Gasol Guides Bulls Past Clippers, NBA Roundup

This time, the Chicago Bulls dug in. They let a big lead slip away in the second half, but made just enough plays down the stretch to win a game they needed in a big way.

Pau Gasol scored 24 points and the Bulls beat the Los Angeles Clippers 83-80 on Thursday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

"We have an opportunity here to do something special," Gasol said. "I would hate if we would throw it away ourselves."

The Bulls caught a big break midway through the third quarter when Clippers All-Star Blake Griffin was ejected for a hard foul against Taj Gibson, and they came away with the win after blowing a 16-point lead.

Derrick Rose banked in a floater with 45 seconds left to make it 83-77 before Los Angeles' Wesley Johnson buried a 3-pointer. The Clippers then rebounded a miss by Chicago's Jimmy Butler with 6 seconds left, but Chris Paul's tying 3-point attempt hit the rim just before the buzzer. Gasol hit a career-high three 3-pointers.

Rose came on strong down the stretch, scoring nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. He also played the second half without the protective mask he has been wearing after fracturing his left orbital on the first day of practice.

Butler, coming off a career-high 36 points against Boston the previous night, scored 14 and had a season-high eight assists. Gibson finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Thursday, December 10 Scoreboard

Brooklyn 100, Philadelphia 91
    
Chicago 83, Los Angeles 80
    
Oklahoma City 107, Atlanta 94
    
Sacramento 99, New York 97

Friday, December 11 Schedule (All Times Central)

Miami at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Cleveland at Orlando, 6 p.m.

Detroit at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Golden State at Boston, 6:30 p.m.

Milwaukee at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Charlotte at Memphis, 7 p.m.

Washington at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Minnesota at Denver, 8 p.m.

Oklahoma City at Utah, 8 p.m.

Los Angeles at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.

Portland at Phoenix, 8:30 p.m.