Luol Deng scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the Bulls to a 99-93 win over Orlando on Tuesday night, the Magic’s first loss of the season.Deng and Nate Robinson keyed a 15-2 second-half burst when the Bulls turned a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Robinson hit two straight jumpers to put the Bulls ahead 74-70 early in the fourth, the Bulls’ first lead since midway through the third period.Joakim Noah had 20 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Bulls, while Robinson added 11 points and six assists off the bench. Robinson’s layup with 2:35 to play put the Bulls up 91-81, its biggest lead of the game.Arron Afflalo led the Magic with 28 points, 19 in the second half. E’Twaun Moore added a career-high 17 points.Glen Davis, who entered the game fourth in the NBA with 25.5 points per game, scored 16 points but shot just 7 of 22 from the floor and fouled out.Nicola Vucevic had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who had won three of their last four in the United Center entering the game.Orlando had started the season 2-0, surprising many around the league after trading star center Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers over the summer. The Magic led 70-65 when the Bulls started their decisive run late in the third quarter. Deng tied the game with a jumper with 10:58 to play. Later, Robinson capped the run with a layup in transition.Orlando trimmed the lead to four on Affalo’s 3 late in the final minute, but the Bulls held on down the stretch. Taj Gibson’s dunk and free throw with 39 seconds remaining iced it for the Bulls.The Magic pushed the lead to seven in the second quarter behind seven points from Moore before Richard Hamilton closed the lead to 48-45 with a pull-up jumper in transition to close the first half.Orlando went 4 for 6 from 3-point range in the opening half.The Bulls closed the gap to two by the end of the third quarter, getting seven points from Deng in the period. Afflalo scored nine points to help Orlando maintain the lead, including three free throws after being foul by Kirk Hinrich behind the arc.Deng scored eight quick points to give the Bulls an early lead to start the game, but Orlando closed the first quarter with an 11-2 run and was up 24-23 at the end of the period.J.J. Redick continued his hot shooting early with a 3-pointer and a midrange jumper during the spree. Redick hit 16 of 25 shots in Orlando’s first two games. After making his first two shots, Redick hit just one of the next seven before hitting a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. He handed out a game-high seven assists.

NOTES—Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson missed his second straight game because of a strained right hamstring and groin. He’s day to day.. While the game was announced as a sellout, there were many more empty seats than usual at the United Center. Beside the elections and the absence of Bulls star Derrick Rose, the weather was cold and drizzly here in Chicago.. Bulls Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen sat courtside with his wife during the game after playing basketball with President Obama earlier in the day.. Despite the loss, Orlando was 8 for 19 from 3-point range. The Magic entered the game with a 53.8 percent mark behind the arc

Absolutely horrible news in that former Bulls Broadcaster Jim Durham has passed away at his Texas Home at the age of 65. J.D. as he was known to friends, became the Bulls Play by Play man in 1973-74 and remained through 1990-91 which was the Bulls first Title Season. He left the Bulls over a contract dispute which many blamed on his agent.           After leaving the Bulls, he moved to Texas and Broadcast Dallas Mavericks game for a short time,and has since been a lead play by play announcer for NBA Games on Radio.

He also worked at WJBC doing Illinois State Games(when Doug Collins played there)and Illinois Wesleyan games.

He also spent time calling White Sox games on TV from 1989-90, was the TV voice of the Houston Astros from 1983-85.

In 2011, J.D. was awarded the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award.

One of the nicest and most talented P x P guys I knew. RIP J.D.

