Thabo Sefolosha scored 20 points, Dwight Howard added 18 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls 115-107 on Wednesday night for their third consecutive victory.

 

Paul Millsap had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks, and Dennis Schroder scored 13. Howard grabbed 10 boards as Atlanta outrebounded the Bulls 49-30.

Jimmy Butler finished with 39 points and Dwyane Wade had 25 for the Bulls, who have lost four of five.

 

The output was Butler's highest since he scored a career-high 53 points against Philadelphia on Jan. 14 last season.

 

Atlanta carried over some momentum from Tuesday's rare victory at Cleveland. The defending NBA champion Cavaliers had won 11 straight in the series, including two playoff sweeps.

 

Sefolosha sparked the Hawks when he entered late in the first quarter, scoring 16 of their 21 points in a 3:44 stretch that spanned the first two periods to help Atlanta take a 45-31 lead.

 

>>Pacers Outlast Bulls in Overtime

 

Paul George finished with 28 points and eight rebounds while scoring seven of the Pacers' 13 points in overtime to defeat the Sixers 122-115.

 

The 76ers led by as many as six points with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game before Jeff Teague hit a floater in the lane to give Indiana a one-point lead. With 6 seconds remaining in regulation, Gerald Henderson hit a 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a 2-point lead. But on the ensuing Pacers' possession, George hit a baseline jumper with 3 seconds left to tie it at 109.

 

On the Pacers' first possession of overtime, George set the tone with a 3-pointer to give Indiana the lead. And it was George who threw down an emphatic dunk that gave Indiana a six-point lead, ultimately sealing the win for the Pacers.

 

Teague finished with a season-high 30 points and added nine assists. Teague and George combined to score Indiana's final 15 points of the fourth quarter. Myles Turner finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for Indiana.

 

Robert Covington led the Sixers with 23 points. Henderson finished with 17 points and five rebounds while Dario Saric had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

 

Joel Embiid did not travel with the team to Indiana, remaining in Philadelphia for rest.

 

The two squads meet in Philadelphia Friday. 

 

>>Bulls Send RJ Hunter to D-League

 

The Chicago Bulls have assigned guard R.J. Hunter to the Windy City Bulls of the NBA D-League.

 

Hunter was signed by Chicago on Oct. 27, and has not played in a game.

 

The Bulls announced the move on Tuesday.