NASHVILLE—Filip Forsberg has scored on many different goalies, but Tuesday night was the first time he collected a goal against one with the same name on the back of his jersey.Forsberg opened Nashville’s scoring against goaltender Anton Forsberg, Pekka Rinne made 37 saves, and the Predators beat the Blackhawks 3-2.”Yeah, it was,” Filip Forsberg said with a laugh when asked if that was his first goal against another Forsberg. The two Swedish players are not related.Auston Watson and Roman Josi also scored goals for the Predators, who have won 10 of 12.

”It’s a division game, and we’ve kind of created a little bit of a rivalry for sure over the years,” Rinne said. ”It means a lot not only in this locker room but in the standings too. It’s a huge win.”

Tommy Wingels and Lance Bouma had the goals for the Hawks, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.The Hawks made its first appearance in Nashville since the Predators swept them in last spring’s opening round of the playoffs.With Nashville clinging to a one-goal lead late in the third, Rinne made his best save of the night when he denied Nick Schmaltz’s backhand from just outside the crease on a shorthanded breakaway. He later denied WIngels with the left pad in the game’s final minute.Watson also blocked three shots off the stick of former Predator Cody Franson in the game’s final six seconds.

”That was awesome,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. ”He’s a guy that the puck always seems to find him. … There’s an art to that, and it was on full display at the end of the game.”

Filip Forsberg scored at 3:16 of the first when Anton Forsberg stopped his initial attempt from the high slot, and the rebound deflected off the right skate of Arvidsson, who was stationed just outside the Hawk crease. The puck drifted to the right, where Nashville’s top goal scorer tapped in his 12th of the season.

”I shot it and it hit him in the stomach, I think, and obviously he tried to spin and it hit his skate and went right to me,” Fillip Forsberg said. ”It was fortunate, but at the same time, we were both in the good area where pucks might find us.”

The Hawks tied it nearly two minutes later when Alex DeBrincat sent a pass to Wingels skating through the slot, where he redirected the puck over the glove of a diving Rinne.

”For the most part, we played a pretty good road game. That being said, the only thing that matters is the two points,” Wingels said. ”While we are happy with some aspects, the biggest thing is we didn’t come away with two points.”

Anton Forsberg made 28 saves.Watson made it 2-1 at 3:48 of the second when Matt Irwin’s shot from the left point was off the mark but deflected off Watson’s body and into the Hawk net. Officials upheld the goal after a challenge by the Blackhawks, who thought Watson had interfered with Anton Forsberg.

”It’s close. I looked at it,” Joel Quenneville said. ”It could have gone either way, but it was one of those decisions that it could have gone our way too.”

Josi scored a power-play goal at 2:32 of the third with a slap shot from above the left faceoff circle.Nashville entered Tuesday with the league’s best home power play conversion rate at 41.5%. The Predators were 1-4 in the game with the man advantage.Bouma cut the lead to 3-2 midway through the third from the lower part of the right faceoff circle.

NOTES—Nashville has scored at least one power-play goal in each of its 11 home games. … The Predators are 9-1-1 at home. … Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane failed to record a point in the game, ending his point-scoring streak at seven games. … The Bulls 2-5-0 against fellow Central Division teams. … Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker attended the game.

For all the big shots he hit, Devin Booker was most proud of the one he blocked.Booker scored 33 points, and the Phoenix Suns held off the Bulls for a 104-99 win on Tuesday night.Booker looked just fine after sitting out a game because of inflammation in his right big toe, nailing five 3-pointers and grabbing nine rebounds. But the play that most stood out to him came in the final minute.The Suns were leading by five with about 30 seconds left when Kris Dunn stole the ball from Tyler Ulis and went for a layup. Booker raced back to block him.

”That’s crunch time, so whatever I had to do to win,” he said.

T.J. Warren scored 25 for Phoenix. Alex Len had 13 points and tied a career high with 18 rebounds after not playing in two of the previous three games. The Suns dominated on the glass 57-41 while snapping a three-game losing streak.

”I’m proud of this team,” Booker said. ”We fought hard tonight. A lot of energy, talking on defense. Things that we needed to be working on, we did today.”

The rebuilding Bulls are a league-worst 3-16 after dropping their sixth straight.Justin Holiday made a career-high six 3-pointers on his way to 25 points. Dunn added a personal-best 24 points, hitting all four from long range, and eight assists.

