Doug McDermott is getting comfortable in his second NBA season – and coming on just when the Bulls need him.McDermott scored 25 points and Jimmy Butler added 22 to help the Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets 118-102 on Thursday night.It’s the third straight 20-plus point game for McDermott, and I oved a half-game in front of idle Detroit into eighth place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Bobby Portis added 12 points and 14 rebounds.

McDermott, the 11th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, is pumping in some timely points for an injury-ravaged Bulls team that’s struggling to make the postseason.Tconfidence is at a very high level right now,” coach Fred Hoiberg said. ”He’s finding good shots and taking them.

”His overall movement is helping us. He’s running off the screen. Sometimes taking a very difficult shot, but he is making them.”

The 24-year-old McDermott said he’s getting into a rhythm as Hoiberg puts him in key situations.

”Just the belief that the coaches and the guys on the team have in me,” McDermott said. ”I got it going early, which always helps, so I just have to build off that.”

The Bulls raced to a 24-point lead in the second quarter, then held on and finally finished off the lowly Nets, who outscored the Bulls 37-24 in the third and closed within four points early in the fourth.The Bulls got a season-high 60 points from its reserves, including McDermott’s output that included five 3-pointers.Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets comeback with 26 points, one game after scoring a career-high 44 points in Brooklyn’s 131-114 victory over league-worst Philadelphia on Tuesday night.Thaddeus Young added 16 points and pulled down 16 rebounds.The Bulls had little trouble scoring and controlling play in the first half against the Nets. the Bulls outshot Brooklyn 49 to 33 percent from the field to roll up a 55-37 lead at the half.Brooklyn clawed back in the third to cut it to 79-74. Bogdanovic’s 3-pointer with 2:18 left in the quarter sliced the Bulls lead five points.Then Brooklyn closed to four on Chris McCullough‘s 3-point shot 2:58 into the fourth.

”That’s all effort,” Brooklyn interim coach Tony Brown said. ”Our intensity level picked up”

But the Bulls used a late run, including key 3 pointers from McDermott and Derrick Rose, to put it away.The Bulla had used an 11-0 run in the final 3:26 of the first quarter to take a 24-14 lead. McDermott had the hot hand in the stretch, scoring seven of his points.The Bulls kept rolling in the second. Taj Gibson, a game-time decision as a starter, looked happy and healthy with his wide-open hanging dunk that made it 47-23 with 4:24 to go for the biggest lead of the night.Pau Gasol missed his third game with right knee inflammation, but Hoiberg said Gasol ”is feeling significantly better” and is expected to take stationary shots on Friday. Hoiberg ruled out Gasol for Saturday’s game against Utah but said he would be re-evaluated for the Bulls’ following contest, Monday when they host Sacramento.The Bulls have been ravaged by injuries. So Hoiberg’s response when asked about Gasol’s exact condition: ”I can’t remember what it’s called, I’ve got so many of them.” Brown is from Chicago and guided the Nets from the bench for the first time in his hometown after being named on Jan. 10. Brown grew up watching the Bulls, played 10 games for them 1985-86, and had a contingent of friends and family at the game.

”Obviously it’s full circle for me,” Brown said. ”It’s just the culmination of my career so far.”

Brooklyn signed C Henry Sims to a 10-day contract on Thursday. Brown called Sims a ”quality big guy,” but planned to get him practice time before inserting him in game. The 6-foot-10 Sims played 73 games last season for Philadelphia.Gibson started on Thursday after being a game-time decision but said after the game he had intended to play all along. He played only 8 minutes in a 117-96 loss at Washington on Wednesday after aggravating his right hamstring, but was on the court for 27 minutes against the Nets. … E’Twaun Moore suffered a left hamstring injury and played only 2 minutes….The Bulls host the Utah Jazz on Saturday.

One fortunate skip off the ice, and Philadelphia was in position to grab a playoff spot. The Flyers celebrated by packing up and heading home.Lots of days still left on the schedule.Defenseman Radko Gudas scored on a deflected shot in the third period, and surging Philadelphia beat the Blackhawks 3-2 on Wednesday night to move into position for a wild-card ticket to the postseason.Michal Neuvirth made 24 saves as Philadelphia improved to 8-1-1 in its last 10 games and leapfrogged idle Detroit for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers beat the Red Wings 4-3 at home on Tuesday night.Gudas’ slap shot at 9:53 of the third went off the stick of Blackhawks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and then bounced off the ice before elevating past goaltender Scott Darling. It was Gudas’ third goal of the season – with each coming in the last six games.

