DeRozan fuels Bulls win; Timberwolves beat Grizzlies

LOS ANGELES – DeMar DeRozan notched his eighth straight game with at least 35 points to power the Chicago Bulls to a 112-108 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday (Friday, Manila time) as the NBA returned to action after its All-Star break.

DeRozan scored 37 points and pulled down six rebounds, capping his night with the decisive basket in Chicago's sixth straight victory.

The Hawks were up 108-107 when DeRozan put Chicago in front with a turnaround shot. Fouled on the play by Bogdan Bogdanovic, DeRozan converted the free throw, and with 15 seconds remaining, Bogdanovic missed Atlanta's final attempt.

The victory saw the Bulls edge half a game ahead of Miami for the Eastern Conference lead.

DeRozan, 32, has been the Bulls' driving force, re-emerging this season as a formidable scorer.

The former Raptors and Spurs forward returned to the All-Star Game on Sunday and his exploits have him in the Most Valuable Player conversation.

His eight straight games of 35 points or more are just two shy of the best such streak in Bulls history, set in 1986 by NBA icon Michael Jordan.

Only five other players have had such a streak in the NBA: Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and James Harden.

Suns win without Paul

Elsewhere, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies 119-114. D'Angelo Russell scored 37 points and handed out nine assists for the Timberwolves.

Ja Morant scored 20 points for the Grizzlies but was sidelined briefly after hurting his left leg in the third quarter as he tried to dribble around an opponent on a fast break.

Morant spent several minutes on the bench with a sore left thigh before departing for the locker room. He returned in the final quarter but missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with five seconds remaining.

Boston's Jayson Tatum starred in Brooklyn, scoring 30 points to lead the Celtics to a 129-106 rout of a Nets team playing without stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and with new acquisition Ben Simmons still on the bench.

Seth Curry, who arrived with Simmons in the trade that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers, led the Nets with 22 points, but Brooklyn suffered their 13th defeat in their last 15 games.

The Phoenix Suns, playing their first game since losing veteran point guard Chris Paul for up to eight weeks with a broken thumb, beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 124-104.

Devin Booker scored 25 points and handed out 12 assists with six steals for Phoenix, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — back after nearly a month out with an injury — scored 32 for Oklahoma City.

In Detroit, the Pistons stunned the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-103. Rookie Cade Cunningham sealed the win with four late free throws, finishing with 17 points.