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Bulls

Amidst a multitude of former and current NBA stars, the basketball world celebrated and honored the career of Goran Dragic in a heartfelt farewell game in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Dubbed the &lsquo;Night of the Dragon&rsquo;, Dragic played a charity basketball game in his home country with fellow Slovenian and NBA player Luka Doncic. Dragic&rsquo;s former teammates and NBA legends Steve Nash (Phoenix) and Chris Bosh (Miami) were also in attendance while European stars Dirk Nowitzki and NBA MVP Nikola Jokic were on Doncic&rsquo;s team.&nbsp;
Proceeds from the charity game and adjacent events went toward the Botrstvo v sportu program of the Friends of Youth Foundation Ljubljana Moste-Polje and the Goran Dragic Foundation.
&ldquo;The Dragon&rdquo; also played a 1v1 against his brother Zoran Dragic in a wholesome moment with a mini-soccer game and on-court moments with his family also taking place, making the event memorable and meaningful for Dragic, who retired from the NBA a year ago.&nbsp;
Dragic had a lengthy career in the NBA, spending seasons with the Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, and the Miami Heat. He was also a legend in the Slovenian basketball scene, having led Slovenia to a historic EuroBasket 2017. Dragic became an all-star in Miami and was a key cog in the team&rsquo;s historic run to the 2020 NBA Finals.&nbsp;
The former second-round pick averaged between 16 and 21 points per game in five different seasons while playing 946 total games. His 4,405 career assists rank 97th all-time. Dragic&rsquo;s No. 3 is retired by the Slovenian basketball team.

Amidst former and current NBA stars, the basketball world celebrated and honored the career of Goran Dragic.

Former and current NBA stars come out to support Goran Dragic’s farewell game

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; The Boston Celtics were a tenth of a second away from elimination. The Miami Heat were a tenth of a second from the NBA Finals.
Derrick White owned that final moment.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1662660685023657984?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">White scored on a putback as time expired</a>&nbsp;and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 on Saturday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.
&ldquo;Derrick White, like a flash of lightning, just came out of nowhere and saved the day, man,&rdquo; Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown said. &ldquo;An incredible play.&rdquo;
White knew it was good. Referees reviewed it, but it didn&rsquo;t take long to give the official word.
Elation for Boston. Devastation for Miami.
&ldquo;Ball came to me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I made the shot.&rdquo;
Perhaps Boston will call it The Shot.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
DERRICK WHITE JUST SENT THE CELTICS TO GAME SEVEN ARE YOU KIDDING ME 😱😱😱 <a href="https://t.co/CwWBN9FcKM">pic.twitter.com/CwWBN9FcKM</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1662658954256687104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2023</a></blockquote>

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White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beater with his team trailing and facing elimination &mdash; Michael Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Shot&rdquo; for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989 being the other.
&ldquo;I was just happy,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Season was on the line. We don&rsquo;t want to go home.&rdquo;
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Brown scored 26 and Marcus Smart added 21 for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game. The others in that club &mdash; the 1951 New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, the 1994 Denver Nuggets in the second round and the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers in the first round &mdash; all lost Game 7, all on the road.
Boston, however, is going home for its shot at history. Game 7 is Monday night on the Celtics&rsquo; floor, a matchup that&rsquo;ll decide who meets the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets in a title series that will start Thursday.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a seven-game series,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing better than Game 7s.&rdquo;
Jimmy Butler made three free throws with 3.0 seconds left &mdash; the foul was originally called with 2.1 seconds left; referees put 0.9 seconds back on after reviewing the play to see if it was a 3-point try that Al Horford fouled him on &mdash; for a one-point Heat lead. It capped a Miami rally from 10 points down with less than 4 minutes remaining.
The Celtics had White inbound the ball on the game&rsquo;s final possession, and he passed to Smart &mdash; who missed a 3-pointer. But White sprinted from the inbound spot to the rim, the ball fell into his hands and he got the lay-in away just before time ran out to extend Boston&rsquo;s season.
There had been other buzzer-beaters from players whose teams were facing an elimination game, but before Saturday, only Jordan&rsquo;s came with his team trailing.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked what went through his mind at that moment.
&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;Game 7.&rdquo;
Butler scored 24 points and Caleb Martin had 21 for the Heat, who are trying to pull off their own improbable trek to the title series by being only the second No. 8 seed to make the NBA Finals. They&rsquo;ve now lost as many games this week &mdash; three &mdash; as they had in their first 14 playoff games this spring combined on the way to ousting No. 1 Milwaukee, then No. 5 New York and taking what was supposed to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the second-seeded Celtics.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to go on the road and do something special,&rdquo; Butler said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got a special group.&rdquo;
The Celtics have now won five of their last six East finals games in Miami &mdash; a stretch that includes a Game 7 over the Heat last season to reach the NBA Finals.
That one, obviously, ended the Heat season. At least this time, Miami still has a chance.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how we&rsquo;re going to get this done, but we&rsquo;re going to go out there and get it done,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what the next 48 hours is about. There&rsquo;s been nothing easy about this season for our group, and so we just have to do it the hard way.&rdquo;
The Heat are the 151st team to grab a 3-0 series lead in a best-of-seven. All 150 of the previous clubs finished the job. But the Celtics have made very clear that they have other ideas, and Mazzulla listed a lot of reasons why.
&ldquo;Faith. Love. Togetherness. Physicality. Belief. Hope.&rdquo; Mazzulla said. &ldquo;All those things combined. It starts with the locker room. Those guys had a choice to make and they chose to believe in each other.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: The Celtics are 5-0 when facing elimination this season, 3-0 on the road. They beat Philadelphia twice on their way to erasing a 3-2 lead in the East finals, and now have tied this series. &hellip; Malcolm Brogdon (right forearm strain) was downgraded to out about an hour before game time. ... White scored 11 for the Celtics, and Robert Williams III had 10.
Heat: Gabe Vincent scored 15, Duncan Robinson scored 13 and Bam Adebayo added 11 for Miami. ... Diddy was at the game, as was former Heat guard Goran Dragic and Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk. &hellip; Unless Miami wins Game 7 at Boston, it may have been the final home game of Heat forward Udonis Haslem&rsquo;s 20-year career. The Heat are 613-297 in the 910 games in their home arena with Haslem on the roster; that doesn&rsquo;t include the restart bubble&rsquo;s home games in 2020.
GAME 7 HISTORY
The Celtics are 27-9 in Game 7s, winners of their last four &mdash; including one in Miami last season and one earlier this season, against Philadelphia in the East semifinals. They&rsquo;re 1-1 against the Heat all-time in such games (losing the 2012 East finals deciding game in Miami), and 22-5 at home in Game 7.
The Heat are 6-5 all-time in Game 7s, losing their last two (home vs. Boston in 2022, at Toronto in 2016), and are 0-2 when facing such a game on the road. Besides the Raptors game seven years ago, they lost a Game 7 at Atlanta in 2009.

The Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA history, holding off the Heat 104-103 on Saturday to force a Game 7

White’s putback as time expires lifts Celtics past Heat, forces Game 7

Spencer Davies speaks with Taqwa Pinero about his life journey and how he's preparing both the future and current hoop generations.

Taqwa Pinero's knowledge is its own currency, and he's paying it forward

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists just hours after his most recent technical foul and one-game suspension were rescinded Monday by the NBA and led the Dallas Mavericks past the Indiana Pacers 127-104.
The Mavericks snapped a four-game losing streak and remained in contention in the race for one of the final two play-in spots in the Western Conference. Kyrie Irving added 16 points and six assists for Dallas.
Indiana was led by Bennedict Mathurin, who scored 22 points, and Andrew Nembhard, who had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists on a night the Pacers were missing three starters and a key backup. The Pacers have lost three straight and six of eight as they move closer to locking up a lottery pick.
Doncic had picked up his 16th technical that was rescinded on Sunday in the team&rsquo;s second loss to Charlotte. The technical came with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter of a 110-104 loss when Doncic argued a no-call after missing a shot on a drive to the basket. Crew chief Kevin Scott said in a pool report after the game that Doncic used &ldquo;a profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review.&rdquo;
TIMBERWOLVES 119, KINGS 115
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Jaden McDaniels scored 20 points and Minnesota spoiled Sacramento&rsquo;s bid to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2006, the longest playoff drought in NBA history.
The Timberwolves won their fourth straight and completed a sweep of a back-to-back set at Golden State and Sacramento to tie the Warriors for sixth place in the Western Conference playoff race.
Naz Reid scored 18 points, Anthony Edwards had 17 and Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 16 rebounds in the win.
De&rsquo;Aaron Fox scored 29 points and Domantas Sabonis added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento, which shot 5 of 26 from 3-point distance.
The Kings will look to clinch a playoff berth when they travel to Portland for two games, starting Wednesday.
CLIPPERS 124, BULLS 112
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Nicolas Batum got all of his season-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers, and Eric Gordon added 22 points as Los Angeles beat Chicago.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points as the Clippers rebounded from an embarrassing loss to New Orleans with 20 3-pointers in an impressive outside shooting display led by Batum.
Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 10 assists and five rebounds as Los Angeles (40-36) kept hold of fifth place in the Western Conference standings and moved a half-game behind fourth-place Phoenix.
Zach LaVine scored 23 points and Nikola Vucevic had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who followed up their impressive win over the Lakers on Sunday with a dud.
NUGGETS 116, 76ERS 111
DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic recorded his 29th triple double of the season and Denver beat short-handed Philadelphia in a game Joel Embiid sat out with a sore right calf.
That scuttled the highly anticipated showdown between MVP front-runners that many felt could have decided whether Embiid, the runner-up the last two years, denies Jokic a third consecutive award. With Embiid in the locker room, Jokic scored 25 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and dished out 12 assists.
Tyrese Maxey scored 23 of his 29 points in the first half as the Sixers dropped their third straight.
PELICANS 124, TRAIL BLAZERS 90
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Ingram scored 29 points and New Orleans routed short-handed Portland.
CJ McCollum, who played nine seasons with the Blazers before he was traded to the Pelicans last season, added 17 points. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 10 points and 21 rebounds, and New Orleans led by as many as 36.
Keon Johnson had 20 points off the bench for the Blazers, who have lost nine of 10 and will, in all likelihood, miss the playoffs for the second straight season &mdash; although they have not been mathematically eliminated. Most of their regular starters were out with injuries, including top scorer Damian Lillard (right calf), Jerami Grant (bruised left quad), Jusuf Nurkic (right knee) and Anfernee Simons (right foot).
SUNS 117, JAZZ 103
SAT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker scored 24 points and Phoenix reserves sparked the decisive run in a win over Utah.
Deandre Ayton had 14 points after missing four games with a bruised hip. But a trio off the bench was pivotal for Phoenix: Terrence Ross had 13 points, Cameron Payne added 12 and Bismack Biyombo scored 11.
The Suns (40-35) had lost four in a row on the road. But with this victory they sit more securely in the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoff race &mdash; which would give them home-court advantage in the first round.
Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points for Utah, but shot 6 for 22. Walker Kessler had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Jazz (35-40), who have lost four straight. Kessler also matched a career high with seven blocks.
KNICKS 137, ROCKETS 115
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 40 points and Julius Randle had 26 as New York snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Houston.
RJ Barrett added 19 points, Obi Toppin had 15 and Quinten Grimes scored 14 for the Knicks.
Quickley connected on 14 of 18 shots from the field and added nine assists. He started in place of Jalen Brunson, who missed his second straight game with a bruised right hand.
Kevin Porter Jr. led the Rockets with 26 points. Jalen Green had 19 and Kenyon Martin Jr. added 18 as Houston dropped its sixth straight game.
BUCKS 126, PISTONS 117
DETROIT (AP) &mdash; Khris Middleton scored 34 points against the team that drafted him and Milwaukee beat Detroit without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee improved to an NBA-best 54-21 despite the absences of Antetokounmpo (knee) and Jae Crowder (calf). Goran Dragic made his Bucks debut after signing with the team on March 4, but didn&rsquo;t score in nine minutes.
Brook Lopez had 24 points and 14 rebounds, Bobby Portis added 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Jevon Carter scored 22.
The Pistons got 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from Jaden Ivey, but lost their sixth straight game and 17th of 18. They are 1-13 against Central Division opponents.

A recap of Monday's slate of NBA games includes Doncic keeping the Mavs playoff hopes alive and a fourth straight Wolves win.

