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CHICAGO \u2013 Josh Giddey scored a career-high 32 points and Nikola Vucevic added 26 as the Chicago Bulls remained unbeaten with a 135-125 win over the visiting New York Knicks on Oct 31 in the NBA Cup opener for both squads.<\/p>\n
At 5-0, the Bulls are off to their best start since the 1996-97 campaign when Michael Jordan led them to the title. Chicago are one of three remaining unbeaten National Basketball Association (NBA) teams but the only one left in the East.<\/p>\n
Australian guard Giddey was quoted by ESPN as saying: \u201cWe feel good as a group of where we\u2019re at right now, but there\u2019s a long way to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery night, there\u2019s different guys making plays and stepping up. We\u2019ve got a bunch of guys \u2013 six, seven guys averaging double figures. That kind of speaks volumes to how deep we are as a team and the impact we\u2019re getting across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giddey had 21 points in the first half on seven-of-10 shooting, including four-of-five from three-point range.<\/p>\n
The Bulls led by as many as 22 in the second quarter before New York rallied to pull within 115-113 on O.G. Anunoby\u2019s three-pointer with 5:43 left in the contest.<\/p>\n
Vucevic scored eight points during a 13-3 run to help Chicago move ahead 128-116 with 1:44 remaining. Jalen Brunson scored to make it an eight-point game with 58 seconds left before the Bulls went on to seal coach Billy Donovan\u2019s 200th victory with the team.<\/p>\n
Said Donovan: \u201cThe mentality that they believe, which I think is very, very powerful, I think when there\u2019s belief it\u2019s really, really powerful.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s good connection. They\u2019ve got good relationships. They all can talk to each other. I think there\u2019s a lot of positive things that they have that really go into winning.<\/p>\n
Ayo Dosunmu (22), Matas Buzelis (13), Kevin Huerter (12) and Jalen Smith (10) also finished in double figures for Chicago. Giddey added 10 rebounds and nine assists.<\/p>\n
Brunson scored 29 points for the Knicks, who have lost three straight. Anunoby had 26 points while Mikal Bridges had 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 10 rebounds.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Jaylen Brown scored 32 points as the Boston Celtics knocked Philadelphia from the ranks of the unbeaten 109-108 as the NBA Cup in-season tournament began.<\/p>\n
The Celtics avenged a 117-116 loss to the 76ers in their opener at Boston and improved to 3-3 while dropping the host Sixers to 4-1.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust grit. I think we just slugged it out,\u201d said Brown, whose 13-of-19 shooting including four-of-seven from three-point range. \u201cWe made a bunch of mistakes but we found a way to win in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Memphis, Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka Doncic, sidelined a week ago with a left finger sprain and lower left leg bruise, scored 44 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and passed off six assists in a triumphant return with a 117-112 victory against the Grizzlies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very happy to see him back,\u201d Lakers standout Austin Reaves said. \u201cHe has the capability of putting a team on his back and I think he did that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points, including the game-winning basket with 0.4 of a second remaining, and James Harden added 24 to give the Los Angeles Clippers a 126-124 home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.<\/p>\n
In other notable ties on Oct 31, Portland\u2019s Jerami Grant sank two free throws with 1.4 seconds to play to give the Trail Blazers a 109-107 home victory over the Denver Nuggets.<\/p>\n
The Nuggets got 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists from Nikola Jokic, his streak of four straight triple-doubles to start the season ending in the defeat. REUTERS, AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Australian guard tallies a career-high 32 points in the 135-125 NBA Cup win over the New York Knicks. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":116117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n