LES

NASHVILLE—Charles Tillman forced four fumbles. Brian Urlacher scored on a 46-yard interception return. Plus, the Bears turned a blocked punt into a touchdown.Even when they don’t start with the ball, these Bears are exceptionally dangerous.Jay Cutler threw three TD passes to Brandon Marshall just for good measure and the Bears put up their highest point total since 1980, routing the Tennessee Titans 51-20 on Sunday for their sixth straight win.The Bears (7-1) scored a franchise-record 28 points in the first quarter. They took control by creating three turnovers in the first 13 minutes, resulting in 14 points.Urlacher became the latest Bears defender to score on an interception return. They have done it seven times – no other NFL team had returned six for TDs through the first seven games of any season.The Bears had already topped the 50-point mark with 10 minutes still left. They posted their highest-scoring game since matching a team regular season record in a 61-7 win over Green Bay on Dec. 7, 1980.(The Bears beat Washington 73-0 in the NFL Championship Game Dec 1941)The Titans (3-6) lost their second straight with Chicago fans taking over LP Field, booing any video highlights featuring the rival Packers and frequently chanting “Let’s go, Bears.”  Tennessee’s lone highlight when Chris Johnson scored on an 80-yard run in the fourth quarter. Johnson finished with 141 yards on 16 carries against the NFL’s best rushing defense, with a big chunk coming when he broke out and went up the right sideline with 10:09 left in the fourth quarter.Tillman, the NFC defensive player for October, helped start the Bears’ first-quarter spree. The cornerback stripped receiver Kenny Britt of the ball on Tennessee’s first offensive play for the Bears’ 24th turnover this season.Tillman also forced two fumbles by Johnson and later stripped Titans tight end Jared Cook.Cutler tossed TDs of 13, 39 and 5 yards to Marshall and finished with 229 yards passing. Cutler, who starred in Nashville in college at Vanderbilt, spent the final 10 minutes watching Jason Campbell mop up. Matt Forte ran for a TD and finished with 103 yards.The Bears got on the board first with special teams.Sherrick McManis ran untouched around the right edge and blocked Brett Kern’s punt, and Corey Wootton grabbed the ball and stumbled 5 yards into the end zone for a touchdown with 6:44 left in the first quarter. The Titans came back with a safety when Bears left tackle J’Marcus Webb grabbed at defensive end Kamerion Wimbley’s face in the end zone.Otherwise, the Bears dominated. Urlacher picked off Matt Hasselbeck and stepped over the Titans quarterback on his way to the end zone two plays after Forte’s TD run. Tillman forced another fumble on Tennessee’s next offensive play, and Chris Conte recovered.Cutler capped the scoring for the first quarter with his first TD pass to Marshall and a 28-2 lead with 93 seconds still left.Even in the blowout, the Bears showed their offense still needs some work. They outgained the Titans 358-333 despite holding the ball for 37 minutes against a Tennessee defense that came in ranked 30th in yards allowed. The Bears also settled for three field goals by Robbie Gould, the longest 39 yards.The Titans sacked Cutler three times and force one fumble. That set up a 39-yard field goal by Rob Bironas to pull within 31-5 after three failed attempts throwing into the end zone — two nearly picked off by the Bears.

Greivis Vasquez scored 18 points and the New Orleans Hornets beat the Bulls 89-82 on Saturday night even though they were missing Anthony Davis.Robin Lopez and Jason Smith scored 16 apiece. Ryan Anderson added 12 points and 13 rebounds, and the Hornets hit 20 of 23 free throws to get the win even though Davis was nursing a mild concussion.Luol Deng had 19 points and eight rebounds. Nate Robinson scored 15, and Marco Belinelli added 13 against his former team, but the Bulls shot 33 percent in this one after hitting just under 64 percent of their shots the previous night in an easy win over Cleveland.The Hornets trailed by seven in the second quarter and led by 10 in the third but had to hang on down the stretch, with Robinson making it as tough as he could on them.He scored all but four of his points in the fourth to help keep the Bulls in it, but they ultimately came up short.His jumper with 1:16 left made it 81-77, and the Bulls had a chance to make it a one-possession game after Taj Gibson blocked Smith. Instead, Belinelli missed a 3.Smith hit two free throws with 53.5 seconds left. Roger Mason added two more to make it 85-77, and the Hornets prevailed from there even though they were missing their prized rookie.The No. 1 pick in the draft and a Chicago product, Davis was being examined in New Orleans with a mild concussion after taking an inadvertent elbow to the head from teammate Austin Rivers in the first half of Friday’s win over Utah.While he recovered, coach Monty Williams unloaded.

He blasted the NBA’s protocols for determining when a player can return from a concussion before this game, saying, “Now, they treat everybody like they have white gloves and pink drawers and it’s getting old. It’s just the way the league is now.”

He had to like the way this game turned out, though.The Bulls were leading by seven late in the first half when the Hornets went on a 21-4 run that stretched into the second.Vazquez, who hit the winning layup the previous night, nailed two 3s in the final 30 seconds to send the Hornets to the locker room with a 46-44 lead. The lead hit 10 midway through the third when Austin Rivers nailed a 21-foot fadeaway jumper to make it 58-48.

NOTES—When he was an assistant in Boston, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau could tell big things were in store for Doc Rivers’ son Austin. “In Boston, he was around a lot,” Thibodeau said. “He had a lot of confidence and poise, very comfortable being on the floor playing against pros even when he was in high school. He’s been around the pro game his whole life. I think he’s going to be a terrific player.” Rivers believed Thibodeau would be a successful head coach, and in his first two years, the Bulls captured the top seed in the Eastern Conference. “It’s funny, before he became a head coach, my dad was always talking like he’s gonna be a great coach. It was almost like my dad and him coached. It wasn’t just my dad. Coach Tom was.you look at their (Boston) defense and how it went up once he got there, and look what he’s done with Chicago. I know he’s gonna have a tough defensive scheme for me and everyone else tonight.” … The Hornets had dropped eight straight to the Bulls.

