Best of National Basketball Association: Derrick Rose sprains ankle in Bulls’ win

Jimmy Butler scored 17 points and played tough defense on Paul George on Indiana’s final possession, helping the Bulls hold on for a 96-95 victory Monday night at Chicago. Luckily though the Pacers had a chance to steal a win, Jimmy Butler ended the Bulls second win this season with a block on a star, first against LeBron in the opener and this one against Paul George.

The Pacers have won three straight and the Bulls have won two straight. “Just kind of mixing our lineups up a little bit again, just trying to find the best five guys to go out there and get us off to a good start”, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “But he went right, pulled up and I was there to contest and got a piece of the ball”. “He just made a good defensive play”.

Bulls guard Derrick Rose scored a team-high 23 points, but he missed the final stretch of the fourth quarter due to a left ankle injury. The Pacers forward looks to have come all the way back from the devastating leg injury that cost him most of last season to regain his All-Star form; he came into Monday averaging 29.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game over the last six games, and had scored eight fourth-quarter points to get Indy within striking distance of climbing all the way out of a hole that was once 15 points deep.

Russell Westbrook finished with a double-double of 40 points and 14 assists.

Through the first half, George scored 12 points, while Miles matched his output by making four 3s, and Monta Ellis scored six and assisted on four field goals.

Boston put the game on ice by closing the third quarter with another 15-0 run, turning a 72-68 lead into an 87-68 runaway entering the fourth. He started the previous four games.

Isaiah Thomas scored 23 points and the Celtics used a 32-point third quarter to pull away and cruise to a 111-95 win over the slumping Rockets (see full recap).

Taj Gibson finished the game with nine points and McDermott had 11. As a team, IN had a workable 13, but proved too much when Chicago had only eight themselves.

The Bulls return to action against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.