ATLANTA—Tadric Jackson told Jose Alvarado coming out of a timeout to look for him if Ben Lammers wasn’t open.Alvarado did just that, and it all worked out for Georgia Tech.

”When I had the ball, I looked up and I saw 2 seconds,” Jackson said. ”I took a couple of dribbles and just focused on making the layup.”

Jackson hit a layup at the buzzer, Lammers scored 13 points and Georgia Tech rallied in the closing seconds to beat Northwestern 52-51 on Tuesday night.Jackson took a pass on the left side from Alvarado and drove through the lane past two defenders to score at the rim. His basket set off a wild celebration for Georgia Tech (4-1) and was a similar ending to last season’s win over Notre Dame when Jackson passed upcourt to Josh Okogie for a buzzer-beating layup.Jackson, in his second game back since serving a three-game suspension for receiving gifts in violation of NCAA rules, finished with 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting.

”I’m just trying to get going,” Jackson said. ”I feel like today I had a couple of mistakes, but I’m back in the groove.”

Bryant McIntosh scored 18 points, Vic Law added 12 and Dererk Pardon had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Northwestern (4-3). Scottie Lindsey began the game averaging a team-high 17.8 points, but he went scoreless, missing five 3-point attempts and three other shots.It didn’t help that Aaron Falzon went 1 for 8 from the field and missed seven 3s.

”When I look at the stat sheet and see my two best shooters 0 for 12 from 3 and I see us (outscored) 16-4 at the foul line, to lose a game by one at the buzzer, it shows a lot of grit in my guys,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. ”We hung in there and gave ourselves a chance.”

WINSTON-SALEM—Bryant Crawford led four players in double figures with 20 points as Wake Forest knocked Illinois from the ranks of the undefeated in an 80-73 win in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge Tuesday night.Doral Moore, Mitchell Wilbekin, and Brandon Childress added 12 points apiece for Wake Forest (3-4), which held Illinois to 38.7 percent shooting using a stingy 2-3 zone defense.After watching several late leads slip away in earlier losses, Coach Danny Manning of Wake Forest was proud of the way his team finished against Illinois.

”I thought it was a top-dog game in terms of how we competed tonight,” Manning said. ”They had a physical presence all game, but we met that physicality and were strong with the ball. That put us in a situation to have some success. I think everyone that stepped on the court contributed something and it was a good team win for us, something that we can build upon.”

Aaron Jordan came off the bench to lead Illinois with 20 points, with Kipper Nichols adding 14 and Leron Black finishing with 10. Jordan, who entered the game leading the NCAA in 3-point percentage (15 of 23, 65.2 percent), made 4 of 6 against the Deacons.It was the first loss for the Illini (6-1), who played their first six games at home and sought their first non-conference road win since beating Boston University in the NIT on March 19, 2014.After grabbing a 27-20 lead with 8:56 left in the first half, Illinois went cold from the floor and endured a scoreless stretch of 5 minutes, 21 seconds as Wake Forest clawed back into the game.

”We had a bad stretch in the first half with three straight turnovers and we took two quick shots,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. ”We weren’t getting the ball to the interior of their zone and combine that with the turnovers and the fouls we were committing in the backcourt and they were parading to the free throw line.”

The Deacons were on a 13-2 run at the end of the first half, making 6 of 8 free throws during the stretch, before Nichols’ 3-pointer at the buzzer stopped the bleeding.Leading 35-34 at halftime, the Deacons used an 11-0 run early in the second half to take a 49-39 lead. Illinois closed to within 1 at 56-55 on a 3-pointer by Black with 9:25 left but could get no closer.The Deacons made 10 of 13 free throws in the second half and 19 of 23 for the game, something that was not lost on Manning.

”It’s one thing to get to the free throw line, but our guys are doing a pretty good job right now of making them as well,” Manning said. ”So, we’ve got to continue to reward ourselves when we get there by knocking them down.”

Despite the loss, Underwood said he saw some positive signs from his team.

”I liked our fight and I liked our competitiveness, but we probably shot too many 3’s tonight,” Underwood said. ”A lot of credit to Wake Forest as they continue to get better as the season goes on.

Wake Forest is now 12-5 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, tied with Virginia for second most wins.

