CHICAGO — Carlos Boozer scored 27 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat LeBron James and the Miami Heat 107-87 on Thursday night.
Luol Deng had 20 points, Taj Gibson chipped in with 19, and Joakim Noah added 17 points and 15 rebounds as the Bulls had no trouble knocking off the defending champions.
Chicago took control early on and hung on down the stretch after watching a 25-point lead in the third quarter dwindle to 12 late in the game.
It was an impressive showing by a team that had dropped six of seven and is once again trying to get by without the injured Derrick Rose, who isn’t ruling out a return this season.
The superstar point guard left the door slightly open for a comeback in the playoffs if his surgically repaired right knee is healed — even though the team has said he will miss the rest of the year.
He said Thursday that he would come back for the playoffs “If I’m healthy and my meniscus is fully healed.”
His Bulls shot 50 percent and were 10 for 19 on 3-pointers. They also outrebounded Miami 49-27.
James scored 21 points for Miami, but the Heat shot a season low for the second straight game, converting 41.6 percent from the field.
Before the game, James confirmed reports that he will co-star with Kevin Hart in the comedy “Ballers.” Hart plays the brother of an NBA star who gets a chance to prove himself at a fantasy basketball camp in Miami.
James says the opportunity to work with Hart was a product of their “friendship” and “mutual respect.” He says the role is “something I could relate to, as far as fantasy basketball and guys wanting to be basketball players” who “never had really had the great opportunity to be a professional athlete.”
KNICKS 113, NETS 83
NEW YORK — The Knicks are no longer the biggest losers in New York. The Brooklyn Nets look like the real Big Apple busts.
Carmelo Anthony had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Iman Shumpert scored a season-high 17 points, and the Knicks ended a nine-game losing streak in the first meeting of the season between the city rivals.
The Knicks (4-13) snapped a tie with the Nets (5-14) for most losses in New York, winning the game and the crowd with a dominant second half that had Spike Lee and the rest of the fans wearing blue and orange cheering perhaps the Knicks’ most complete performance of the season.
Andrea Bargnani scored 16 before he was ejected in the fourth quarter.
Brook Lopez had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Nets.
CLIPPERS 101,
GRIZZLIES 81
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Reserves Darren Collison and Jamal Crawford scored 15 points each and Los Angeles Clippers used a strong second half to beat Memphis.
Chris Paul also had 15 points and eight assists for the Clippers, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Blake Griffin added 14 points and nine rebounds, while DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and 14 boards for Los Angeles.
Kosta Koufos led Memphis with 17 points, while Mike Conley had 16 on 6-for-8 shooting. Quincy Pondexter scored 15, and Zach Randolph — back after missing two games following ingrown toenail surgery — had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Clippers shot 13 for 20 in the fourth quarter as Paul and Griffin sat on the bench, leaving the game to the reserves.
COLLEGE
TOP 25
No. 24 San Diego St. 65, San Diego 64
SAN DIEGO — Xavier Thames made four free throws in the final 12.2 seconds and No. 24 San Diego State escaped with a 65-64 win against San Diego on Thursday night after Duda Sanadze’s 3-point shot bounced off the rim as time expired.
Thames finished with 17 points and Josh Davis had 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Aztecs (6-1), who were playing for the first time since jumping into The Associated Press Top 25 following their title run in the Wooden Legacy.
The Aztecs beat the crosstown rival Toreros (7-3) for the eighth straight year.
Sanadze made two free throws with 4.8 seconds left to pull San Diego within one point. SDSU then lost the ball out of bounds to give the smaller, scrappier Toreros a shot at the victory before Sanadze missed.
Christopher Anderson scored 22 points for the Toreros. Johnny Dee added 21 and Sanadze 12.
By wire sources