Bulls beat Hawks, go top of NBA East
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The Chicago Bulls took over the lead in the NBA's Eastern Conference by thrashing the host Atlanta Hawks 114-81 yesterday, making it 10 wins from 11 games.
Derrick Rose had 30 points and 10 assists for Chicago, who was able to rest its starters in the final quarter after setting season highs with 41 points in the second quarter and 72 points in the first half. Luol Deng finished with 27 points.
The Hawks were denied an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot and absorbed their first home loss to Chicago in four years.
Jeff Teague scored 17 of his 20 points in the fourth for Atlanta, which trailed 98-60 after three and also decided to rest its starters in the final period.
Lakers 139, Suns 137, OT
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 42 points as Los Angeles snuck past Phoenix in triple overtime.
Ron Artest got five of his 18 points in the final 2 minutes of the third overtime to help the Lakers notch a 13th win in 14 games since the All-Star break.
Phoenix's Channing Frye scored a career-high 32 points and hit three tying free throws with 1.1 seconds left to force double overtime.
Both teams traded improbable last-second heroics in what turned into just the fourth triple-overtime game for the Lakers since they moved to Los Angeles.
Trail Blazers 111, Wizards 76
In Portland, Gerald Wallace scored 28 points to lead Portland to an easy win over Washington.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points before sitting for the fourth quarter for the Trail Blazers, who are jockeying for playoff position in the Western Conference as the season winds to a close. Portland moved within a game of Denver for the sixth spot, and a game up on seventh-place New Orleans.
Jordan Crawford had 12 points for the Wizards, who dropped their seventh straight on the road to fall to just 1-32 away from home.
Portland led by as many as 38 points, and the starting lineup scored all but 20 of the team's points.
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