PHILADELPHIA—Another strong performance by Carson Wentz.And another pathetic effort by the Bears who appeared to quit. Another dominant effort by the defense. Another lopsided win for the Philadelphia Eagles.Wentz tossed three touchdown passes and the NFL-leading Eagles beat the Bears 31-3 Sunday for their ninth straight win.The Eagles (10-1) reduced their magic number to clinch the NFC East to one with their fourth consecutive win by at least 23 points and third in a row by exactly 28. Philadelphia would secure its first division title since 2013 if the Cowboys (5-6) lose or tie Washington on Thursday night.

”We’re playing with a lot of momentum, a lot of energy, a lot of swagger,” Wentz said.

Wentz had 227 yards passing, LeGarrette Blount ran for 97 yards and Zach Ertz caught 10 passes for 103 yards and one TD.The defense shut down rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and the inept Bears (3-8), holding them to zero first downs in the first half and 140 total yards in the game.

”That’s the best defense I’ve ever played,” Kyle Long said.

The Bears won the turnover battle (3-2), but couldn’t do anything with excellent field position. They started consecutive drives at midfield and Philadelphia’s 42 but Cairo Santos missed a 54-yard field goal.

”We didn’t play well enough to compete,” Bears coach John Fox said. ”We needed to play really, really well in all three phases to beat that team.”

Wentz threw a 17-yard TD pass to Ertz to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead on their second drive. Jay Ajayi ran 2 yards on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive going and Wentz connected with Alshon Jeffery for 14 yards on third-and-8 one play before the TD.Wentz had a 15-yard TD pass to Nelson Agholor, who flipped over defenders into the end zone to make it 14-0 in the second quarter. Wentz spun away from a blitzer and ran 16 yards on third-and-9 to extend the drive. Then a holding penalty on Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara negated an incomplete pass on third-and-12, and the Eagles scored on the next play.Another holding penalty on Amukamara gave the Eagles a first down late in the second quarter. Wentz then lofted an 8-yard TD pass to Jeffery to extend the lead to 24-0.The Bears entered with the fifth-ranked rushing offense and finished with 6 yards on 14 attempts. They had negative yards before Trubisky scrambled for 12 yards late in the fourth.Ertz is the first player to have 100 yards receiving for the Eagles this season. … Jeffery had five receptions for 52 yards and one TD against his former team. … Wentz is five TD passes away from setting a single-season team record. Sonny Jurgensen had 32 TD passes in 1961. … Eagles are the only NFL team that hasn’t allowed a TD in the first quarter this season. … Bears were the first team not to get a first down in the first half of a game since the Chiefs against the Raiders in Week 15, 2012. … Eagles have three receivers – Ertz, Jeffery and Agholor – with six or more TD receptions.After his TD catch, Jeffery went bowling and his teammates lined up as the pins. Jeffery did a fake roll and all the players went down in the end zone for a strike. Josh Sitton entered concussion protocol. … S Adrian Amos injured a hamstring.The Bears host the San Francisco 49ers (1-9) next Sunday.

CHAMPAIGN—When Northwestern defensive end Samdup Miller stretched out his hands to push the football into Illinois’ end zone in the third quarter Saturday night, fellow defensive end Joe Gaziano danced wildly across the field, fists pumping.Gaziano’s sack had just forced the ball out of Illinois quarterback Cam Thomas’ hands. And, on a night when the crowd was quiet and small, the Wildcats’ offense had been sluggish, Miller’s score pushed No. 23 Northwestern to a 21-7 lead that even early in the third quarter felt like too much for the Illini to overcome.It was, and the Wildcats (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten) went on to finish off Illinois, 42-7, winning their seventh straight.

”The strip-sack touchdown was huge,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. ”In a sleepy building to get that kind of juice going, it was big. It was big. The sideline erupted.”

The bowl-bound Wildcats held Illinois scoreless after giving up a first-quarter touchdown, and put 42 straight points on the board. Justin Jackson ran for 144 yards and a touchdown.With bowl season ahead, Fitzgerald turned quickly to what he said he believes is a negative narrative about the Wildcats that followed their early 41-17 loss to Duke.

”I would prefer if that narrative gets changed. This is one of the hottest teams in the country, a team that’s dominated back to back weeks,” he said. ”I think this is a pretty attractive team, I hope we get to field a lot of calls. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t.”

