Mirotic comes off the bench to power Bulls over Bucks in Milwaukee
Chicago Bulls guard Kris Dunn drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo during the fourth quarter of their NBA match at BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on December 26, 2017. The Bulls won 115-106.
Chicago forward Nikola Mirotic came off the bench to score 24 points and spark the visiting Bulls over Milwaukee 115-106 on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Montenegro-born Spaniard made 9-of-18 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, and grabbed 8 rebounds to spark the Bulls to their 11th win in 33 National Basketball Association games.
"Great game by us. We really stepped up," Mirotic said. "We're moving in the right direction."
Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks (17-15) with 28 points.
"We executed really good against Giannis," Mirotic said. "Offensively they really found me. We were pumped up. Defensively we rebounded really well. Offensively we need to keep improving."
JJ Barea led Dallas with 20 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 18 as the Mavericks upset visiting Toronto 98-93.
The Mavericks took only their third win in 11 games to stand 10-25, still the worst record in the Western Conference.
The Raptors, led by Kirk Lowry's 23 points, saw their six-game win streak snapped and fell to 23-9 with just their second loss in 14 games.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey lamented his club shooting only 33.7 percent from the floor.
"None of us came out in the right disposition, ready to compete," Casey said. "Any time you shoot 33 percent you're not going to beat too many people in the league.
"Defensively, I thought we tried to lock it down the stretch. But again, the way they started the game going coast-to-coast, we were still on Christmas break."
Tyson Chandler of the Phoenix Suns dunks the ball to win the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 26, 2017. The Suns won 99-97.
In Phoenix, Tyson Chandler made an alley oop dunk shot with four-tenths of a second remaining off a pass from Dragan Bender to give the Suns a 99-97 victory over Memphis.
A James Ennis 3-point play pulled the Grizzlies within 94-93 with 56 seconds remaining. After an exchange of turnovers, Phoenix's Isaiah Canaan sank two free throws to stretch the Suns' lead but Tyreke Evans made a layup to pull Memphis within 96-95 with six seconds to play.
TJ Warren made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Suns a 97-95 edge but the Grizzlies had four seconds to set up a final shot. Evans missed a layup but Jarell Martin dunked in the rebound to level the score at 97-97.
Devin Booker scored 32 points to lead Phoenix while Warren finished with 17. Evans led the Grizzlies with 25 points.
Elsewhere, it was: Pistons 107, Pacers 83; Heat 107, Magic 89; Spurs 109, Nets 97; Nuggets 107, Jazz 83; and Clippers 122, Kings 95.