Luka Doncic powers Mavericks to 127-104 win over Pacers

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been indicted by a grand jury on capital murder charges for the January shooting death of a 23-year-old woman near campus, defense lawyers confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday.
Miles was charged with capital murder in the shooting death of Jamea Harris, his defense lawyer Mary Turner told the AP. Michael Davis, who police investigators said was the triggerman, was also indicted, his lawyer, John Charles Robbins, said.
Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.al.com/alabamabasketball/2023/03/former-ua-basketball-player-darius-miles-friend-michael-davis-indicted-in-the-strip-shooting-death-of-jamea-jonae-harris.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told AL.com that the indictments against Miles and Davis, who&rsquo;ve been held without bond since their arrest, were issued on Wednesday</a>.
Harris was sitting in a car when she was struck by a bullet. A police investigator testified last month that Miles provided the handgun Davis allegedly used in the shooting.
During a court hearing last month, Turner suggested Miles was in a defensive posture when he told Davis where the gun was located.
But prosecutors maintained there was ample evidence to pursue charges in the shooting, which happened early Jan. 15 on &ldquo;The Strip,&rdquo; a district of bars and restaurants near the Tuscaloosa campus. Testimony at the hearing last month indicated there had been some type of verbal altercation before the shooting.
The Turner Law Group, which is representing Miles, issued a statement Friday, saying they were disappointed by the decision to pursue capital murder charges &ldquo;considering the evidence uncovered during our investigation and the obvious weaknesses in the government&rsquo;s case brought to light during the preliminary hearing.&rdquo;
Davis maintains he is innocent, Robbins, his attorney, said. &ldquo;I look forward to the opportunity to vigorously defend Michael at trial and to defend his right to protect himself when somebody points a gun at him and shoots him,&rdquo; Robbins said.
Miles was a reserve on the Crimson Tide, but an ankle injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-sports-crime-alabama-crimson-tide-top-25-college-basketball-today-b7fb03d271a2fb7a99076f34e2565b08" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After he was charged in January, Alabama said he was &ldquo;removed from campus&rdquo; and the team.</a>
During the February court hearing, Tuscaloosa Police investigator Brandon Culpepper testified that Miles texted Tide freshman basketball star Brandon Miller to bring him his gun. Police have said another player, guard Jaden Bradley, also was at the scene.
Neither Miller nor Bradley have been charged with anything.
&ldquo;This whole situation is just really heartbreaking, but respectfully that&rsquo;s all I&rsquo;m going to be able to say on that,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/alabama-brandon-miller-8180ff86600e1204bcb80a222d2144ad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miller told reporters</a>&nbsp;Wednesday in his first public comments about the case.
Both Miller and Bradley have continued to play as the No. 4-ranked team in the country makes its way through the Southeastern Conference Tournament ahead of the NCAA Tournament. Miller scored 18 points and had nine rebounds in Friday&rsquo;s SEC quarterfinal win over Mississippi State.
In the postgame news conference, Miller was asked his thoughts on the indictment. He said, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t &mdash; I&rsquo;m not going to be able to say on that.&rdquo;
Coach Nate Oats was asked whether he has a weapons policy for his team, and said that &ldquo;our players are required to follow the university policy on guns, which essentially bans them on campus.&rdquo;
He also was asked who was involved in deciding whether Miller and Bradley could continue to play.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a difficult situation, as you understand. I mean, we&rsquo;re dealing with a criminal matter,&rdquo; Oats said, adding that as the school received &ldquo;facts from law enforcement as they do their investigation,&rdquo; &ldquo;this was a decision made, based on all the facts we had, with, obviously, my boss, (Director of Athletics) Greg Byrne; his boss, (President) Dr. (Stuart) Bell; and the Board of Trustees.
&ldquo;And everybody was comfortable, and based on the information we had, Brandon didn&rsquo;t break any school policy or team policy, so ... I was comfortable with the decision that was made.&rdquo;
Harris&rsquo; mother told reporters last month that she is frustrated by the focus on basketball instead of her daughter&rsquo;s death. She said her daughter was a beautiful person who was trying to have a night out with friends when she was killed.
&ldquo;She has a 5-year-old son that is still waiting for his mother to come home,&rdquo; DeCarla Heard told reporters. &ldquo;I want justice for my grandson.&rdquo;
Oats was asked Friday whether he has spoken to Harris&rsquo; family.
&ldquo;Listen, this whole situation has been, obviously, as you know, hard to deal with, tragic, to have any involvement in a young woman losing her life. What you ask is a private matter. I&rsquo;m not going to discuss publicly with everybody,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A lot of this is just hard to deal with, to be honest with you. But it&rsquo;s a private matter.&rdquo;

Former Alabama player Darius Miles was indicted by a grand jury on capital murder charges after shooting a 23-year-old lady in January.

Ex-Alabama player Darius Miles indicted on capital murder charges

MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; The NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks have signed veteran guard Goran Dragic as they continue adding depth to prepare for the postseason.
Dragic, 36, had averaged 6.4 points, 2.7 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 15.4 minutes in 51 games with the Chicago Bulls before getting waived on Tuesday. The 6-foot-3 guard was an All-Star with the Miami Heat in 2018 and a third-team All-NBA selection with the Phoenix Suns in 2014.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great point guard, can score and set the table,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Saturday night after his team&rsquo;s 133-130 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s competitive, smart, so we&rsquo;re excited to add him to our group.&rdquo;
Dragic has 60 games of playoff experience.
He has career averages of 13.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3 rebounds in 939 career regular-season games with 530 starts.
Dragic is the third player Milwaukee has added over the last month from the Miami Heat team that defeated the top-seeded Bucks in the 2020 Eastern Conference semifinals. Jae Crowder and Meyers Leonard also were part of that Heat squad.&nbsp;

Dragic has career averages of 13.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3 rebounds in 939 career regular-season games with 530 starts.