”I was just trying to get through the first guys and I’m lucky enough it bounced off somebody and went in,” Gudas said.

Ryan White and Brayden Schenn also scored for the Flyers (34-23-12), who swept the two-game season series against the Blackhawks (41-24-6).

”We’re feeling good. That was a big game out there tonight,” White said. ”At times we weren’t our best, but we hung in there, stuck in there and played great and found another way to win a game.”

Joel Quenneville juggled his lines and gave starting goaltender Corey Crawford the night off, but the Blackhawks still lost their fourth consecutive game. Marian Hossa scored his 497th career goal, and Jonathan Toews added his 25th of the season in the second.

”We know how we have to play, and we’ve got to get back to playing our kind of hockey,” defenseman Brent Seabrook said. ”We’ve got to get back to playing off the start, having good starts and trying to carry that momentum through. I thought we did that tonight. This last stretch here, we’ve got to get some points to be where we want to be.”

The Blackhawks caught a break in the first when Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere broke his stick on a power-play shot from the left point, sending the puck right to Artem Anisimov. The center played it up to Hossa for a short-handed breakaway, and the winger beat Neuvirth on the stick side for a 1-0 lead at 8:18.The Hawks then had almost two minutes’ worth of a 5-on-3 power play and came up empty.

”We had a couple chances, but nothing like we’d like to create with the full two minutes,” forward Patrick Kane said. ”We had to chase the puck a couple times and didn’t really get it set up the way we wanted. Disappointing not to cash in.”

Philadelphia got another power play at the end of the period, and took advantage this time around. With Artemi Panarin in the box for interference, White was credited with his ninth goal when Andrew MacDonald’s big slap shot went off his left shin and past Darling at 18:48.Darling finished with 26 saves in his first home loss of the season.Toews got the lead back when he flipped his own rebound into the top of the net at 4:58 of the second. But Schenn finished off a 2-on-1 with Claude Giroux for his 24th goal, tying it at 2 with 6:58 left in the period.Toews’ fourth goal in his last eight games gave him at least 25 for the third straight season. Kane also got an assist on the play, running his NHL-best total to 90 points.

NOTES—Flyers C Chris VandeVelde was sent off for elbowing Toews in the head late in the first period, a penalty that likely will attract the attention of the league. … Flyers F Jake Voracek missed his ninth straight game due to a left foot injury. He is skating again and could return soon. … D Erik Gustafsson was among the scratches for the Blackhawks. The rookie had played in seven of the last eight games.

WASHINGTON—The week began with John Wall and the Washington Wizards on a five-game losing streak and facing a daunting margin just to reach the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.After a pair of victories by an average of 32 points over the two teams right ahead of them in the standings, the Wizards are in a far different place.

Finally playing as if their chance at returning to the postseason was on the line, which it very much is, the Wizards beat Derrick Rose and the Bulls 117-96 behind Wall’s third triple-double of the season Wednesday night.Wall, an All-Star point guard, produced 29 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, outplaying Rose, who returned after missing two games with a strained left groin and finished with 16 points and four assists.

”We just couldn’t really get a stop tonight, so they got us,” said Doug McDermott, who led the Bulls with 20 points as a reserve. ”We’ve got to come out with urgency. We didn’t do that tonight. That’s on us.”

Wall pointed his finger at the defensive side of the ball, saying that the Wizards spent plenty of time watching video of their disastrous recent road trip and focusing on how to improve the way they deal with opponents’ pick-and-rolls.And, he thinks, the dividends could keep coming.

”We put ourselves in this situation. And if we just keep playing defense this way, we give ourselves a great chance to beat anybody. Simple as that,” Wall said. ”We simplified our defense the last two games, it showed up and it’s been a lot better.”

