Josh Giddey’s triple-double powers Bulls past Nets

Josh Giddey amassed 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists while leading the host Chicago Bulls to a 128-102 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.

The triple-double was Giddey’s first of the season. Giddey has 12 career triple-doubles.

Nikola Vucevic added a team-high 21 points in addition to 10 rebounds, helping the Bulls end a two-game losing streak. Rookie Matas Buzelis added a career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting off the bench, making 4 of 5 3-point attempts.

Chicago’s Zach LaVine contributed 18 points, Ayo Dosunmu put up 16 points and six assists and Talen Horton-Tucker scored 11 points.

The result was a welcome turn for the home crowd, as it marked the Bulls’ third win at home in 10 attempts this season.

The Nets disappointed again on offense, as their starting lineup failed to yield a 20-point scorer for the second time in three games. Dennis Schroder led the Nets’ starters with 16 points, while Dariq Whitehead paced the team with 18 points off the bench.

Brooklyn’s Tyrese Martin chipped in 15 points, Shake Milton added 14 points, Trendon Watford scored 12 points and Nic Claxton logged 11 points and eight rebounds.

Overall, the Bulls outscored the Nets 36-22 in the third quarter. The Nets took their third consecutive loss after the Magic swept them in New York with wins on both Friday and Sunday.

Chicago took a six-point advantage into halftime, 56-50, outscoring the Nets 27-21 in the second quarter after an even first.

LaVine buried a 3-pointer with 3:18 remaining in the third quarter that stretched the Bulls’ lead to 21 and helped the hosts enter the fourth quarter with a 92-72 lead.

The Bulls shot 48-for-92 (52.2 percent) from the field for the game and made 16 of 47 attempts (34 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc. They outrebounded the Nets 54-41 and outscored them 32-15 in fastbreak points. In addition, the Bulls outscored the Nets 62-40 in the paint.

The Nets made 38 shots on 95 attempts (40 percent), sinking 14 of 42 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range. They did manage to force 17 Bulls turnovers.

Rockets, clashing with Kings, shoot for West’s top seedp

The Houston Rockets can complete a clean sweep of their NBA Cup pool and will likely lock up the Western Conference’s top seed in the quarterfinals if they can pull out a victory on Tuesday night when they face the host Sacramento Kings.

The Rockets have beaten the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves to grab hold of first place in West Group A.

A fourth straight NBA Cup win would assure the Rockets of a home game in the West quarterfinals next week and possibly the conference’s top seed depending on how the Golden State Warriors do on the road against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

The Kings have lost all three of their NBA Cup games and will not be advancing to the knockout round of the in-season tournament.

Houston’s most recent NBA Cup win — a 117-111 overtime decision against the Timberwolves — began the Rockets’ current three-game winning streak. Nothing has come easy, with the Rockets following up the Minnesota game with another overtime victory, 122-115, over the host Philadelphia 76ers before a 119-116 nail-biter at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Houston will be led onto the court by the new Western Conference Player of the Week. Alperen Sengun was given that honor after averaging 21.3 points, 12.7 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks during the Rockets’ three-game run of tight wins last week.

Sengun wasted no time crediting Fred VanVleet, who scored 38 points against Oklahoma City, and Dillon Brooks, who engaged in a physical battle with Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for playing big-time roles in the team’s recent success.

“Winning is fun,” Sengun said. “We learned that after we got the vets. It’s so much fun now.”

The Rockets and Kings have yet to meet this season. The clubs have alternated season-series sweeps the last two years, with Sacramento going 4-0 in 2022-23 before Houston rebounded with a 3-0 whitewashing last season.

The teams have headed in opposite directions as of late as well. While the Rockets were going unbeaten last week, the Kings were losing three of four games, including a 115-106 setback at Portland on Friday and a 127-125 home defeat against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

The loss to the Spurs occurred after Kings coach Mike Brown made a lineup change, starting Malik Monk for the first time this season. Monk responded with 19 points, giving the Kings four starters with 19 or more points, but the bench got outscored 45-22.

“What we’ve done so far hasn’t resulted in good things in terms of our record,” Brown said of the move. “I feel like I needed to shake it up. It was good, but at the end of the day, we still lost.”

Wolves run away from Lakers for easy win

Rudy Gobert scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away for a 109-80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night in Minneapolis.

Julius Randle finished with 18 points for Minnesota, which picked up its second straight win. Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 15 points apiece off the bench, and fellow reserve Donte DiVincenzo had 11 points and nine assists.

D’Angelo Russell scored 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting to lead Los Angeles. Anthony Davis had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and LeBron James contributed 10 points on a difficult night in which he went 4-for-16 from the field.

The Lakers seemed to run out of energy in their second game in as many nights. They were outscored 30-16 in the fourth quarter and 53-36 in the second half.

The Timberwolves shot 50.6 percent (41 of 81) from the field and 42.9 percent (15 of 35) from 3-point range for the game. The Lakers shot 40.5 percent (32 of 79) overall and 19.4 percent (6 of 31) from beyond the arc.

A 10-0, fourth-quarter run by the Timberwolves helped put the game out of reach.

James made a layup to bring Los Angeles within 79-66 with 11:24 to go in the contest.

Reid responded with a driving layup on the next possession for the Timberwolves. That started a run that included a 3-pointer by DiVincenzo, a dunk by Gobert and a 3-pointer by Reid to make it 89-66 with 9:05 remaining.

Luka Garza made a pair of free throws to help the Timberwolves reach the century mark with 3:18 to go. His foul shots gave Minnesota a 100-78 lead.

Minnesota led 56-44 at the half.

The Lakers trailed 30-27 after Russell made a 3-pointer with 9:15 remaining in the first half.

De’Andre Hunter helps Hawks handle stumbling Pelicans

De’Andre Hunter celebrated his 27th birthday by scoring 22 points to lead Atlanta past the visiting New Orleans Pelicans, 124-112, on Monday, extending the Hawks’ season-best winning streak to four games.

Hunter shot 8-for-14 from the field and made 4 of 7 3-point attempts to help the Hawks reach the .500 mark for the first time since Oct. 28, when they were 2-2. The Hawks swept the two-game season series with New Orleans.

Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson added 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Dyson Daniels scored 19 points and made four steals. Trae Young had 12 points and 15 assists, and Clint Capela grabbed 17 rebounds.

New Orleans got 29 points from CJ McCollum, and Yves Missi added 23 points and 12 rebounds. Brandon Boston Jr. came off the bench to score 19 points. Dejounte Murray, who played the previous two seasons for Atlanta, made only 2 of 15 shots from the floor and wound up with seven points, 10 assists and five steals.

The Pelicans have lost nine straight games and 15 of their past 16.

New Orleans led 28-26 after the first quarter. The Pelicans’ point total matched the number New Orleans scored in the entire first half on Sunday in a 118-85 defeat against the New York Knicks.