Bucks sign veteran Goran Dragic to add depth to backcourt

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 23 points, had a season-high 13 assists and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/Bucks/status/1632576321544138753?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebounded his intentionally missed shot</a>&nbsp;with a second left for his fourth-triple double of the season as the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards 117-111 on Sunday night.
Jevon Carter added 20 points while shooting 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, and Jrue Holiday scored 19 in Milwaukee&rsquo;s victory a night after a home loss to Philadelphia snapped a 16-game win streak.
It was just about over when Antetokounmpo dribbled to the basket and lightly tossed the ball off the backboard to himself for his 10th rebound.
&ldquo;I was thinking about scoring the ball, but I feel like in those situations it&rsquo;s best to kind of keep the ball,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;But yeah, I just try to play the game smart and kind of stole one.&rdquo;
The Bucks made 22 of their 49 attempts beyond the arc, the most allowed by the Wizards this season, while moving 1 1/2 games in front of Boston for first in the Eastern Conference.
&ldquo;We feel like we&rsquo;ve got a lot of depth,&rdquo; said Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer, who had six players hit multiple 3s. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot of guys that are good shooters that can get hot from the 3-point line. So that&rsquo;s part of a good team and being able to play on back-to-backs and make it through the season and be prepared for the playoffs.&rdquo;
Bradley Beal scored 33 points for the Wizards, who remain 10th in the East and in line for the final play-in tournament spot. Kristaps Porzingis added 24 points and 14 rebounds for Washington, which lost for the second time at home in two nights.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with how hard we played and the product we&rsquo;re giving our fans,&rdquo; Porzingis said after Washington overcame an early 17-point deficit to make the game competitive. &ldquo;Even though we had these two tough losses, I think it&rsquo;s something positive we can take from these games.&rdquo;
The Wizards gradually whittled away at the Bucks&rsquo; 11-point halftime lead and finally went in front following a during a run that stretched across the late third and early fourth quarter.
The Bucks responded by making five consecutive baskets, including two 3s each from Carter and Grayson Allen to retake the lead. Then Allen and Joe Ingles hit from beyond the arc again during another 12-4, game-sealing stretch.
&ldquo;It was just taking the ones that was there,&rdquo; Carter said. &ldquo;It felt like when I was bringing it down, they just kept backing up, so I just was going to be aggressive in taking the shot.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Bucks: Rested forward Khris Middleton (right knee) after he played 27 minutes in Saturday&rsquo;s loss to Philadelphia. ... Had two baskets before halftime that were originally called 2-pointers upgraded to 3-pointers following video review.
Wizards: Sat F Kyle Kuzma after he injured his right knee in a collision in Saturday&rsquo;s overtime loss to Toronto. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just got to give it a day or two to calm down,&rdquo; said Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. ... Unseld challenged Porzingis&rsquo; foul on Antetokounmpo with 8:19 to play in the third quarter, but it was upheld.
GORAN PLACES
The Bucks signed 14-year veteran Goran Dragic on Saturday as their third point guard, and on Sunday Budenholzer weighed in.
&ldquo;To get someone of Goran&rsquo;s quality, we feel very, very fortunate,&rdquo; Budenholzer said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t have anything to do with the (regular season) schedule. It&rsquo;s the playoffs and having your best team, and your deepest team. And to have as much coverage as possible for every scenario.&rdquo;
The 36-year-old Dragic averaged 15.4 minutes, 6.7 points and 2.7 assists in 51 games before the Chicago Bulls waived him on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Bucks: Visit Orlando on Tuesday
Wizards: Visit Detroit on Tuesday

The NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards 117-111 on Sunday night, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis triple-double helps Bucks outlast Wizards 117-111

TORONTO (AP) &mdash; Pascal Siakam scored 20 points, Gary Trent Jr. had 19 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls 104-98 on Tuesday night for their eighth victory in 10 games.
O.G. Anunoby added 17 points and Jakob Poeltl had 14 to help the Raptors win their fourth straight at home, matching their longest streak of the season.
Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls with 23 points and Zach LaVine had 17. DeMar DeRozan scored 13 points against his former team as Chicago fell to 10-21 on the road.
The Bulls had won back-to-back home games after losing six straight before the All-Star break, holding both Brooklyn and Washington below 90 points, but couldn&rsquo;t keep that streak going north of the border.
Toronto had 94 field goal attempts to Chicago&rsquo;s 71 and outrebounded the Bulls 47-35, including a 19-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
&ldquo;They have size everywhere,&rdquo; Bulls coach Billy Donovan said about the Raptors. &ldquo;We did get hurt, no question, on the glass.&rdquo;
The Bulls shot 37 for 71 overall and went 10 for 25 from 3-point range, but had 20 turnovers that led to 21 points for Toronto.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to put up points in a game like that with what we did,&rdquo; Donovan said. &ldquo;I thought we were trying to play the right way and we were trying do the right things. We just didn&rsquo;t execute as well as we needed to.&rdquo;
Vucevic said the Bulls needed to work harder to battle for rebounds.
&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t do a good enough job tonight of boxing them out and grabbing the ball,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A few of them were 50-50.&rdquo;
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes struggled through the first three quarters, shooting 1 for 8, but scored eight points and had a season-high four blocks in the final period.
&ldquo;The competitive side of him really starts emerging in the fourth,&rdquo; Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. &ldquo;He just starts playing really physical and really tough.&rdquo;
Anunoby said he appreciated Barnes&rsquo; big finish.
&ldquo;He was amazing,&rdquo; Anunoby said. &ldquo;He was everywhere, making blocks, getting the ball and pushing, passing, finishing. He was doing everything.&rdquo;
Barnes finished with 11 points. He had eight rebounds and four assists.
Chicago led 46-44 at the half. LaVine scored 11 points in the third and the Bulls scored the final five points of the quarter to take a 72-70 lead to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Ayo Dosunmu scored 10 points and Andre Drummond had 10 rebounds. &hellip; Chicago waived G Goran Dragic, making him a free agent. The 15-year veteran, 36, has missed the past four games because of a sore left knee. &hellip; G Alex Caruso celebrated his 29th birthday.
Raptors: Barnes had a career-high five blocks against Sacramento on Dec. 13, 2021. &hellip; Toronto signed G Will Barton and waived F Juancho Hernangomez. Barton averaged 7.7 points in 40 games with Washington before he was waived Feb. 21. He played four minutes in his Toronto debut Tuesday. &hellip; G Dalano Banton (left thumb) was not available.
FRED&rsquo;S BACK
Toronto guard Fred VanVleet returned after missing the past three games as he spent time at home for the birth of his third child. VanVleet shot 1 for 11, going 1 for 9 from 3-point range and scoring three points, but still made an impact with nine assists and six rebounds.
&ldquo;It makes a big difference having Fred out there,&rdquo; Anunoby said. &ldquo;It definitely helps our team. He&rsquo;s just a steady presence.&rdquo;
GOOD MONTH
Toronto went 8-3 in February, its most victories in any month this season.
UP NEXT
Bulls: At Detroit on Wednesday night.
Raptors: Begin five-game trip at Washington on Thursday night.

Pascal Siakam scored 20 points, and the Raptors beat the Bulls 104-98 on Tuesday night for their eighth victory in 10 games.

Raptors beat Bulls 104-98 for 8th victory in 10 games

<a href="https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/bulls-waive-dragic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Chicago Bullls announced</a> that they have waived veteran guard Goran Dragic.&nbsp;
The 36-year-old has signed a one-year deal for the minimum salary last summer and played in 51 games, averaging 6.4 points, 2.7 assists and 1.4 rebounds. But once the team signed Patrick Beverely, Dragic was the odd man out of the rotation.
Dragic will be playoff-eligible if he signs with another team between not and the last day of the regular season ince he was waived before March 1. He could also be claimed on waivers with a team having to take on $1.84 million hit against the salary cap.
Meanwhile, the Bulls open up a roster spot and are $1.2 million below the luxuy tax.