In their previous outing, on Monday, the Wizards beat the visiting Detroit Pistons by 43 points. Detroit lost again Wednesday, 118-114 at Atlanta, meaning Washington is still 10th in the East but now sits only 1 1/2 games behind both the eighth-place Bulls and ninth-place Pistons.Plus, there is this: The Wizards now own the tiebreakers against both of those teams they’re chasing, 2-1 over the Bulls with no games remaining and 3-0 over Detroit with only one to play.Wall received plenty of help, including 20 points from Bradley Beal and 15 from reserve Garrett Temple.The Bulls got Rose back, and Jimmy Butler scored 17 points in his second game in a row after missing three with an injury. But Joakim Noah is done for the season, Pau Gasol is still out, and Taj Gibson played only 8 minutes Wednesday because he aggravated his right hamstring.
”The challenge is pretty tough right now,” Rose said, ”but that’s why we’re pros.”
Rose said he expects to face Brooklyn on Thursday. ”I wasn’t really trying to force anything,” he said about Wednesday’s return to action. ”Just trying to get a groove, get a feel for the ball.” Coach Fred Hoiberg’s take: ”I thought his burst looked good, for the most part. We wanted to play him short stints, no longer than 7-minute stints.”

NOTES—Wall was whistled for a flagrant foul after chasing Butler down and blocking his shot. Wittman’s postgame reaction to the call? ”I’m glad I didn’t play in this (era). Jiminy Christmas, if that was a flagrant. But times have changed.”…..The Bulls Have lost nine of 10 on the road. … Cameron Bairstow sat out with a back injury…..The Bulls are home to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

Jonathan Quick made 32 saves, Kris Versteeg had a goal and an assist and the Los Angeles Kings routed the slumping Blackhawks 5-0 on Monday night in a matchup of Western Conference powers looking for another championship run.Quick’s 41st career regular-season shutout snapped a tie with John Vanbiesbrouck and Frank Brimsek for the most by an American-born goaltender. ”It’s a team effort, too, to get a shutout, so you’re thankful for all your teammates of the years,” Quick said. Milan Lucic, Vincent Lecavalier, Dustin Brown and Tyler Toffoli also scored as Los Angeles improved to 8-2-1 in its last 11 games. Quick’s fourth shutout of the season helped the Pacific Division leaders kill off each of the Blackhawks six power-play opportunities.The Blackhawks (41-23-6) lost for the fourth time in five games, including three in a row against St. Louis, Dallas and Los Angeles – three potential playoff opponents. The defending Stanley Cup champions are just 9-10-2 since their franchise-record 12-game win streak. ”It seems like for whatever reason, the season’s been up and down throughout the whole year,” forward Patrick Kane said. ”You go on stretches where you win 12 in a row, and we’ve got this little stretch going right now. Obviously we want to shore that up before playoffs, and make sure we’re going in there feeling consistent about our game.” The slide has dropped Hawks into third in the tough Central Division with just 12 games left on their schedule.The Blackhawks’ much maligned penalty killers had a perfect night, but Quick was solid for Los Angeles (41-22-5) and the Kings made the most of their opportunities. The Kings won two of three in the season series between the winners of the last four Stanley Cups. ”We’re familiar with them. They’re familiar with us,” Quick said. ”We’ve played a lot against each other the past few years. It’s a game that you don’t need to do much video or much like that. You know what you’re going to get.” Los Angeles grabbed the lead right after Quick made four saves on a Hawk power play in the first period. Versteeg jumped on a loose puck and shot it over Corey Crawford‘s right shoulder at 3:17 for his first goal since he was acquired in a trade with Carolina on Feb. 28.Versteeg, who played on the Blackhawks championship teams in 2010 and 2015, then assisted on Lucic’s third goal in his last five games. Versteeg was traded from the Blackhawks to the Hurricanes in September and had just one goal and one assist in his last 18 games coming into the night. ”When you play your old team you always want to play hard,” Versteeg said. ”It gives you a little added boost, I guess. But at the end of the day the goal feels good no matter who it’s against.” Lucic skated up the left side and shot it over Crawford’s right shoulder from the left circle at 3:35. It was Lucic’s 17th goal of the season.The Hawks had a couple of prime chances in the first, but was unable to get one into the net. Niklas Hjalmarsson sent a backhander off the right post with about nine minutes left nd Andrew Shaw had a tip go off the crossbar two minutes later.Quick made a nice stop on Kane in the second and Trevor Lewis set up Lecavalier’s eighth goal on the other end at 15:30. Crawford was slow to get over to the right side and Lecavalier had a wide-open net to work with after Lewis’ pass. ”Unfortunate again, we couldn’t help our goaltender,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. ”Crow has been unreal for us all year. These two games we’ve kind of hung him out to dry.” Brown ended a 15-game scoring drought with a nice backhand move at 11:20 of the third, prompting many of the fans in the sold-out crowd to head for the exits. Toffoli’s 25th goal at 16:10 ended a 10-game drought. NOTES—It was Quick’s 35th win. He had 36 wins all of last season. … The Blackhawks announced before the game that they had agreed to a two-year contract extension with D Viktor Svedberg, who was reassigned to Rockford of the AHL on Feb. 27. The 6-foot-8 Svedberg, who made his NHL debut in October, has two goals and two assists in 19 games with the Hawks. The contract runs through the 2017-18 season.