BALTIMORE—The Baltimore Blast kicked off their 33rd season of professional indoor soccer on Saturday night with a fast-paced, high-scoring 23-13 win over the MISL’s newest team, the Chicago Soul. Led by newcomer Tony Donatelli, the Blast fought back from an early 7-2 deficit for the win in front of a crowd of 6,311 fans at 1st Mariner Arena.Former Blast player Carlos Farias didn’t waste any time in getting the Soul(1-1)on the board, giving the Soul a 3-0 lead after just 18 seconds. Donatelli, who recorded a hat trick in the first quarter and added an assist late in the game, scored his first goal in the second minute to cut the Soul lead to 3-2 before Farias scored two goals to complete a first-quarter hat trick and extend the Soul lead to 7-2. The Blast dominated the rest of the quarter, however, as Donatelli scored his second goal, Machel Millwood and Lucio Gonzaga each found the back of the net to give the Blast an 8-7 lead and Donatelli’s third goal put the Blast ahead, 10-7.After an eight-goal first quarter, the second quarter featured just one goal, Farias’ fourth of the game, to bring the Soul within a point, 10-9, at the halftime break.The third quarter resembled the first, fast-paced and high scoring as the Blast added five goals and the Soul scored two. Last year’s leading scorer Max Ferdinand scored his first goal of 2012-13 to extend Baltimore’s lead to 12-9 before Stephen DeRoux scored a 3-pointer to make it 15-9. Roberto Gallo hit back for the Soul, cutting the Blast’s lead to 15-11, but Mike Lookingland and Adriano Dos Santos scored back-to-back goals, making it 19-11 before Bato Radoncic scored the Soul’s second goal of the quarter. Pat Healey restored the Blast’s eight-point lead late in the quarter, giving the Blast a 21-13 lead heading into the final period of play. Millwood then scored his second goal of the game, and the lone strike of the fourth quarter, to round out the scoring.

Notre Dame’s Everett Golson scores the winning TD in the 3rd overtime against Pittsburgh.

SOUTH BEND—Down 20-6 in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame was going to need some big plays and a little luck to stay undefeated and keep its national title hopes alive.It got just enough of both.Everett Golson scored on a quarterback sneak in the third overtime as the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish came back from a 14-point deficit and beat Pittsburgh 26-23.Notre Dame (9-0) is off to its best start since 1993, when it finished the season ranked No. 2. Pitt (4-5) missed a potential game-winning field goal in overtime. Golson re-entered the game after being replaced by Tommy Rees and threw an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter as Notre Dame cut Pitt’s lead to 20-12. Notre Dame’s chances for a comeback appeared to end when Pitt cornerback K’Waun Williams intercepted a pass by Golson in the end zone. But the Irish defense held, and Golson completed a 45-yard pass to DaVaris Daniels to the Pitt 5. Golson then threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick and ran in for the two-point conversion to tie the game.Notre Dame avoided the fate of the 2002 team, the last Irish team to start a season 8-0, which was upset by Boston College 14-7. But just barely. A victory seemed unlikely when they fell behind 20-6 late in the third quarter, again when Williams intercepted Golson’s pass in the end zone again when running back Cierre Wood fumbled as he attempted to dive into the end zone in the second overtime and Pitt safety Jarred Holley recovered.But the Irish kept finding life, the last time when Kevin Harper missed a 33-yard field goal wide right.Golson was 23-of-42 passing for 227 yards and rushed for 74 yards as well, as he kept the Pitt defense off balance. The Irish needed the big plays to overcome a stellar performance from Pitt’s Ray Graham, who rushing for 172 yards, including runs of 55 and 48 yards.Graham continually ran through Notre Dame tackles and the Panthers opened a lead by taking advantage of Irish mistakes.Graham, one of three Pitt players allowed to play despite facing misdemeanor charges, gave the Panthers a 10-6 lead when he ran past an attempted tackle by Notre Dame safety Matthias Farley and sprinted along the sideline for the score. It was just the second rushing touchdown allowed by the Irish defense this season.The Panthers went ahead 17-6 after Pitt linebacker Eric Williams intercepted Rees at midfield. Tino Sunseri threw a 43-yard pass to J.P. Holtz, then a 9-yard TD pass to Holtz. The Panthers made it 20-6 on a 21-yard field goal by Harper.Sunseri was 19-of-29 passing for 164 yards and was sacked five times.The Panthers were hoping to follow in the footsteps of the 2007 Pitt team, which was 4-7 when it won 13-9 at No. 2 West Virginia on Dec. 1 to knock the Mountaineers out of the national championship game, but just couldn’t find a way to hold on.All five Notre Dame home games this season have been decided by a touchdown or less, while the four games away from Notre Dame have been decided by an average margin of 28 points.Coach Brian Kelly had urged his team to play better at home, and they dominated statistically early on, amassing a season-high 145 yards in the first quarter and had a time of possession advantage of 11:32 to 3:28. But they were hurt by five penalties, including a pass interference call that kept alive a drive by Pitt that led to a field goal and a holding call on a long run by Wood.Notre Dame appeared to take a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter on a 2-yard run by Riddick, but a videotape replay ruled he was down at the 1. Two plays later on third-and-goal from the 1, Riddick was stopped by Pittsburgh linebacker Shane Gordon for a 4-yard loss.The Irish had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Kyle Brindza. Brindza later missed a 43-yard field goal wide right on the final play of the first half.While acknowledging their mistakes, Kelly said he was proud of his players for working hard and pulling out the victory.