The Chicago Bulls have waived veteran guard Goran Dragic, opening up a roster spot.

Bulls waive Goran Dragic

It appears Patrick Beverley will be joining the Eastern Conference playoff race!
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bulls are nearing a deal to sign Patrick Beverley, with the deal expected to be finalized on Tuesday, though the Bulls will have to waive someone to make room for him.
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The Chicago Bulls are nearing a deal to sign free agent guard Patrick Beverley for the rest of the season, sources tell ESPN.
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1627804865169874944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Deal expected to be finalized as soon as Tuesday and will require a roster waiver move by the Bulls, sources tell ESPN.
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1627805647138959360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Beverley was traded to the Magic at the NBA Trade Deadline for Mo Bamba then was shortly released by the Magic. By joining the Bulls, Beverley is now going back to his home roots in Chicago.
This season, Beverley is averaging 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists while shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three.
What remains is who will get cut to make room for Beverley. One possible option could be Goran Dragic seeing how the two play the same position, but that's mere speculation.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that the Bulls are nearing an agreement with free agent guard Patrick Beverley.

Bulls nearing deal to sign Patrick Beverley

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine each scored 32 points, Nikola Vucevic added 26 points and 13 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls turned back a late rally and beat the Orlando Magic 128-109 on Saturday night.
Mo Wagner led the Magic with 27 points, combining with Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs to lead a furious second-half rally that cut a 25-point deficit to six with 5:08 remaining.
&ldquo;I thought we controlled most of the game,&rdquo; said Vucevic, who had 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half. &ldquo;They made a really good run and they cut it close. It&rsquo;s been an issue for us all year long, playing with big leads. We let them back in the game, but this time we were able to finish the game off.&rdquo;
Patrick Williams had 16 points and six rebounds for the Bulls, who shot 59.3% for the game just two nights after getting outscored by 23 points in the second half of a loss at Charlotte.
&ldquo;In the Charlotte game we never responded,&rdquo; coach Billy Donovan said. &ldquo;The encouraging part is we did respond (tonight). I think it&rsquo;s good that we had that. ... Being pressed against it, we needed a game where we could respond and come out on the winning side.&rdquo;
The Bulls led 60-47 at halftime. A 3-pointer by Vucevic, who played more than eight seasons in Orlando, stretched their lead to 24 points and a free throw by LaVine made it 89-64, Chicago&rsquo;s largest lead of the game, with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how, but we found some energy and we went on a run, got some easy buckets, hit some shots,&rdquo; said Anthony, who finished with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Wagner scored the Magic&rsquo;s final 11 points in the third period and their first five points in the fourth, pulling the Magic back into contention. But when the Bulls&rsquo; lead got down to six, DeRozan and LaVine responded with baskets, and a 3-pointer by Williams made it 116-106 with 3:29 left.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley thought the bad start cost his team the game.
&ldquo;Obviously the energy level wasn&rsquo;t where we wanted it to start the game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I really think sometimes it falls down to taking the easy route, in some ways. When it&rsquo;s hard, you just want to catch and shoot. But we weren&rsquo;t making shots, and that takes its toll on the defense. But we have to be a defensive team first, whether the shots are falling or not.&rdquo;
&ldquo;This is not an excuse but we were just flat,&rdquo; said Mo Wagner, &ldquo;and part of that was we put our head down too quickly. We kind of let go of our focus.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Bulls: G Lonzo Ball, who has not played since tearing his left meniscus on May 10, 2021, is not yet back to running on a consistent basis and will likely not play this season, unless he is making progress by the All-Star break, according to coach Billy Donovan. ... F Derrick Jones Jr., limped off the floor in the third quarter, but came back to play four minutes in the fourth. . . . G Goran Dragic had seven points in 13 minutes after missing three games due to illness. ... DeRozan, who came into the game with a 26.3 scoring average, played eight scoreless minutes in the first quarter without taking a shot.
Magic: F Jonathan Isaac had five points and four rebounds in nine minutes in his third game back from a knee injury. ... The Magic missed their first eight 3-point attempts and finished 10 for 28. . . . Anthony has scored 18 or points in four of his last six games, all off the bench.
UP NEXT
Bulls: Host the L.A. Clippers on Tuesday night.
Magic: Play at Philadelphia on Monday night.

DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine each scored 32 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Orlando Magic 128-109 on Saturday.

DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine lead Bulls to 128-109 win over Magic

CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points in his 1,000th career game, Nikola Vucevic added 14 points and 17 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-100 on Monday night.
The Bulls (22-24) returned to Chicago after a 126-108 win over the Pistons in Paris on Thursday and matched their season high with a third straight victory.
&ldquo;The second half of the season, you can&rsquo;t give games back. Everything matters from here in and out,&rdquo; DeRozan said. &ldquo;You got to be the desperate ones. You got to go out there and compete.&rdquo;
Trae Young had 21 points and 13 assists, while Dejounte Murray added 20 points for the Hawks, who have lost two straight after winning five in a row.
The Bulls started to pull away in the fourth quarter after Young found John Collins for an alley-oop dunk to cut the lead to 91-88. Zach LaVine answered with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws before DeRozan made a 3 to extend the lead to 99-88 with 5:29 left.
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LaVine finished with 20 points.
In the previous two meetings in Atlanta, both games ended with a buzzer-beater. AJ Griffin beat the Bulls at the horn on Dec. 11 and 10 days later, Ayo Dosunmu returned the favor with a follow shot as time expired.
The Bulls controlled most of the second half.
Patrick Williams sealed the game with a 3 to put Chicago up 108-95 with 1:53 left. Williams finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.
&ldquo;I thought Patrick was really good tonight on the glass. He had some really important timely rebounds both defensively and offensively. That was important for us in crucial situations,&rdquo; said Bulls coach Billy Donovan. &ldquo;He is a guy that has to try to get double-figure rebounds for us.&rdquo;
The Hawks lost their key defender De&rsquo;Andre Hunter before the game to asthma symptoms.
&ldquo;They got two really good weapons (DeRozan and LaVine) over there and it is hard to guard a lot of guys in this league 1-on-1. So you have to use multiple guys and when you&rsquo;re missing probably your best defender, it&rsquo;s hard,&rdquo; Young said.
&ldquo;You are going to have to send doubles, you&rsquo;re going to have to do different types of schemes you (wouldn&rsquo;t) have if you had him out there. It&rsquo;s obviously not an excuse why we lost, but I definitely think that&rsquo;s tough when you have two high horses over there.&rdquo;
Clint Capela had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Atlanta.
The Bulls led 57-48 at the half. LaVine scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Murray led the Hawks with 15 points. Young was held to four points on 1-of-6 shooting.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Bogdan Bogdanovic was back in the lineup after missing Saturday&rsquo;s loss to Charlotte with a right knee injury. He finished with 11 points in 33 minutes. ... THe Hawks had 18 turnovers.
Bulls: G Goran Dragic missed the game with a non-COVID illness. Donovan said Dragic will not travel with the team to Indiana but may re-join them during the three-game road trip. ... Bulls were 6 of 25 from the floor in the first quarter and 17 of 25 in the second quarter. ... DeRozan became the 143rd player to play in 1,000 games or more. ... The Bulls began a stretch where they play four games in six nights in four different cities.
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DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points in his 1,000th career game, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-100.