DALLAS—Jason Spezza has been carrying some extra weight recently while Dallas Stars teammates Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn went through uncharacteristic goal droughts – six games for Seguin and seven for Benn.All three helped the Stars move atop the Western Conference standings Friday night.Spezza scored in his fifth straight game, Seguin and Benn ended their scoring slumps and the Stars beat the Blackhawks 5-2.Dallas improved to 41-20-8 with 90 points, one more than St. Louis and two more than the Hawks. Each team has 13 games remaining.The Stars will host the Blues on Saturday night with first place again on the line.

”St. Louis might be the best team in the league right now,” Ruff said. ”It’s going to be, `Put this one away and get ready for (Saturday),’ because (Saturday’s) task is going to be even a little more daunting.”

The Hawks will return home to play Los Angeles on Monday.Kari Lehtonen made 21 saves for the Stars, who are 3-0-1 in their last four games. Antoine Roussel and Ales Hemsky also scored.Teuvo Teravainen and Tomas Fleischmann scored Hawk goals.The conditions were right for Spezza to open the scoring at 11:08 of the first period with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line. It was his fourth power-play goal in five games, and six of his eight goals in the last nine games have come on the power play.Spezza also has 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in 14 career games against the Hawks who have allowed 16 power-play goals in their last 13 games.”Right off the bat they score, right away,” Joel Quenneville said. ”You don’t even get a chance to get your feet under you to see how it’s going to look. That one was on a platter and the next one was on a platter.”

The next power-play goal was by Benn at 10:42 of the second for a 4-0 lead. Patrick Eaves deflected Seguin’s shot, which landed at Benn’s feet to the right of the net for a tap-in goal.Benn and Seguin each have 33 goals this season.

”It was nice,” Benn said. ”I think I was more excited when (Seguin) scored and when the other guys scored than when I did. They’re not pretty all the time, and I’ll take what I can get. Even if it’s kicking it in, I’ll take it.”

Quenneville then removed Corey Crawford, who had 16 saves. Scott Darling finished with 10 saves. He was pulled for an extra skater with 8:10 to play and returned after Hemsky’s empty-net goal with 4:31 left.Spezza, Benn and Hemsky each had a goal and an assist. Fleischmann also had a goal and an assist.Dallas defenseman Stephen Johns made his NHL debut because of injuries to John Klingberg, Jordie Benn and Jason Demers. During the offseason, The Blackhawks traded Johns and forward Patrick Sharp to the Stars. Sharp also missed this game because of injury.

NOTES—Spezza reached 800 career points (294 goals, 506 assists). … Sharp and Johns were traded for F Ryan Garbutt and D Trevor Daley. The Blackhawks traded Garbutt and Daley during this season, and even the players received for them (Jiri Sekac and Rob Scuderi) are no longer with the Hawks. … Hossa returned after missing nine games because of a lower-body injury. … Benn’s seven-game scoring slump was his longest since an 11-game drought that ended last March 13. Seguin’s six games without a goal were his most since he went 12 games in January of 2014. … Blackhawks rookie D Erik Gustafsson had his first NHL penalty in his 32nd game when he went off for delay of game at 8:20 of the third period. … The Stars are 3-1 in the season series.

