>>Bulls Blow By Wizards

 

Rookie Lauri Markkanen scored 23 points and connected on 5 of 8 3-pointers to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 113-94 win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday.

 

Bobby Portis had 18 points and hit 4 of 5 from long range, and Sean Kilpatrick added 14 points. Chicago shot 52.4 percent overall from the floor and was 18-for-34 on 3s - matching its season high - as Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg missed the game with an upper-respiratory infection.

 

Hoiberg returned home before tipoff, leaving associate head coach Jim Boylen to direct Chicago to its second straight win following a seven-game skid.

 

Otto Porter Jr. led the Wizards with 17 points as five-time All-Star John Wall rested. Bradley Beal scored 15 points and reserve Mike Scott added 14.

 

Wall remained on the bench against Chicago after playing 33 minutes in his first game in over two months on Saturday. The slick point guard had 15 points and 14 assists in the Wizards' playoff-clinching 107-93 win over Charlotte.

 

Before Saturday, Wall had last played on Jan. 25, six days before he underwent left knee surgery. The Wizards went 15-12 during his absence.

 

The Bulls opened a 15-point lead late in the first quarter before Washington finished the frame with a 6-0 run to cut it to 36-27. Chicago shot 60.9 percent in the quarter and connected on 8 of 11 3-point attempts, with Markkanen and Portis each sinking three from long range.

 

Chicago led 68-59 at the half.

 

Getting a lift from Scott and others off their bench, the Wizards trimmed the Bulls' lead to four points three times in the second quarter.

 

But Chicago kept connecting. The Bulls upped their field-goal percentage to 64.3 and went 11-for-17 on 3s in the first half. Markkanen led with 15 points and four 3-pointers at the break.

 

The Bulls cooled down in the second half. But Chicago effectively managed the lead - and used all but one bench player - before pulling away late.

 

>>Pacers Top Clippers

 

Victor Oladipo found his teammates with passes and they made shots, rallying the Indiana Pacers from a 16-point deficit past Los Angeles 111-104 on Sunday for their fifth straight victory.

Oladipo had 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting and 12 assists, and Myles Turner scored 24 for the playoff-bound Pacers, who have won four in a row over the Clippers as well as 12 of their last 16.

 

Tobias Harris led the Clippers with 21 points. Lou Williams added 15 of his 20 in the fourth and Montrezl Harrell had 19 off the bench. Austin Rivers scored 18 and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 12 rebounds.

 

Harrell and Williams combined to score 21 of the Clippers' 26 points in the fourth.

 

Harris' 3-pointer drew the Clippers to 105-104, but Bojan Bogdanovic hit a 3-pointer and the Pacers went 3 of 4 at the free throw line to end the game.

 

Down by 16, the Pacers ended the first half on a 19-4 run that left them trailing 51-50 at the break. Oladipo scored 11 points and Turner had six.

 

The Pacers are in Denver Tuesday in the finale of a four-game western swing.