DeRozan scores 26 in 1,000th game, Bulls beat Hawks 111-100

CHICAGO (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. scored a season-high 36 points and the Houston Rockets used a 17-1 run in the third quarter to beat the Chicago Bulls 133-118 on Monday night, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Alperan Sengun added 25 points and Jalen Green had 24 for Houston, which scored the first 10 points of the game but blew an 18-point lead before its third-quarter spurt.
“This was definitely one of those games where you saw the result of us learning and getting better,” Porter said.
DeMar DeRozan scored 31 for the Bulls, who won their previous three games. DeRozan passed George Gervin for 44th place on the career scoring list with 20,727 points.
After taking their first lead on a 3-pointer by Zach LaVine with 30 seconds left in the second quarter, the Bulls surged to a 74-67 advantage early in the third before the Rockets regrouped.
Chicago cut the deficit to 109-100 early in the fourth, but Porter countered with two consecutive 3-pointers. The Rockets made 50 of 90 shots, scored 60 points in the paint and outrebounded the Bulls 56-43.
“We have a competitive group, probably tired of losing, disappointed with how we finished the homestand, and we have a group of good guys who did the right things,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said.
It marked the first time in five games that DeRozan, LaVine and Nikola Vucevic failed to score at least 20 points apiece. LaVine finished with 22 points and Vucevic had 10.
“We didn't do a good job defensively," LaVine said. “One guy (Porter) got confidence, and the rest of their team got confidence.”
LaVine, who missed his first five shots and was assessed a technical foul with 2:18 left in the first quarter, helped spark a late second-quarter rally.
Coby White stole a pass, and his behind-the-back dribble near the sideline at midcourt enabled him to spot LaVine for a dunk that closed the deficit to 61-59. Following a turnover, LaVine sank a 3 to put the Bulls in front.
Green countered with a 3-pointer, but Goran Dragic drained a 3 at the buzzer to cap a 39-point second quarter and give the Bulls a 65-64 edge at halftime.
The Rockets scored the first 10 points, and Sengun sparked Houston to a 23-5 lead thanks to his 4-for-4 shooting and 11 points less than five minutes into the game. They scored 22 of their 36 first-quarter points in the paint.
Houston guard Eric Gordon returned after missing five games because of a bruised left thumb and scored 12 points.
Sengun grabbed 11 rebounds, marking his 10th double-double of the season. He scored 20 points or more for the sixth time.
TIP-INS
Bulls: G Alex Caruso (concussion) missed his third consecutive game despite passing all protocols. The problem, according to coach Billy Donovan, is Caruso's right shoulder sprain that has prevented him from performing contact drills on the court. ... G Javonte Green (right knee soreness) missed his fifth consecutive game after going through pregame work. ... F Derrick Jones Jr. (left ankle sprain) missed his third straight game.
UP NEXT
Rockets: At Boston on Tuesday.
Bulls: Host Milwaukee on Wednesday.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Kevin Porter Jr. scored a season-high 36 points and the Rockets beat the Bulls 133-118 snapping a five-game losing streak.

Porter's 36 points lead Rockets past Bulls 133-118

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Nikola Vucevic had 29 points and 12 rebounds, DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points and the Chicago Bulls stopped a four-game slide by beating the short-handed Miami Heat 113-103 on Tuesday night.
Zach LaVine scored 21 and Coby White added 14 for the Bulls, who used a 30-7 run in the second half to take control.
Bam Adebayo made his first nine shots and scored 27 points. Adebayo also had 12 rebounds for the Heat, who got 19 points from Tyler Herro, 18 from Haywood Highsmith, 14 from Victor Oladipo and 13 from Duncan Robinson.
Miami was without three starters &mdash; Jimmy Butler (gastrointestinal illness), Kyle Lowry (left knee soreness) and Caleb Martin (sprained left ankle) &mdash; and had its season-best, four-game winning streak snapped.
And for one night, all was well with the Bulls again.
The 11-18 start entering Tuesday had clearly taken a toll. Players were confronting one another in the locker room at halftime of what became a 150-126 loss to Minnesota on Sunday, and Bulls coach Billy Donovan spent considerable time Tuesday discussing the state of the team.
&ldquo;Certainly, there&rsquo;s times where you can see guys are frustrated,&rdquo; Donovan said. &ldquo;But, to me, there&rsquo;s only one or two responses to that. Either try harder and fight harder, or be frustrated and have the same thing continue on. To me, frustration&rsquo;s a feeling. We&rsquo;ve got to stop worrying about feelings and start making choices.&rdquo;
Herro made a 3-pointer to open the second half and put Miami up by eight. Chicago responded with its 30-7 run, highlighted by 14 consecutive points in one stretch, and Patrick Williams' 3-pointer put the Bulls up 82-67.
The lead stayed in double digits for most of the rest of the way.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Chicago went 2-0 in its two trips to Miami this season, after winning on opening night back in October. ... The Bulls were outscored 36-21 in the second quarter. It was the 14th time they lost a quarter by more than 10 points this season; they had been 0-13 in such games before Tuesday. ... Former Heat guard Goran Dragic, as always, got a warm ovation when entering the game from the still-appreciative Miami crowd.
Heat: After appearing in each of the season&rsquo;s first eight games, Butler has missed 12 of Miami&rsquo;s last 24 contests. ... Miami used its 12th starting lineup of the season. Each of the last five games has featured a different starting five. ... Adebayo was 7 for 7 in the first half, the best such mark of his career. He was 6 for 6 in the first half against Cleveland on Feb. 22, 2020.
RESPECT
Lowry was on the Heat bench wearing an Argentina soccer jersey -- the No. 10, for Lionel Messi, the superstar who has been linked to Inter Miami for some time.
DOUBLE VUC
Vucevic had his team-best 14th double-double of the season. It was his first in his last six games.
UP NEXT
Bulls: Visit Atlanta on Wednesday.
Heat: Host Indiana on Friday.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Nikola Vucevic had 29 points, and the Chicago Bulls stopped a four-game slide by beating the short-handed Miami Heat 113-103.

