Role Players Guide Bulls To Win, NBA Scores

All season long there's been a debate in Chicago: Are the Bulls led by homegrown star Derrick Rose, or by emerging star Jimmy Butler? On Wednesday, they were neither.

With Rose and Butler both out with injuries, the team was led by committee, a cobbled-together group of role players who stepped forward and beat the Washington Wizards 109-104.

Taj Gibson and E'Twaun Moore scored 17 for the Bulls and Tony Snell was 4 for 5 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points to lead the cast of fill-ins. Doug McDermott and Mike Dunleavy each scored 14.

"I had to look at the names on the back of the jerseys," Dunleavy joked about the Bulls' weird lineup. "I didn't even recognize some of them."

Besides missing Rose and Butler, who has missed seven games with a knee injury, the Bulls are without Nikola Mirotic, who has appendicitis, and have played since Jan. 15 without Joakim Noah because of a shoulder injury.

"It says a lot about our team, it's not just one or two guys," McDermott said. "We've got a lot of guys on this team that are capable."

Regular starter Pau Gasol, who missed practice on Tuesday and was playing with the flu, narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 15 rebounds, 10 points and nine assists in the Bulls' third straight victory.

Pacers 108, Knicks 105

Paul George needed a full three quarters to get warmed up Wednesday night.

George missed 10 of his first 15 shots before taking over the game in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of his 27 points to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 108-105 victory over the New York Knicks.

Kristaps Porzingis missed a 3-point shot that would've given the Knicks the lead with 1.9 seconds remaining. Myles Turner then made one free throw at the other end.

Carmelo Anthony missed a 3-point attempt for the tie at the buzzer from the right wing.

George, who shot 1 of 9 in the first half, had 10 points in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth. In the fourth quarter, George was 5 of 8 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw line. He scored 15 of Indiana's 28 points in the quarter.

Wednesday, February 24 Scoreboard
    
Cleveland 114, Charlotte 103
     
Indiana 108, New York 105
    
Detroit 111, Philadelphia 91

Golden State 118, Miami 112
    
Toronto 114, Minnesota 105
    
Chicago 109, Washington 104

Memphis 128, Los Angeles 119

Oklahoma City 116, Dallas 103

Denver 87, Los Angeles 81
    
Sacramento 108, San Antonio 92

Thursday, February 25 Schedule (All Times Central)

Golden State at Orlando, 6 p.m.

Milwaukee at Boston, 6:30 p.m.

Oklahoma City at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Brooklyn at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Houston at Portland, 9:30 p.m.

San Antonio at Utah, 9:30 p.m.