NBA Wrap: Battered Bulls beat stricken Knicks; Bogut ruled out with injury; Exum praised

NBA WRAP: CHICAGO were too good for a Knicks team missing Carmelo Anthony on a quiet day for the Aussie contingent in the NBA.

Aaron Brooks, Shane Larkin

CHICAGO were too good for a Knicks team missing Carmelo Anthony on a quiet day for the Aussie contingent in the NBA.

Read on for your full wrap of all today’s NBA action.

AUSSIES IN ACTION

A quiet day for Australia’s NBA contingent with Andrew Bogut (injured) not appearing for Golden State Warriors against Oklahoma and Cameron Bairstow not activated for the Chicago Bulls against the Knicks.

Bogut has been diagnosed with chondromalacia and bone swelling after injuring his knee against the Timberwolves last week. He has undergone platelet-rich-plasma therapy and is out indefinitely.

“We fully support Andrew in his decision to undergo the PRP treatment,” Warriors general manager Bob Myers said.

“Our No. 1 concern is that Andrew is 100 per cent healthy, and we will continue to support him in any way we can to make that happen.”

Bogut has the best individual defensive rating (91.74) in the league and was considered a contender for defensive player of the year honours.

Dante Exum, meanwhile, has been recognised for his recent run of form after being rated the No. 12 rookie in the NBA by ESPN.

YES RT “@Tjonessltrib: Does Dante Exum have the "potential" to eventually be one of the top five point guards in the NBA? Yes No Maybe”

— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) December 19, 2014

CELTICS TRADE RONDO TO DALLAS

PELICANS 99 — ROCKETS 90

Anthony Davis knew he’d have to be aggressive with Tyreke Evans out with an injury to give New Orleans a chance against the Houston Rockets.

He did just that, and it helped the Pelicans to a win.

Davis had 30 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Pelicans to a 99-90 victory over the Rockets on Thursday night.

The Pelicans trailed by one early in the fourth quarter before using a 7-0 run to take a 79-73 lead and they didn’t trail again. Ryan Anderson scored the last five points on that spurt to help New Orleans snap a six-game skid in Houston.

Jrue Holiday added 16 points with 10 assists for New Orleans and Anderson had 16 points. Evans, who is the team’s second-leading scorer with 17 points a game, sat out with a bruised right knee. James Harden scored 21 and Dwight Howard had 17 points with 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who lost for just the second time in nine games.

Harden entered the game leading the NBA in scoring and had scored more than 40 points in two of his last three games. But he had a tough night by his standards and made just eight of 23 shots. Harden made back-to-back lay-ups to get Houston within six, but Holiday answered with a pair of baskets to make it 91-81 with less than 2 1/2 minutes left.

Howard had three blocks on Thursday to give him 1,691 and move him past McHale and into 25th place on the all-time blocked shots list.

Houston Rockets' Patrick Beverley reaches in to knock the ball away.

BUCKS 108 — KINGS 107

Brandon Knight scored 20 points and the Milwaukee Bucks spoiled DeMarcus Cousins’ return to the struggling Sacramento Kings with a 108-107 victory Thursday night.

With their inside game lacking due to missing players, the Bucks shot well from the perimeter for much of the night in winning their third in four games. They went 10 of 14 from 3-point range in the first half and made 13 overall from beyond the arc.

O.J. Mayo and Jared Dudley added 19 points apiece for Milwaukee. Jerryd Bayless scored 17 and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 11 for the undersized Bucks, outscored 48-26 in the paint.

Playing for the first time in more than three weeks, Cousins looked fatigued at times but still had 27 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in nearly 33 minutes for the Kings.

He missed a jumper at the buzzer that would have won it.

Ben McLemore scored 22 points, Rudy Gay had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Darren Collison added 12 points. Sacramento has dropped five straight and 10 of 12. The Kings were playing their second game since the surprise firing Sunday of coach Michael Malone, who was replaced by interim coach Tyrone Corbin.

Trying to play a more up-tempo game, the Kings were too sloppy and committed 21 turnovers that led to 17 Milwaukee points. A goaltend by Cousins led to a three-point play by Dudley, putting the Bucks ahead 101-91 with 6:41 left. Two free throws by McLemore tied the game at 107, but Zaza Pachulia converted one of two free throws for a one-point Milwaukee lead with 6.8 seconds left.

Following a time-out, Cousins missed a 15-foot jumper at the horn.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Andre Roberson lays up a shot between Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) and Andre Iguodala.

THUNDER 109 — WARRIORS 114

Stephen Curry had 34 points and nine assists, and the Golden State Warriors rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat Oklahoma City 114-109 on Thursday night after Thunder star Kevin Durant left with a sprained right ankle.

Durant scored a season-high 30 points on 10-for-13 shooting in a spectacular first half that ended with him stepping on Marreese Speights’ foot. The Thunder said Durant had a mild ankle sprain, and the NBA MVP did not return.

Oklahoma City had won seven straight games, which was the longest active streak in the league after Memphis snapped Golden State’s 16-game winning streak Tuesday night.

Curry added seven rebounds, and Klay Thompson scored 19 points for the Warriors, who played without injured centre Andrew Bogut (right knee) and forward David Lee (left hamstring) again.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 33 points.

Green finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Barnes had 12 points and seven rebounds. Durant made his first six shots, including three 3-pointers, and scored 16 points in the first 6 minutes. The Thunder went ahead by 17 but led 40-32 at the end of the first quarter.

BULLS 103 — KNICKS 97

Jimmy Butler scored a career-high 35 points and handed out seven assists to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 103-97 win over the New York Knicks.

Pau Gasol contributed 20 points with seven rebounds and Aaron Brooks added 18 points off the bench for Chicago, who were without point guard Derrick Rose.

Rose missed the game because of illness, and it was unclear whether he would be available for Friday’s game at Memphis.

The Bulls were also without forward Taj Gibson because of an ankle injury, but they welcomed Joakim Noah back after a four-game absence with a sprained right ankle.

Bulls guard Jimmy Butler dunks as Shane Larkin looks on.

The Knicks were without their leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, who is nursing a sore left knee.

Anthony said before the game he’d been told by “multiple people” that he should sit out for some time, but said it was hard to stay on the sidelines with the Knicks now at 5-23.

Anthony said he aggravated his knee on Tuesday in a game against Dallas.

“I’ve had multiple people say kind of just shut it down or just take time off,” Anthony said at Thursday’s morning shoot-around.

“At the end of the day it’s hard for me to just do that right now with what’s happening with the team. So I’m just trying to be smart about it.”

Anthony, who hasn’t said what the specific injury is, said it was frustrating that the discomfort comes and goes.

“Some days it feels like I have everything, the other day it was sore in the first half,” he said.

“I didn’t have lift on my shot. In the second half my lift came back a little bit. It’s going to be off and on like that.”

Originally published as NBA Wrap: Battered Bulls beat stricken Knicks; Bogut ruled out with injury; Exum praised