Bulls spoil James feat; Clippers dim Suns

CHICAGO – Nikola Mirotic tied season highs with 28 points and six 3-pointers, Jimmy Butler scored 25, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-93 on a night when LeBron James moved into seventh place on the NBA’s career scoring list.

James moved past Shaquille O’Neal, finishing with 26 points and giving him 28,599 for his career — three more than O’Neal. But the big night by the four-time MVP couldn’t prevent the Cavaliers from matching a season high with their third straight loss.

That dropped them a half-game behind Boston for the Eastern Conference lead and left them with a 6-10 record in March.

For Mirotic, it was his second straight game with 28 points and six 3s. He also had 10 rebounds, finishing a strong March. Rajon Rondo added 15 assists, Robin Lopez had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and the ninth-place Bulls moved within a game of Miami and Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings.

They also finished 4-0 against Cleveland to complete their first sweep of the Cavaliers since they took all three games during the 2011-12 season.

Kyrie Irving scored 20 for the Cavaliers, while Tristan Thompson added 15 points and nine rebounds.

 In Phoenix, Blake Griffin scored 31 points, Chris Paul added 29 points and 10 assists and the Los Angeles Clippers held on to hand the Phoenix Suns their 10th loss in a row, 124-118.

Devin Booker returned to the Suns’ lineup and scored 33 while playing in front of his former college coach, Kentucky’s John Calipari, and matched his season high with nine assists, but fouled out with 4:45 to play.

The Clippers (46-31), coming off a home win over Washington on Wednesday night, pulled within a game of Utah (46-29) for the No. 4 playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Booker, three games removed from his 70-point outburst in Boston, missed Tuesday’s game in Atlanta with a sore right ankle.

Rookie Tyler Ulis, who also played for Calipari, had 16 points and matched his career best with 12 assists. Marquese Chriss scored 20 for the Suns and Jamal Crawford had 19 for the Clippers.

In other NBA games, it was the Timberwolves 119, Lakers 104; Piston 90, Nets 89;Trail Blazers 117, Rockets 107.