Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis are starting to draw attention for their play together instead of their fight with each other.
Mirotic scored 24 points, Portis added a career-high 23 and the Bulls blew out Boston 108-85 in Chicago on Monday night with Celtics guard Kyrie Irving sidelined because of a bruised left quadriceps.
Co-owners of the NBA’s worst record with Atlanta, the host Bulls (6-20) built an 18-point lead in the second quarter against the Eastern Conference leaders. And when Boston cut the margin to 12 in the fourth, the Bulls pulled away for their third straight win.
Leading the way were two players who made headlines for all the wrong reasons before the season started.
Their fight at practice left Mirotic with facial fractures, causing him to miss the first 23 games. Portis served an eight-game suspension.
The two have played well together the past two games.
“We need to give the credit to” head coach Fred Hoiberg, Mirotic said. “Fred is the one who is making us play. He’s the guy who is calling the plays for us and putting us in the right spots to play.”
As for the fight?
“Man, that situation’s over,” Portis said. “Everybody’s talking about that, but that doesn’t matter anymore. We’re just trying to win games.”
Mirotic made his first start of the season with leading scorer Lauri Markkanen sidelined because of back spasms and shot 9-for-14 with eight rebounds. Through three games, the 6-foot-10 forward is averaging 16.3 points.
Portis went 10-for-15, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Al Horford scored 15 for Boston (23-6). Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier added 13 points apiece in the Celtics’ most lopsided loss of the season.
“Sometimes you get your butt kicked. It was simple as that,” head coach Brad Stevens said. “Chicago dictated the whole game. They played harder than we did. They played with more presence than we did. They played more competitive than we did. They played with more authority than we did. You’re not going to win many games when you play like that.”
Heat 107, Grizzlies 82: Goran Dragic scored 19 points, and Miami topped host Memphis. Miami shot 56.1 percent from the field and had seven players score in double figures in its second straight win. Josh Richardson had 17 points, and reserves Tyler Johnson and Bam Adebayo finished with 14 apiece. Memphis lost for the 15th time in 16 games. Marc Gasol scored 19 points on 5-for-14 shooting and Andrew Harrison had 16.
Hornets 116, Thunder 103: Dwight Howard scored 23 points to help visiting Charlotte beat Oklahoma City. Kemba Walker had 19 points for the Hornets. Marvin Williams scored 18, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist finished with 17 points. Russell Westbrook had 30 points and seven assists and Paul George scored 20 points for the Thunder after missing the previous two games with a right calf contusion.
Rockets 130, Pelicans 123: Clint Capela had a career-high 28 points and James Harden scored 12 straight points for host Houston in the fourth quarter as the Rockets rallied to extend their winning streak to 10 games. Jrue Holiday had a season-high 37 points for New Orleans. E'Twaun Moore had a career-high 36 points and made a career-high six three-pointers.
Clippers 96, Raptors 91: Montrezl Harrell scored 17 points and host Los Angeles rallied over the final 3:21 to beat Toronto and snap the Raptors’ six-game winning streak. DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Clippers. Their bench outscored Toronto’s reserves 50-17, led by Harrell and Lou Williams, who also had 17 points. Milos Teodosic scored 12 points in his return after missing 22 games with a left foot injury. His three-pointer with 40 seconds left extended the Clippers’ lead to 91-87. Jonas Valanciunas had 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Serge Ibaka added 17 points for the Raptors, who led by 13 points in the first half.