The Illini (2-10, 0-9) lost their 10th straight and finished winless in the Big Ten for the first time since 2012. Lovie Smith said that, given his team’s youth, a difficult season was likely.

”You have to look at what we’re talking about, 15, 16 (freshman starters). Were you expecting a national championship? Probably not,” he said. ”We knew we had to rebuild our program, and that’s what we’ve been doing. And that’s what I think we will continue to do.”

Northwestern took the lead for good at 14-7 with 8:03 left in the second quarter on Jelani Roberts’ 5-yard touchdown run.When defensive end Joe Gaziano knocked the ball out of Illinois quarterback Cam Thomas’ hands and fellow defensive end Samdup Miller scooped it up and punched the ball across the goal line for a third-quarter touchdown and a 21-7 lead, the game was out of reach.Illinois opened up a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on Thomas’ 23-yard keeper. The lead was Illinois’ first since the first quarter of its loss to Iowa on Oct. 7, six-plus games.The Illini rolled up almost 30 percent of their 239 yards of offense on their opening, 69-yard drive.Thomas, a freshman making his second start, finished 14-31 for 139 yards and two interceptions. He ran for 46 yards on 18 carries.A week after the Wildcats used 10 ball carriers in a blowout win over Minnesota, they let Jackson and Jeremy Larkin, who had 71 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, carry the load on Saturday. The two ground down a thin Illinois defense. The three turnovers forced by the Wildcats were big, too, leading to 14 points. Northwestern finishes second in the Big Ten West, behind undefeated Wisconsin.Season No. 2 of the Lovie Smith era came to an end with one fewer win than Illinois managed in its first season under the NFL veteran. On the final Saturday of their season, though, there were signs of life for the Illini. Thomas sparked the offense early and had 60 yards rushing at halftime (though he finished with less). And junior linebackers Tre Watson and Del’Shawn Phillips combined for 21 tackles. But the strain of a long season showed late in the game, when defensive tackle Tito Odenigbo threw a penalty flag back at an official following a Northwestern touchdown, and was ejected.Illinois and Thomas found room to run on their opening drive, but the Northwestern defense slowly closed the door the rest of the game, continuing a trend that started two games ago against Purdue. The Wildcats held the Boilermakers to just 13 points in that win, then shut out Minnesota before giving up just the single score against Illinois Saturday.But early Saturday, watching Thomas run, the Wildcats defense was uneasy, said freshman linebacker Paddy Fisher, who finished with a team-high 10 tackles and an interception.

”(We) just tried to calm everyone down. Everyone was freaking out a little bit,” he said.

Senior day at Illinois served as one last reminder of just how young the Illini were this season. The Illini only had nine total seniors, and only five started – three on offense and two on defense. Those freshman starters had a major impact Saturday. Thomas was starting his second game at quarterback and was the engine behind the early scoring drive. And freshman safety Bennett Williams had an interception in the second quarter on the Illinois goal line, his third of the season.The Wildcats will wait to learn which bowl they will be playing in, the third straight year Northwestern has left the Illini game knowing a bowl game was ahead. The Wildcats ended last season with a 31-24 Pinstripe Bowl win over Pittsburgh….With just two wins, Illinois’ season is over. The last bowl trip for the Illini was in 2014, a 35-18 loss to Louisiana Tech in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl.