“Three overtimes,” he said. “That’s good stuff.”

COLUMBUS—Now Urban Meyer has some time to prepare an unbeaten yet flawed Ohio State team for what he calls “the two big ones left.” Carlos Hyde rushed for 137 yards and three touchdowns, and Braxton Miller burnished his Heisman credentials by passing for two scores and running for another in the Buckeyes’ 52-22 victory over Illinois on Saturday.The Buckeyes (10-0, 6-0 Big Ten) maintained their upper hand in the Leaders Division heading into a bye week. They have games remaining at Wisconsin on Nov. 17 and against rival Michigan at home a week later.There’s still plenty of work to do.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a couple of top-5 teams; this probably has more holes than those other ones,” said Meyer, in his first year at Ohio State after winning two national championships in six seasons at Florida. “However, there were also some great performances [today]. We are going to dwell on the weaknesses because those weaknesses get exposed when you play two good teams like we have to finish the season.”

The Buckeyes feel great about how far they’ve come from a disastrous 6-7 season a year ago. But they still know that the hardest part lies ahead.

“It’s a great feeling knowing you haven’t lost a game all season. A lot of teams can’t say that,” cornerback Bradley Roby said. “Just to be 10-0 is a huge accomplishment for us. We’re very close (to 12-0). We just want to finish strong.”

Hyde scored on three short bursts while topping 100 yards for the sixth time this season. Miller carried 18 times for 73 yards and completed 12 of 20 passes for 226 yards. His TD passes covered 51 yards to Rod Smith and 37 to Corey Brown.But Meyer isn’t happy with the passing game — which will be the focus of workouts starting Tuesday.

“We still have some weaknesses,” he said. “We worked so hard to develop a passing game, and I can’t say that we did it successfully, however. It’s still a work in progress.”

But the running game was vintage Ohio State. The Buckeyes averaged 6 yards per carry, totaling 330 yards on the ground.

“Once we got our rhythm there was going to be no stopping us,” Hyde said. “It’s not just me. It’s the offensive line. When those guys go, that means I’m going.”

It was the sixth consecutive loss for the Illini (2-7, 0-5) and their 11th in a row in the Big Ten.First-year coach Tim Beckman, an assistant at Bowling Green under Meyer, said the Illini aren’t facing anything dramatically different from what his Toledo team did his first season there.

“You always face bumps but you want to do the best for the kids,” said Beckman. “Nobody wants to be in this situation but (the seniors) are trying to do whatever they can to get out of (it).”

Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, dogged all day by Ohio State’s aggressive front line, completed 19 of 34 passes for just 91 yards with one interception. He also led the Illini in rushing with 15 carries for 36 yards. But there wasn’t much else going on for the Illini, who finished with only 170 total yards.The Illini trailed just 7-6 after a quarter thanks to two Nick Immekus field goals. But Ohio State wasted little time in running off all 24 points in the second quarter to take control.Drew Basil’s 31-yard field goal made it 10-6 before a short Illinois punt gave the Buckeyes decent field position at their 36. Five plays later, Hyde’s second short TD run of the day made it 17-6.Illinois, limited to just 170 yards, wasn’t able to get anything going as Scheelhaase was continually harassed and forced to scramble.

“There’s some mental errors in there, some mistakes that we just can’t have,” he said.

