Magic beat Bulls in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY Nikola Vucevic scored 26 points, including a tiebreaking jumper with 28 seconds remaining, and the Orlando Magic snapped a three-game losing streak with a 97-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night in their first of two games in Mexico.
Vucevic shot 11 for 21 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds, while D.J. Augustin added 15 points for the Magic.
Zach LaVine scored 23 points but the Bulls (6-23) lost for the 10th time in their last 11 games and remained with the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
ROCKETS 126, LAKERS 111
HOUSTON — James Harden had 50 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, scoring 11 points during a big fourth-quarter run to lead the Houston Rockets to a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron James finished with 29 points for the Lakers.
SPURS 125, CLIPPERS 87
SAN ANTONIO — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 27 points and San Antonio won its fourth straight, topping Los Angeles for its largest win of the season.
Raptors lose Valanciunas to injury
Toronto Raptors forward Jonas Valanciunas underwent surgery to repair a dislocated left thumb and will wear a cast for four weeks.
Valanciunas suffered the injury in Toronto’s 113-93 victory at Golden State on Wednesday. He had surgery at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., and will be reevaluated at a later date.
The Raptors have called up forward Chris Boucher for Friday’s night’s game at Portland to bolster the frontcourt.
The Montreal native, who is on a two-way contract with the Raptors and their G League affiliate Raptors 905, is coming off a franchise-record 47-point performance against the Oklahoma City Blue on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old is averaging 29.3 points, and 11-plus rebounds a game with Raptors 905. He’s also appeared in three games with the Raptors this season.