With Dwyane Wade playing at less than full strength, Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson came up big for the Miami Heat.Dragic scored a season-high 26 points, Richardson added a career-high 22 and the Heat used a big fourth quarter to beat the short-handed Bulls 118-96 on Friday night.Luol Deng scored 19 points for Miami, which outscored the Home team 34-15 in the final period on the way to its sixth win in seven games. ”Once we got the lead we started to get comfortable,” Deng said, ”and then they were reacting to us. We got them thinking and that is our game.” Pau Gasol led the Bulls with 17 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Justin Holiday scored a season-high 14 points, but the Bulls came up short on a night guards Derrick Rose (strained left groin) and Jimmy Butler (strained left knee) sat with injuries.The Bulls dropped to .500 at 32-32 after its second straight loss and missed a chance to move into the final Eastern Conference playoff spot after Detroit lost at Charlotte.The Heat, who saw a five-game winning streak end Wednesday at Milwaukee, were up 88-85 early in the fourth when Deng made a 3-pointer from the corner, then scored off a steal to begin a 22-2 run that turned the game into a rout. Richardson was 3 for 3 from behind the arc and Hasan Whiteside added an emphatic alley-oop dunk from Deng during the spurt. ”We played defense and forced them to make a lot of turnovers,” Dragic said after Miami had six steals in the fourth. ”We were really aggressive. After that, we could run. We scored a lot of points in the open court.” Miami had a season-high 14 steals – six in the fourth – and the Bulls turned the ball over 18 times. ”When we made mistakes, they capitalized,” Gasol said. ”They busted the game open and kept going and started making all kinds of shots.” Wade suited up against the Bulls after he was hurt in Wednesday’s loss at Milwaukee. … Miami, which improved to 3-0 in the season series with the Bulls, has won three straight at the United Center.Gasol narrowly missed his third triple-double of the season and 10th of his career. His first two this season came Feb. 27 against Portland and March 7 against Milwaukee. Gasol also had six turnovers. . Holiday, acquired from Atlanta in a Feb. 18 trade, made his first start with the Bulls and the sixth of his career.Rose’s groin started bothering him during Thursday’s loss at San Antonio, and his plan ”for right now” is to play Monday at Toronto.Butler visited Dr. James Andrews on Thursday and worked out on Friday. The Bulls also hope to have him back Monday.While Chris Bosh hopes to return this season, the Heat aren’t ready to put a timetable on their star forward’s comeback.One day after the 11-time All-Star released a statement saying he would love to rejoin the team’s playoff push after his latest blood clot scare, coach Erik Spoelstra would not say when Bosh will suit up again.All Spoelstra would say after Friday’s shootaround was that Bosh ”is in a great place right now” as he tries to work his way back.The Bulls are at Toronto on Monday.

INDIANAPOLIS—Purdue centers Isaac Haas and A.J. Hammons, along with forward Caleb Swanigan, dominated inside against Illinois.They combined for 38 points on 18-of-25 shooting and 23 rebounds in the No. 13 Boilermakers’ 89-58 victory Friday in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal. ”We think Hammons and Haas are the best center combination in the country,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. ”They both have good post moves, so they don’t have to just have dunks and layups. It’s really hard to go up against that front line. When those guys pass the basketball in quick double teams, that really helps our outside shooting.” The Boilermakers went 13 of 27 from 3-point range (48.1 percent), missing the Big Ten Tournament record by one.Haas, Purdue’s reserve center, scored 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting.Vince Edwards added 14 points, Swanigan had 11 points and 12 rebounds and Dakota Mathias added 11 for Purdue (25-7), which shot 58.3 percent. Hammons finished with 10.The Boilermakers made 24 of their first 36 shots, including 8 of 14 from 3-point range, taking a 60-27 lead on P.J. Thompson‘s 3-pointer with 15:59 left. Consecutive 3-pointers from Edwards pushed the Boilermakers’ lead to 66-30 with 12:13 to play. ”We got good looks at the basket, and that’s because our big men made such good decisions when they were being double-teamed,” Purdue guard Rapheal Davis said. ”When two people are guarding one of them, somebody has to be open. Guys were open, and those guys made shots.” Illinois (15-19) got 17 points from Maverick Morgan, 16 from Malcolm Hill and 13 from Kendrick Nunn. ”Purdue was a buzz saw,” Illinois coach John Groce said. ”After watching their last regular-season game against Wisconsin, I knew it was going to be a great challenge for us. With all that size they have, when they are making shots from the outside, they play really, really well.We got within 27-21, and then they started making all those 3-pointers, and the game got away from us.” Purdue is trying to win its first Big Ten Tournament title since 2009, the only time the Boilermakers won the event.Purdue made 18 of 29 shots (62.1 percent) in the first half and led 45-25 at the break. Hammons and Hass were a combined 10 of 10 from the field.The Boilermakers outrebounded the Illini 20-11 in the opening 20 minutes and limited Illinois to 1-of-8 shooting from 3-point range.Painter stressed to his players that Illinois was playing its third game in three days. ”Our guys concentrated on how important it was to defend,” Painter said. ”We couldn’t let them get easy baskets.” Illinois shot 38.5 percent in the first half, getting 12 points from Hill, who scored 30 in January when the Illini hosted the Boilermakers and won 84-70. NOTES—The Illini advanced to the quarterfinals with victories against Minnesota and Iowa, making a combined 24 3-pointers … Illinois’ 27 victories in Big Ten Tournament competition are second-most in the league … The Illini won this tournament in 2003 and 2005….The Boilermakers, along with Michigan State and Maryland, are the only teams to receive double byes in the new 14-team Big Ten Tournament since Maryland and Rutgers joined in 2015 … Including Friday’s victory, Purdue will take a four-game winning streak into Saturday’s semifinals … Before facing Illinois, Purdue’s reserves had outscored the opponent’s bench in 29 of the first 31 games

SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs continued their historic start to the season, even if the team has little interest in such milestones. Kawhi Leonard had 29 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 10 rebounds and San Antonio won its 31st straight at home to open the season by upending the short-handed Chicago Bulls 109-101 on Thursday night. Tony Parker added 20 points and had 12 assists for the Spurs, who have won 40 straight at home going back to last season. San Antonio is off to its best start after 65 games at 55-10 and extended their franchise-record home winning streaks. ”It’s a record season yes, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t go all the way,” Parker said. The Bulls put San Antonio’s home streak in jeopardy despite playing without Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah and Cameron Bairstow, who were not with the team because of injuries.The Bulls remained within six points in the opening six minutes of the fourth quarter, but were unable to draw any closer as the Spurs continued to get second attempts.After the Bulls forced Aldridge to miss a 21-foot jumper, Danny Green came soaring in for a one-handed dunk that gave the Spurs a 102-92 lead with five minutes remaining. ”I wouldn’t say one play (away), a couple of plays away,” Derrick Rose said. ”On the defensive side we’ve got plays where we let them get all the way to the lane.We got plays where we didn’t box out and they pitched it back up for open shots. Just communicating. Communication has been key the entire year and that’s something we didn’t go out there and do tonight.” Rose and Pau Gasol had 21 points each for the Bulls. E’Twaun Moore had 20 points, going 4 for 5 on 3-pointers.Leonard finished 10 for 15 from the field, but only had five free throw attempts.Leonard also defended Rose early, resulting in the Bull’s point guard throwing up a couple of shots wildly while shooting 2 for 7 during the first quarter.Rose was 6 for 12 from the field in the second half, scoring 13 points with Leonard primarily defending the other wings.Rose was forced to guard Parker, who continually ran around screens for open shots in an attempt to tire the Bulls point guard.Parker finished with 14 points in the second half. NOTES—Butler missed his second straight game with a strained left knee and his fifth in six games due to the injury. Butler has not played since scoring 24 points in 34 minutes Saturday against Houston. . Official Monty McCutchen twice signaled the wrong possession in the first half, drawing howls from Chicago’s bench when he pointed toward San Antonio. McCutchen said ”My mistake,” on his initial error and then proceeded to point toward San Antonio again. He chuckled as the Bulls yelled, correcting his mistake and eliciting sarcastic cheers from surrounding fans…..Duncan became the sixth player in league history with 15,000 rebounds, completing the feat midway through the first quarter. He finished with seven points and three rebounds, raising his total to 15,001 rebounds. . San Antonio waived Rasual Butler on Wednesday to make room for Martin. Rookie forward Jonathon Simmons did not dress Thursday, enabling Martin to play.Duncan remained stoic after it was announced he had grabbed his 15,000th rebound midway through the first quarter. He received a loud ovation, including applause from Green and Aldridge.Parker said it was appropriate Martin went to the free-throw line in his first action with the Spurs after signing with the team Wednesday…. ”He’s just unbelievable with that,” Parker said. ”First time he got the ball, he got to the free throw. We were laughing with Timmy, Oh my God. Unbelievable. He’s got a gift for that, just drawing fouls. I’m just happy he’s on our team now.” The Bulls host Miami on Friday.