Bulls snap 4-game slide, top short-handed Heat 113-103

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Anthony Edwards had season highs with 37 points and 11 assists and the Minnesota Timberwolves broke the franchise record for points in a game, routing the Chicago Bulls 150-126 on Sunday night.
D&rsquo;Angelo Russell added 28 points after missing two games and Minnesota made a season-high 23 pointers to roll past Chicago despite missing four regulars.
Rudy Gobert missed his second straight game because of a sprained left ankle. Karl-Anthony Towns (right calf strain) and top reserves Jordan McLaughlin (left calf strain) and Taurean Prince (right shoulder) also sat out.
Russell was a game-time decision after sitting out with a knee injury.
&ldquo;Confidence, right approach, seeing familiarity with our rotation and some things like that," Russell said. "That just allows you to be confident and comfortable out there. Coach is allowing us to make things happen, trust in our group. It just gives you that energy and confidence that you want to have.&rdquo;
Starting a four-game trip, Chicago lost its fourth straight and sixth in eight games. It is the fourth-most points the Bulls have ever given up in regulation; the most since allowing 152 to Detroit on Nov. 3, 1982.
&ldquo;It should be the ultimate be lesson learned of what it&rsquo;s like you let something slip, not being connected, not being one, not understanding what needs to be done collectively to help out each other," said DeMar DeRozan, who led Chicago with 29 points. "It&rsquo;s embarrassing to give up that many points. Nothing against Minnesota, but it&rsquo;s not like we playing against the 2016 Golden State Warriors.&rdquo;
Nikola Vucevic added 23 points and Zach LaVine had 22.
Chicago coach Billy Donovan spoke about a lack of collectiveness, especially defensively, and backup guard Goran Dragic said the Bulls need to trust each other.
&ldquo;We have to sacrifice for each other to make a better play, to make a better stop, to screen somebody, to make a sweet swing pass,&rdquo; Dragic said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a small detail. Anybody in this league can beat you.&rdquo;
Edwards scored six points in a 9-1 surge for a 106-89 lead late in the third quarter. But Edwards saved his best shot of the quarter for a buzzer-beater.
With 2.1 seconds left, he stole an inbounds pass on the logo at center court, continued right and made a 32-foot pull-up jumper. As the ball went through the hoop to make it 113-97, Edwards turned to face the crowd and, after a couple of seconds of basking with a huge smile, began to high-five the fans.
&ldquo;We talked about getting up more 3s and we&rsquo;ve been trying to do that, tonight was obviously an exaggerated example of it,&rdquo; Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.
Russell made seven of his eight first-half shots, including 6 of 7 from deep. That included a 34-foot desperation heave from the logo early in the second quarter as the shot clock expired.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Vucevic had nine rebounds. &hellip; Javonte Green missed the game with right knee soreness. He missed three games earlier this month with right knee pain. &hellip; Chicago is 4-11 on the road, including 1-7 against Western Conference opponents.
Timberwolves: Nathan Knight scored a season-high 16 points. &hellip; Naz Reid, who scored the first 10 Minnesota points, left in the second quarter with trapezius tightness. &hellip; Edwards had a steal to extend the NBA&rsquo;s longest active streak of at least one steal to 16 games.
&nbsp;

Anthony Edwards had a season highs with 37 points and 11 assists and the Timberwolves routed the Bulls 150-126.

Timberwolves beat Bulls 150-126 to break team scoring mark

Spencer Davies details Jamal Cain's climb from Pontiac, Michigan to the NBA level through the lens of longtime friend Mychal Covington.

Outwork everybody: Two-way Heat rookie Jamal Cain catches you sleeping

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Zach LaVine scored 20 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 108-99 victory over Brooklyn on Tuesday night in the Nets&rsquo; first game after a coaching change.
The Nets announced Steve Nash was out earlier in the day, then fell to 2-6 with Jacque Vaughn leading them.
Kevin Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, but Kyrie Irving managed only four points on 2-for-12 shooting. He missed all six 3-point attempts.
Vaughn stopped short of equating Irving&rsquo;s struggles to the criticism he&rsquo;s been dealing with since posting a link to a film with antisemitic content on his Twitter account last week.
&ldquo;The message I told the guys after, no excuses,&rdquo; Vaughn said. &ldquo;Whether it&rsquo;s back-to-backs, no excuses. Whether the change in scenery today, no excuses. This is what we do for a living. We signed up for it.&rdquo;
Durant found out on television that Nash was removed after waking up from an afternoon nap. He said he was not approached by upper management about the decision.
&ldquo;It was a roller coaster last few years, but the core of the basketball is something we all love to do,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;Regardless of who is the coach, regardless the circumstances, you still got to come to work, and I enjoyed coming to work with Steve.&rdquo;
DeMar DeRozan added 20 points and Ayo Dosunmu had 17 for the Bulls, who outscored the Nets 31-19 in the final quarter. Goran Dragic, who played last season with the Nets, chipped in 15 off the bench as the Bulls snapped a two-game losing streak.
Royce O&rsquo;Neale matched his career high with 20 points and Nic Claxton had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who played without Ben Simmons for a second straight night because of a sore left knee.
LaVine had nine points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field before he outscored the Nets in the final 12 minutes of the game, going 6 for 10 from the field.
&ldquo;The thing that I thought was good for him is that he is finding his rhythm,&rdquo; Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. &ldquo;The one thing I give him a lot of credit for tonight, he made really quick, decisive decisions. It was catch and shoot. He didn&rsquo;t hesitate, when they were there, he took them.&rdquo;
The Bulls trailed 80-77 at the start of the fourth quarter before the All-Star guard heated up. The Nets still led 88-84 before Dosunmu sparked a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer opposite the Bulls bench to take a 91-88 lead.
Irving answered with a layup but LaVine responded with three straight baskets, including a 3-pointer that made it 99-90 with 5:37 left in regulation and put the game out of reach.
&ldquo;We are all aggressive and sometimes you catch a rhythm,&rdquo; said LaVine, who is managing his left knee after undergoing offseason surgery. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all I am looking to do. It&rsquo;s my fifth game back and catch a rhythm. I am feeling better each game.&rdquo;
Durant scored 20 points on 4 for 6 from the field and hit 10 free throws to pace Brooklyn to a 58-52 lead at halftime.
The Nets struggled early and fell behind Chicago 15-7 midway through the first quarter. But Durant sparked a 20-10 run with 14 points of his own, including seven straight to put the Nets ahead 27-25 at the end of the period.
FAMILIAR POSITION
Vaughn formed part of former coach Kenny Atkinson&rsquo;s staff in Brooklyn and replaced him as interim head coach on March 7, 2020. He coached the Nets to a 7-3 record before they were swept by the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs in the Walt Disney World bubble.
He was an assistant under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs from 2010-12 and then got his first lead coaching position with the Orlando Magic in 2012. Under Vaughn, the Magic missed the playoffs the first two years before he was fired 52 games into his third and final season.

