scoring near the rim to put them ahead with 2:55 left. Smith then beat the buzzer with a dunk that reduced the deficit to 104-102 going into the final quarter. Chicago opened the fourth by scoring the first six points, and Wilson’s slam gave the Bulls a 108-104 lead.
Hield’s three-pointer later stretched Chicago’s advantage to eight with 7:19 remaining. Herro then made back-to-back threes when Milwaukee trailed by five, returning the lead to the Bucks. Wilson made two free throws to put the Bulls back in front at 124-123 with 1:16 left.
Jones picked off a pass from Ryan Rollins, and Wilson added two more foul shots to make it a three-point game. A missed three by Herro and two free throws from Powell gave Chicago a five-point cushion with 20 seconds left. Wilson’s steal and Jones’s two free throws closed out the victory.
Herro led all scorers for Milwaukee with 34 points, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Kuzma scored 14 and Myles Turner had 12, while Rollins, AJ Green and Ware each scored 11. The loss was Milwaukee’s second straight to open the season.
Hawks rout Hornets as Celtics edge Knicks
Atlanta routed the Charlotte Hornets 128-81 in a game that produced the biggest margin of victory in Hawks history. Jalen Johnson and reserve Aaron Wiggins each scored 19 points. The 47-point gap surpassed the previous club record of 46, set in a 126-80 win over the Sacramento Kings in 2017.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 14 points, CJ McCollum had 13, and Dyson Daniels produced 11 points, nine rebounds and seven steals. Corey Kispert also scored 11. Atlanta has now won its first two games of the season.
It was a difficult home opener for Charlotte, which committed 27 turnovers. Naz Reid led the Hornets with 17 points, and Grayson Allen scored 11 off the bench in his home debut, as did Tidjane Salaun. The score reached 97-62 by the end of the third quarter, and Charlotte did not reach double figures in the fourth quarter for about six and a half minutes.
In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 36 points, including nine late in the fourth quarter, as the Celtics held off a late comeback attempt by the visiting New York Knicks to win 107-103. Tatum also grabbed nine rebounds and handed out seven assists. Paul George and Neemias Queta each scored 15 points, and Derrick White added 12.
New York, which won the NBA title last season, lost its first two games. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds, OG Anunoby had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Josh Hart posted 10 points and 12 rebounds. Miles McBride scored 20 points off the bench, and Jalen Brunson added 19.
Boston led by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter before the Knicks went on a 9-0 run. Towns’s dunk brought New York within 94-91 with 4:09 left, but Tatum answered with a layup. Brunson’s fallaway jumper cut the margin to 99-98 with 1:41 remaining, yet Tatum scored over Hart and later hit a corner fallaway that pushed the lead to 103-98. Payton Pritchard sealed the result with free throws in the final seconds.
Lakers hold off Clippers in Los Angeles matchup
Austin Reaves scored 28 points and added nine assists, while Luka Doncic had 23 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 125-117. The Lakers used a third-quarter surge to stay unbeaten through two games. Walker Kessler scored 22 points, and Ziaire Williams added 14.
Kessler shot 10 of 14 from the floor and has made 22 of 26 shots across two games since a trade from the Utah Jazz in July. The Lakers recorded 13 steals and forced 26 Clippers turnovers, which they converted into 33 points. Doncic committed 11 turnovers, and Kessler and Quentin Grimes each pulled down eight rebounds.
Darius Garland led the Clippers with 26 points, and Brook Lopez added 22. The result ended Los Angeles’s perfect start on the road. The Lakers scored 39 points in the third quarter while shooting 72.7 percent from the floor, after a Matisse Thybulle three-pointer sparked a 14-1 run that gave them a 91-77 lead.
The Clippers responded with an 8-0 run to close within 119-113 on a Garland three-pointer with 3:21 to play. Grimes then sealed the game with two free throws with 40.9 seconds remaining, making it 125-117.