WASHINGTON—All season, Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke has been playing youngsters, keeping its rotation tight and figuring out ways to score a lot – and, of course, win more often than not.Playing for the second time in about 24 hours at the ACC Tournament, the defending NCAA champion simply seemed spent.Suddenly unable to put the ball in the basket, and their lack of depth made clear, Grayson Allen and the 19th-ranked Blue Devils let a 16-point, second-half lead evaporate Thursday and lost 84-79 in overtime in the ACC quarterfinals to Notre Dame, which got 19 points and 22 rebounds from Zach Auguste. ”Our guys … were so well-prepared and so together and then: Boom!” Krzyzewski said. ”I’m telling you, the not-hitting-shots, it affects a younger team more. It did today.” Up 64-48 midway through the second half, Duke’s high-powered offense went silent, stymied in part by Notre Dame coach Mike Brey’s decision to go from zone to man-to-man defense. Auguste’s inside basket with 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation made it 64-62, and during that 14-0 run by Notre Dame, Duke went scoreless for 7 1/2 minutes, going 0 for 8 on field-goal tries, 0 for 4 at the line. ”Those 6 to 8 minutes,” Krzyzewski said, ”we were really young.” While the fourth-seeded Fighting Irish got a double-bye and were making their tourney debut, Duke had to get past North Carolina State in the second round on Wednesday.Could Notre Dame sense Duke was exhausted? ”We definitely felt that,” Auguste said. ”We had an advantage there. If we kept pushing, they’d eventually slow down and break down.” Exactly what happened. ”I do think Duke was a little tired,” Brey said. That probably contributed this key stat: Duke made only 30 percent of its field-goal attempts after halftime. ”We just weren’t ourselves the last 10 minutes of the game,” Blue Devils reserve Chase Jeter said. ”It feels like we gave the game away.” V.J. Beachem scored 19 points, including a couple of key 3s late in the second half and another in the extra period, for Notre Dame (21-10), which also beat Duke a year ago en route to winning the league tourney and earlier this season at Cameron Indoor Stadium. In all, the Fighting Irish have now won five of the teams’ last six meetings.Allen led Duke (23-10) with 27 points, but there wasn’t much help, in part because of foul trouble.Marshall Plumlee, the 7-foot center who was wearing a mask a day after breaking his nose, finished with only two points and four rebounds before fouling out. Jeter picked up his fifth in overtime, as did Allen, while star freshman Brandon Ingram was stuck with four fouls in the late going.In Friday’s semifinals, Notre Dame will take on No. 7 North Carolina, the team it beat in last season’s conference tournament final. UNC advanced by beating Pittsburgh 88-71 earlier Thursday.Notre Dame won its only meeting with the Tar Heels this season, back in January, although Brey cautioned: ”They’re better than when we played them.” When Beachem made a 3 with 2 1/2 minutes to go in regulation, he put Notre Dame ahead 67-66 – its first lead since 35-34 with 5 minutes left in the first half. Beachem then sank another 3 with 64 seconds left, making the score 70-all, and it stayed that way until the extra period, when he came up with yet another shot from beyond the arc.By then, Notre Dame was not going to let up – and Duke did not have enough left to make another push.After putting up 50, 42 and 45 points in its first three halves of the tournament, Duke managed only 34 in the second half plus OT on Thursday. ”When we haven’t played well,” Krzyzewski said, ”that’s what we do: We let offense affect defense and we don’t rebound as well.” Duke lost four of its last seven games. … Plumlee is the only player to have started all 33 games for the Blue Devils this season. … When Mat Jones made a 3 in the first half, it was his 70th of the season, making him, Allen and Ingram the first trio in school history with at least that many in the same season.Notre Dame won at home against UNC 80-76 in February. … Auguste’s 22 rebounds tied Tim Duncan (1996, Wake Forest) for the second-most in an ACC Tournament game. N.C. State’s Jim Richter had 23 in 1959.