By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO (AP) — Josh Giddey scored a career-high 32 points with 10 rebounds and nine assists, Nikola Vucevic added 26 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the New York Knicks, 135-125, on Friday night, Oct. 31, to stay undefeated and get out to their best start in nearly three decades.
Ayo Dosunmu came of the bench to score 22 points with nine assists for the Bulls, who improved to 5-0 and are off to their best start since the 1996-97 season when they opened 12-0 and went on to win the NBA Championship.
Billy Donovan earned his 200th coaching win with Chicago.
Jalen Brunson scored 29 points and OG Anunoby had 26 to help power New York’s second-half comeback attempt. The Knicks cut Chicago’s lead to two points midway through the fourth quarter after trailing by 22 late in the second quarter.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 10 rebounds despite playing with a right quad strain and landing hard on his hip in the third quarter. Mikal Bridges scored 23 points in the NBA Cup group play opener for both teams.
Both teams relied heavily on 3-pointers, with Chicago hitting 17 of 37 and New York converting 18 of 45. The Bulls outshot the Knicks overall from the floor, 53.6% to 49.5% .
The Bulls opened a 72-53 lead at the half, penetrating with crisp passing plays. The Knicks went on a 23-9 run to start the third quarter and closed to 115-113 on Anunoby’s 3 with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter before Vucevic and Giddey connected on key possessions to ice it.
Meanwhile in Memphis, Luka Doncic reaching the 40-point mark in a game is becoming a common theme through the early weeks of this season.
Doncic, returning after missing three games with injuries, had 44 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 117-112 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, topping 40 for his third straight game to start the season.
The only other player in NBA history to do that was Wilt Chamberlain. Twice.
“He just continues to get where he wants to go, and he takes what the defense gives him,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said with Doncic sitting in the back of the interview room.
Doncic, who shot 14 for 27 from the field, including 6 for 15 from 3-point range, scored 43 in the Lakers’ opening night loss to Golden State. He had 49 against Minnesota in the second game. He then missed the next three game with a left finger sprain and a lower left leg contusion.
Friday was his return to action, and he continued his scoring pace.
“I feel great. But obviously after we get a win, I feel even better,” Doncic said. “That’s the whole point.”
Doncic scored 19 points in the first quarter to get the Lakers off to a good start. He added 16 in the third as they erased a Memphis advantage and closed with nine points in the fourth as Los Angeles pulled away.
Earlier, Kawhi Leonard made a buzzer-beater and finished with 34 points to give the Los Angeles Clippers a 126-124 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the first game of the NBA Cup group stage for both teams.
Leonard pump-faked to get Jeremiah Fears up in the air and then rose up for a long 2-point shot to win it after Zion Williamson had tied it with 9.6 seconds remaining by making two free throws.
James Harden had 24 points and 14 assists, and the Clippers have won all three home games to start the season. Derrick Jones Jr. scored 16 points, and Ivica Zubac had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Jordan Poole had 30 points and made seven 3-pointers, Williamson finished with 29 points, but the Pelicans remained winless through five games. It is their worst start since dropping eight in a row to begin the 2016-17 campaign.