Zach LaVine scored 20 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 108-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

LaVine has 20 in 4th, Bulls beat Nets in 1st game after Nash

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; DeMar DeRozan scored 28 of his 37 points in the second half, Ayo Dosunmu added 17 and the short-handed Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat 116-108 in the season-opener for both teams Wednesday night.
Nikola Vucevic had 15 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls, and Goran Dragic added 12 off the Chicago bench.
Jimmy Butler scored 24 points and Tyler Herro added 23 for Miami, which got 22 from Max Strus and 12 from Bam Adebayo.
The Bulls played without All-Star guard Zach LaVine, citing left knee injury management. That knee had him in and out of the lineup last season and required surgery in May. LaVine played in three of Chicago&rsquo;s preseason games and experienced discomfort in recent days &mdash; which Bulls coach Billy Donovan said is to be expected, given that LaVine was limited for much of the summer.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just going to have to get our hands around this,&rdquo; Donovan said. &ldquo;But like the medical guys said, he has to ramp up. There&rsquo;s no way of getting around it. You just can&rsquo;t tiptoe around it and let him kind of ease his way into the season.&rdquo;
The Bulls did just fine without LaVine &mdash; who signed a $215 million deal over the summer.
Chicago started the second half on a 34-19 run, breaking open what was a 59-59 halftime tie and turning it into a 93-78 lead. The margin was down to 10 going into the fourth, and the Heat kept chipping away.
Strus&rsquo; 3-pointer with 6:19 left drew Miami to 102-98, but the Heat got no closer. Vucevic made a 3-pointer with 4:59 left to put Chicago up by nine, and the lead wasn&rsquo;t challenged again.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Dragic was 4 for 4 from 3-point range in the first half. The last time he was at least 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in a first half was Jan. 9, 2021, in Washington, when he played for Miami. ... Chicago turned 19 Miami turnovers into 17 points. ... DeRozan also had nine assists and six rebounds.
Heat: Team captain Udonis Haslem, in his 20th and &mdash; he says &mdash; final season-opener, addressed the crowd pregame and offered remarks in support of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who remains incarcerated in Russia. ... Caleb Martin became the 76th player in Heat history to get an opening-night start. ... Victor Oladipo (left knee) was inactive. ... Kyle Lowry had two points on 1 for 7 shooting.
UP NEXT
Bulls: Visit Washington on Friday night to end a two-game season-opening trip.
Heat: Host Boston on Friday night in a rematch of last season&rsquo;s Eastern Conference finals.

DeMar DeRozan scored 28 of his 37 points in the second half, Ayo Dosunmu added 17 and the short-handed Bulls beat the Heat.

DeRozan scores 37, Bulls top Heat 116-108 in season opener

This marks the first time that NBA opening-night rosters have at least 120 international players in consecutive seasons

NBA features 120 international players from 40 countries, 6 continents

CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; The Chicago Bulls made the playoffs for the first time in five years last season and led the Eastern Conference for a little bit.
They have the high-scoring duo of DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine and believe they have the talent to compete, even though the Bulls stood pat while the teams around them loaded up.
Still, they're a bit of an unknown &mdash; even to themselves.
&ldquo;I think we need time to see this group play together longer to have any type of conclusion,&rdquo; executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said.
Though the Bulls ended a string of four consecutive losing seasons in reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2017, a long line of injuries caught up to them down the stretch. Chicago finished sixth in the Eastern Conference at 46-36 and got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by Milwaukee.
This season, Chicago is banking on better health and developing more chemistry and cohesion. They are down one key player: Point guard <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-nba-sports-lonzo-ball-9d022a40c1f38213dfa8e9fa7d3a84ac">Lonzo Ball will miss at least part of the early season</a> because he needed left knee surgery for a second time this year.
NO BALL
Ball has not played since Jan. 14 and when he will again is anyone's guess. He said prior to the late September operation that he couldn&rsquo;t run full speed or jump and experienced pain climbing stairs.
He was to be evaluated four to six weeks after the most recent surgery &mdash; the third in his career.
Ball had surgery last season for a torn meniscus a few weeks later and experienced setbacks when he tried to ramp up basketball activities. The Bulls had him rest for 10 days at one point, hoping it would resolve the issue and allow him to return. But he felt pain again when he started preparing to play.
Coach Billy Donovan has options at the point position: Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, Goran Dragic and Coby White.
HEALTHY LAVINE
Though LaVine averaged more than 24 points and made his second straight All-Star team, the Olympic gold medalist wasn't quite as explosive.
He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in May and is looking forward to playing at full strength.
&ldquo;Man, it could be very, very exciting and scary for other people at the same time,&rdquo; DeRozan said of LaVine. &ldquo;I can't tell you how many times I talked to him this summer, just checking on him, just getting that leg back together. I want to be with a healthy Zach. I want him healthy as well.
"A full year of that is something I dream about every single night.&rdquo;
KEY NEWCOMERS
The Bulls are basically running it back with the same core.
Though they made no splashy offseason moves, they do have a few new faces after drafting Dalen Terry with the No. 18 pick and signing Dragic along with fellow veteran Andre Drummond.
They added some experience and offense in the backcourt with the 36-year-old Dragic and some missing toughness with the arrival of Drummond, a two-time All-Star and four-time rebounding champion.
LEAP FOR WILLIAMS
The Bulls hope the third season is the charm for Patrick Williams.
They want the Florida State product to be more aggressive on offense rather than defer, as well as contribute on both ends of the floor on a more consistent basis than he has since he was the No. 4 draft pick in 2020.
Williams has shown flashes, but a wrist injury that limited him to 17 games last season didn't help.
NO MERCY
The Bulls will be tested at the start.
Three of their first four games are against Miami, Cleveland and Boston. They open with a road game against Jimmy Butler and the Heat on Oct. 19. They then visit Washington before hosting Cleveland on Oct. 22 and Boston two nights later.

“I think we need time to see this group play together longer to have any type of conclusion,” Bulls EVP Arturas Karnisovas said.