OAKLAND—Two All-Stars down, the Splash Brothers took charge.Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson showed some patience coach Steve Kerr appreciated. They made the perfect pass. They were efficient. They lit it up from all spots on the floor.
”Kind of back to who we are, moving the ball,” Curry proclaimed.
Curry found his stroke from way back and breezed past a 7-footer in the paint with authority, putting on a thrilling display with 33 points Friday to lead the Golden State Warriors over the Bulls 143-94 on a night Kevin Durant and Draymond Green were out.
Curry and Thompson came to play with their fellow All-Stars out. NBA Finals MVP Durant was sidelined the second time in three games with a sprained left ankle, while Green didn’t play for rest.Two-time MVP Curry notched his seventh career 30-point half and 21st 20-point quarter, when he scored 26 in the second as the Warriors matched their biggest half of the season with a 74-53 lead at intermission. was feeling it, all right, following up a deep 3 in the second quarter with a high-step shuffle and chest pat before waving his hands in the air for the crowd to join the fun. And with Green’s muscle flexing absent on this night, Curry drove left and over 7-foot Robin Lopez for a layup late in the second and was fouled. On the floor beneath the basket, he flexed his biceps in celebration.Curry shot 10 for 18 with four 3-pointers, while Thompson added 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting with five 3s. Big man Zaza Pachulia had a season-best 11 points and career-high six assists.Rookie Jordan Bell made his first career start and had a quick one-handed slam – this after being inactive in four of the past five games. Omri Casspi also started for short-handed Golden State coming off a 108-91 loss at Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.Scurrying back on defense, Bell made a pretty block from behind against a driving Denzel Valentine midway through the third and finished with six blocked shots in 26 minutes.Jerian Grant scored 21 points off the bench, Lauri Markkanen scored 14, and Valentine added 10 in the Bulls’ fourth straight defeat and ninth in 10 as the Bulls concluded a winless four-game road swing out West.
”They were getting whatever they wanted,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. ”You have to find a way to fight through that. If we don’t learn that soon, we’re going to keep getting our (butts) kicked.”
Pachulia stole the ball from Lopez and drove to the basket as Lopez took him down with 4:25 remaining in the third and Pachulia hit his head on the padded base of the basket. The play went to official review and Lopez received a Flagrant 1 foul.Both teams shot 54 percent in the first quarter, but the Bulls were outscored 45-21 in the second quarter as they went 8 for 25 from the floor.The Bulls are 2-10 in November. … The Bulls last won at Oracle Arena 113-111 in overtime on Jan. 27, 2015, snapping Golden State’s 19-game home winning streak.The Bulls host Miami on Sunday

TAMPA—Falling behind and staging a comeback has become the norm for the Tampa Bay Lightning.Brayden Point scored a power-play goal 3:25 into overtime, and the Lightning rallied again to beat the Blackhawks 3-2 on Wednesday night.Point took a pass from Steven Stamkos while positioned near the post and put the winner past Corey Crawford and complete a three-goal rally.

”To be down 2-0 to a team as good as Chicago, it was a great bounce-back performance,” Stamkos said.

The Hawks were short-handed after Nick Schmaltz was sent off for slashing at 3:10.Tampa Bay got also goals from Ondrej Palat and Chris Kunitz, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves. Ryan Callahan had two assists.Patrick Kane scored twice and Crawford stopped 35 shots for the Blackhawks, who blew leads in losing both games between the teams last season.

”We had a great start,” Kane said. ”Even after 40 minutes, we’re in a good position up 2-1.”

Tampa Bay scored four third-period goals Jan 24 for a 5-2 win in Chicago, and the Lightning battled back from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4 in overtime at home Mar. 27.Kunitz tied it 2 just 31 seconds into the third.Kane opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 at 3:49 of the first and made it 2-0 with 4:06 left in the period as the Hawk’s 26th-ranked power play unit converted a 5-on-3.

Kane has eight goals and 20 points in 14 games against Tampa Bay.The Blackhawks’ 4th-ranked short-handed unit stymied Tampa Bay’s NHL-leading power play during three consecutive man-advantage situations, including a 45-second 5-on-3, which ended midway through the first.Crawford made a terrific glove save on Stamkos’ left circle power-play breakaway shot early in the second.Palat cut the deficit to 2-1 4:27 into the second on the Lightning’s fourth short-handed goal.Vasilevskiy made a kick save on Richard Panik’s in-close chance 6 minutes into the third.Both goalies were outstanding in overtime, including Vasilevskiy’s pad save on Kane during a breakaway.

”He’s got such long legs,” Kane said. ”I made the move I wanted, got a little bit too close.”

Tampa Bay went 1 for 6 on the power play, while the Blackhawks were 1 of 4.
NOTES—Stamkos has a point in 18 of 21 games. … The Hawks had won just five times, including twice in Tampa Bay’s inaugural season of 1992-93, in regular season road games against the Lightning. The Blackhawks took two of three at Tampa Bay in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals en route to the championship. The Blackhawks play at Florida Saturday night.

SALT LAKE CITY—When Utah gets the engine running on the perimeter, it doesn’t take long to race away from an opponent.The Jazz beat Bulls 110-80 on Wednesday night, winning by 30 or more for the second time in three games. Utah beat Orlando by 40 points on Saturday.In both cases, the Jazz carved out huge leads behind strong perimeter shooting. Against the Bulls, the Jazz went 11 of 22 from the outside during the second and third quarters.

