Bulls top Magic, improve to 3-1

The Bulls shook the lineup once again Tuesday night. Derrick Rose sat out with his dual ankle sprains and Joakim Noah was out sick.

They had a tough time shaking off the young, athletic Orlando Magic, but depth again proved to be the winning ingredient. With five players scoring in double figures, the Bulls improved to 3-1 with a 98-90 victory at the United Center.

Taj Gibson returned after missing one game with a sprained ankle and scored 16 points. But his foul trouble helped force Pau Gasol (16 points, 13 rebounds) to play 41 minutes.

Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 21 points. Aaron Brooks added 13, Doug McDermott scored all 12 of his points in the first half, and Nikola Mirotic hit some clutch baskets in the fourth quarter.

The Bulls took command with a quick 12-2 run early in the fourth quarter. Tony Snell and Kirk Hinrich started things with driving lay-ins, then Mirotic buried consecutive 3-pointers around a couple of Gibson free throws to make it 87-79 with 6:23 remaining.

Orlando got within 89-86 before Brooks drained a big 3-pointer off a pass from Gasol with 2:47 left. Butler's lob and lay-in off an inbounds pass stretched the advantage to 94-86.