CHICAGO (AP) — Naz Reid scored a season-high 33 points off the bench, Anthony Edwards added 23, and the Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Bulls 136-101 on Monday night after Chicago lost top scorers Coby White and Josh Giddey to injuries.
Julius Randle had 17 points as Minnesota pulled away in the third quarter in the opener of a four-game trip. Donte DiVincenzo and Bones Hyland scored 12 each as Minnesota shot 53.7% after a cold start.
Nikola Vucevic
led Chicago with 23 points, but the depleted Bulls couldn't keep pace and lost a second straight following a five-game winning streak that had lifted them back to .500. Chicago shot just 40.9%, and committed 16 turnovers compared to three by Minnesota.
White, Chicago’s leading scorer, exited with a right calf strain in the first quarter.
Giddey, Chicago’s second-leading scorer, walked off the court gingerly with an apparent left hamstring injury in the first minute of the second half after scoring 11 points.
White, who entered averaging 20.5 points, missed the first 11 games this season with similar calf injury. Giddey entered averaging 19.5 points, 9.2 assists and 9.1 rebounds. He is second in the NBA with seven triple-doubles.
Before the game, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said Zach Collins will probably miss several games with a sprained right big toe.
Minnesota’s Mike Conley played in his 1,200th game.
The Timberwolves took charge in the third quarter after the Bulls tied it at 55 in the opening minute of the period. Minnesota outscored Chicago 40-28 in the frame and took a 95-78 lead into the fourth.
The Timberwolves led 55-50 at the half after trailing by as much as nine midway through the second quarter. Edwards led the comeback, scoring his first 11 points consecutively on three 3’s and a pair of free throws.
Timberwolves: At Atlanta on Wednesday night.
Bulls: Host New Orleans on Wednesday night.
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