”The ball was pinging around,” guard Rodney Hood said. ”We had them chasing us around by moving the ball. We drove close-outs, which is big, and we found the open guy. If we continue to do that, we make the game easier for us and it’s just a matter of us making or missing.”

Derrick Favors scored 23 points, Hood added 19 and Alec Burks chipped in 15 points for the Jazz. Utah (8-11) snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bulls extending back to the 2015-16 season.Robin Lopez scored 15 points and Bobby Portis added 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Bulls. Justin Holiday and Kris Dunn chipped in 12 points apiece.The Bulls (3-13) dropped to 0-3 on its Western road trip.

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Lakers’ first half resembled many miserable stretches of the past four seasons. Although the Bulls have plenty of their own problems, they outworked, outshot and outsmarted the Lakers while taking a 19-point lead.Coach Luke Walton reminded his young team that 14 points aren’t much in the NBA, and the Lakers proceeded to stage a rally that suggested the future might not be so miserable after all.Kyle Kuzma had 22 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 11 of his 21 in the fourth quarter and the Lakers roared back from a 19-point deficit in the second half for a 103-94 victory over the Bulls on Tuesday night.Brandon Ingram had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists as the Lakers won consecutive games for the second time this season, doing so in a thrilling fashion that had their still-faithful fans standing, cheering and recalling the 16-time champion franchise’s better years.

”Anytime you go out there and compete, and you look to your right and your left and everybody is competing as hard as you are, that’s a great feeling,” said rookie Lonzo Ball, who had eight points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

Los Angeles is off to an 8-10 start and sitting in eighth place in the Western Conference – small achievements, but important steps for a young team just starting to believe it can compete.The Lakers weren’t competitive in the first half while committing 13 turnovers, and they trailed 61-42 early in the second half. But they put together a 38-19 run spurred by an energetic third quarter from reserves Jordan Clarkson, Josh Hart and Julius Randle, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.Caldwell-Pope’s layup with 3:08 to play gave the Lakers their first lead since the first quarter, and the veteran added back-to-back 3-pointers. The Lakers finished strong for their first win over the Bulls at Staples Center in three tries.
”I was shocked we were only down 14 at the half, to be honest,” Walton said. ”It was a learning opportunity for the guys to be down 20 and realize you don’t need hero shots. You just need to tighten down on what we are doing, and you can get back in the game.”
Denzel Valentine scored 17 points and Antonio Blakeney added 15 – all in the first half – for the Bulls, who dropped to 3-12 with their seventh loss in eight games.
”They grabbed the momentum and ran with it,” said Kris Dunn, who had 12 points and six assists in his second start of the season for the Bulls. ”Caldwell-Pope, he hit some big shots. They were more aggressive than we were and started getting to the free throw line.”
Fred Hoiberg promoted Dunn to the starting lineup in place of Jerian Grant, and the coach expects it to be a long-term move. Dunn has been a steady force off the bench, and Hoiberg expects Grant to take a similar role with the reserves going forward. … David Nwaba missed the game with a sprained ankle. The LA native became a steady bench contributor for the Lakers last season, but the Bulls snatched him off waivers in July while the Lakers shuffled their roster.Los Angeles visits the United Center on Jan. 26. … F Larry Nance Jr. could be back with the team as early as next week. He had surgery on his broken left hand only three weeks ago, but has healed quicker than expected.Brook Lopez had four points on 2-for-10 shooting and nine rebounds for the Lakers against his twin brother, Robin, who had 14 points and three rebounds for the Bulls. The twins grew up in North Hollywood rooting for the Lakers, who acquired Brook Lopez in a trade with Brooklyn last summer.

”I don’t want to sound selfish, but it was personally fun for me,” Robin Lopez said. ”I don’t know how much fun he had.”

After posting his second career triple-double Sunday against Denver, Ball missed seven of his first eight shots , but provided strong playmaking down the stretch. The point guard also has 29 rebounds in LA’s last two games.The Bulls went 13 for 45 (28.9 percent) from the field in the second half, including 4 of 22 on 3-pointers. They committed seven turnovers and only forced one. ”We look at the first half, and we had a really good defensive effort against a high-scoring team,” Hoiberg said. ”But you have to sustain it for 48 minutes.”
The Bulls play the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night.