Bulls trio helps top Cavaliers

Chicago snaps 4-game slide

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson, right, shoots over Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson.

CHICAGO — Carlos Boozer scored 19 points and the short-handed Chicago Bulls snapped a four-game losing streak with a 100-84 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

D.J. Augustin scored 18, Tony Snell came on strong in the second half to finish with 17 points, and Chicago prevailed after matching its longest slide in four years under coach Tom Thibodeau.

Boozer and Augustin both got off to strong starts as the Bulls built a 17-point halftime lead, and Chicago withstood several pushes down the stretch to come away with the win after dropping 13 of 16.

The Bulls shot nearly 54 percent overall and were 10 of 15 on 3-pointers against a weak defense.

Boozer hit 8 of 14 shots. Augustin converted 4 of 6 3-pointers and added 10 assists.

Snell nailed all but one of his 5 3s in the second half.

Taj Gibson scored 15 points. Joakim Noah grabbed 18 rebounds, and Chicago got a reprieve from the losing despite all its injuries.

Besides Derrick Rose, the Bulls were also missing the injured Luol Deng (sore left Achilles), Jimmy Butler (sprained right ankle), and Kirk Hinrich (back). They still had enough to beat Cleveland.

Andrew Bynum had 19 points for the Cavaliers, but Kyrie Irving had a rough night.

He finished with 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting after fighting through an illness to score 39 in Friday's overtime win over Milwaukee, and the Cavaliers lost for the third time in four games.

It didn't help that they were missing second-leading scorer Dion Waiters, who sat out his second straight game because of a sore right wrist.

The Bulls saw a 19-point lead early in the third shrink to 68-61 late in the quarter. But a basket by Gibson and back-to-back 3-pointers by Snell bumped the lead to 81-65.

The Cavaliers made another run in the fourth, cutting it to 85-76 on Matthew Dellavedova's 3, but Chicago hung on.

NOTE: Cavs’ No. 1 draft pick Anthony Bennett sat out his second straight game because of an illness.

GRIZZLIES 95, KNICKS 87

NEW YORK — Zach Randolph had 25 points and 15 rebounds as Memphis snapped a five-game losing streak.

Tony Allen added 19 points and eight rebounds. Jerryd Bayless scored 11 points, including two free throws to end a New York flurry that had trimmed a 19-point deficit to four in the final half-minute.

Mike Conley finished with nine points and eight assists after missing two games with a bruised left thigh.

Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points for the Knicks.

WIZARDS 106, CELTICS 99

BOSTON — Trevor Ariza scored 27 points and hit a 3-pointer that capped a fourth-quarter run in Washington's comeback victory over Boston.

With Washington trailing 92-84, Ariza started a 14-1 run with a jumper from the right corner. John Wall had five of his 20 points in the surge.

Avery Bradley led Boston with 26 points.

JAZZ 88, BOBCATS 85

CHARLOTTE — Trey Burke scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as Utah snapped Charlotte’s three-game winning streak.

Burke hit a 3-pointer with 1:38 left to put his team up by three and added a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining.

Gordon Hayward had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who had lost three of their past four games. Derrick Favors added 14 points.

Kemba Walker scored 20 points and Al Jefferson had 19 for the Bobcats, who were playing their fourth game in five nights. The victory would have gotten the Bobcats (13-15) back to .500.