Bulls blow out Magic

Luol Deng notched 15 points and a season-high 14 rebounds, and Kirk Hinrich added 17 points for the Bulls, who continued a four-game road trip. They had a three-game winning streak come to an end with Wednesday’s season-worst 103-70 loss to the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Ben Wallace added 12 boards for the Bulls, who are 2-1 on the swing and 12-20 away from the Windy City this season. They will close out the trek Sunday at Boston.

Dwight Howard posted 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Magic, who have lost eight of their last 10 games. Jameer Nelson netted 13 points, and Trevor Ariza added 10 in the loss for Orlando.

Trailing 7-6 in the early going, Chicago rattled off nine straight capped by a pair of Hinrich jumpers for a 15-7 lead midway through the first. The Bulls carried a 26-17 advantage into the second quarter.

Chicago blew the game open in the second on a 14-0 burst, sparked by a Tyrus Thomas follow up dunk with 8:47 remaining, and led 49-29 at halftime.

Orlando started to rally midway through the third, on a 16-4 run, ended by five straight Howard points for a 14-point deficit, 61-47, with 3:03 to go.

Just as the Magic’s chances seemed hopeful, though, they were immediately deflated by a 10-1 quarter-ending Bulls spurt for a 71-48 margin heading into the fourth.

Orlando started one more rally midway through the final stanza, a 7-0 spurt sparked by a Howard follow up dunk; but that only cut its deficit to 88-66, as Chicago cruised to the easy win.

Game Notes

Orlando forward Hedo Turkoglu left with a bloody nose midway through the second quarter, and did not return...Thursday’s meeting between Chicago and Orlando was the third and final matchup of the regular season. The Magic won both previous encounters, and three of the last five matchups...Chicago has won six of its last 16 trips to Orlando.