After another punt, Miller rolled right and then looked back to the left sideline where backup running back Rod Smith was several yards behind safety Supo Sanni. Smith pulled in the pass to complete the 51-yard score.

“We practiced that throughout the whole week,” Miller said. “It popped out like it’s supposed to.”

An 18-yard punt and a penalty put the Buckeyes right back in control at midfield. On consecutive plays, Miller juked and spun for 11 yards, Hyde picked up 11, Miller found tight end Nick Vannett for 14 yards, Miller scrambled for 11 more and Hyde then collected his third score of the day on a sweep around right end. The second half was more or less anticlimactic.The Buckeyes have plenty to work on: several costly personal-foul penalties; big yardage given up on kickoff and punt returns; and a big play off a turnover. Ashante Williams picked up backup quarterback Kenny Guiton’s bad option pitch and raced 77 yards for the touchdown in the final minutes.Rest assured, Meyer will mention that mistake and the rest in what’s only an off week on the schedule. He did give the Buckeyes Sunday off but promised they would still make the most of their practice time.

DEKALB—Jordan Lynch threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, Matt McIntosh threw for one and ran for two and Northern Illinois coasted in its defeat of winless Massachusetts 63-0 Saturday afternoon.Lynch was 15 of 19 for 191 yards. He also had 15 carries for 157 yards, averaging 10.5 yards per carry. McIntosh had seven carries for 45 yards, including the two touchdowns. He threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Angelo Sebastiano. Akeem Daniels, Martel Moore, Keith Harris and kicker Mathew Sims also added to the scoreboard.Mike Wegzyn was 16 of 28 for 137 yards for the Minutemen (0-9, 0-5, Mid-American). Marken Michel had six receptions for 42 yards and 6 kickoff returns for 77 yards, and Michael Cox had 25 carries for 81 yards. Perry McIntyre had a sack and eight tackles.Northern Illinois (9-1, 6-0) has won 20 consecutive home games at Huskie Stadium.

After Carlos Marmol told reporters in the Dominican Republic that he had been traded to the Angels for Dan Haren The Halos refused to pick up his option late Friday night, thus making him a free agent likely too expensive for the Cubs. There were many that reported that this was a confirmed deal,but neither Club confirmed or denied it. Now the Cubs are saying “no go”.

CLEVELAND—Richard Hamilton and Carlos Boozer each scored 19 points and the Bulls routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-86 on Friday night.Nate Robinson added 16 points and 12 assists for the Bulls, who led the entire game after Boozer hit a jumper 23 seconds in. The Bulls made 14 of 19 from the field in the first quarter and led 36-16 with 10:34 remaining in the second.The Bulls shot 63.8 percent from the field for the game, hitting 44 of 69 shots.The Cavaliers, who defeated Washington in their opener, struggled on both ends of the floor. Kyrie Irving had 15 points but Cleveland shot 32 of 79 from the field (41 percent) and committed 17 turnovers.Hamilton scored 14 points in the third quarter, and Robinson had 12 in the second.The Bulls are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since the 2002-03 season despite playing without star point guard Derrick Rose, who isn’t expected to return until the second half of the season because of a knee injury. The Bulls were 18-9 without Rose last season and earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Rose tore the ACL in his left knee in Game 1 of the first round against Philadelphia and the Bulls were eliminated by the 76ers.The Bulls have won nine straight games over the Cavaliers, who haven’t recorded a win in the series since LeBron James left town after the 2010 season. The Bulls have won the last four games by an average margin of 30.2 points. The Cavaliers haven’t defeated the Bulls since March 19, 2010.Luol Deng added 14 points for the Bulls, who begin a five-game homestand Saturday against New Orleans. Joakim Noah scored 10.Hamilton, plagued by injuries last season, scored 19 points in Chicago’s season-opening win over Sacramento.Anderson Varejao, who set career highs with 23 rebounds and nine assists in the opener, scored 12 points for Cleveland, which opens six-game, 11-day road trip Saturday in Milwaukee. Alonzo Gee also scored 12. Rookie guard Dion Waiters, the Cavaliers’ No. 1 draft pick, scored seven points after having 17 in the opener.

NOTES—Boozer also had seven rebounds and six assists. …Kirk Hinrich, who is replacing Rose in the starting lineup, picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. He scored nine points and had six assists in 18 minutes. Hinrich is playing with a groin injury … The Cavaliers’ trip also includes stops in Los Angeles to play the Clippers, Golden State, Phoenix, Oklahoma City and Brooklyn. … Rookie C Tyler Zeller picked up three fouls in 4 minutes in the first half. He scored eight points, with seven coming in the second half.