Orlando Magic vs Chicago Bulls Box Score on Apr 10, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Apr 10, 2017

CHICAGO -- Robin Lopez scored 18 points, and Jimmy Butler and Jerian Grant each had 17 to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 122-75 rout of the Orlando Magic on Monday night, moving the Bulls closer to clinching a playoff berth.

Nikola Mirotic added 16 points and Dwyane Wade kicked in 13 to a balanced Chicago attack that included points from the five starters and all eight players off the bench.

Bobby Portis led the contributors from the bench with 10 points as the Bulls ran up their biggest margin of victory this season and tied their third widest in franchise history.

Chicago shot 53.9 percent from the floor (48 of 89) and outrebounded the hapless Magic 54-37 as it pulled away.

The Bulls' win, combined with Miami's 124-121 overtime victory against Cleveland, left both teams at 40-41 and in a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with one regular season game remaining.

The Bulls, however, own the tiebreaker with the Heat, so if those two finish tied, Chicago would land the final playoff berth in the East.

Chicago hosts Brooklyn on Wednesday. Miami closes at home against Washington.

The seventh-place Indiana Pacers (41-40) are a game ahead of both the Bulls and the Heat.

Chicago missed the playoffs last season, finishing ninth at 42-40, after making it seven straight seasons and 10 of 11. The Magic (28-53) have missed the playoffs five straight years.

Wade played his second game since March 15, when he suffered an elbow injury that was expected to sideline him for the remainder of the regular season.

Bulls guard Rajon Rondo missed his third game with a sprained right wrist, sustained last week in a loss against the Knicks at New York. Grant started in his place and added 11 assists for a double-double.

Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 14 points each, as Orlando shot just 34.5 percent. Fournier started even though he had been listed as questionable with a calf injury before the game.

The Bulls have found ways to play down to the level of their opposition and lose winnable games all season. But in this one, Chicago took charge from the opening tip.

The Bulls led 64-37 at the half after opening 30-point leads three times in the second quarter. Mirotic led with 13 points halfway through, while Butler and Lopez kicked in 10 each as all five starters plus two bench players contributed to the attack.

The Bulls started the game with a 14-2 run to launch the runaway, then led 34-13 after the first quarter as they hit 60 percent (15 of 25) of their shots from the floor, including three 3 points.

The onslaught didn't stop in the second quarter as Chicago expanded its lead even if though its shooting cooled off a bit to 45.5 percent. The Bulls out-rebounded the Magic 31-15 for the half to help fuel their dominance.

Chicago led 92-59 after the third quarter, then kept expanding the bulge in the fourth before emptying its bench.

NOTES: Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg couldn't predict whether G Rajon Rondo might return for Wednesday's regular-season finale versus Brooklyn and said the guard still had "a lot of swelling in that wrist." ... Orlando C Nikola Vucevic pulled in 10 rebounds to improve his total with the Magic to 3,697, passing Shaquille O'Neal (3691) for second place in franchise history. Dwight Howard is the Magic's all-time leader with 8,072. ... Magic F Jeff Green sat out the game due to sore lower back. ... Missing the playoffs -- and by a wide margin -- has been especially disappointing for Orlando coach Frank Vogel, who is wrapping up his first season with the Magic. "It's not a place I want to be ever again," Vogel said. "We're going to work to turn this around next year."