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Bulls escape Orlando with triple-overtime win

Orlando,  FL (SportsNetwork.com)  - Joakim Noah tallied 26 points, 19 rebounds 
and  six assists  as the Chicago Bulls survived a three-overtime thriller with 
the Orlando Magic, 128-125, Wednesday from Amway Center. 

Jimmy  Butler  sat just  three minutes  in this one,  posting 21 points, seven 
rebounds and six assists to help Chicago to its sixth win in seven games. D.J. 
Augustin scored 19 points with nine assists off the bench, while Carlos Boozer 
had 23 points before sitting for the overtime periods. 

"We're  grimy and  we play  as a  team," said  Butler. "There  is no  guy that 
doesn't  give all their  effort on every single play. When you play like that, 
good things happen. Basketball gods will reward you." 

Tony Snell added 15 points for the Bulls. 

"It  didn't look  very good  for a  while there,"  said Bulls  head coach  Tom 
Thibodeau. "We got down big, just kept battling. It was a hard fought game." 

Victor  Oladipo netted  a career-high  35 points  on 15-of-24  shooting in  57 
minutes  for Orlando,  losers of nine straight. Jameer Nelson took 30 shots en 
route  to  31 points and 10  assists, while Tobias  Harris had 22 points to go 
with 16 rebounds. 

"One  thing about  Vic (Oladipo), he's faster than a hiccup," said Nelson. "As 
soon  as you  blink, he's gone. He  just takes advantage of the seams and he's 
going a better job of recognizing what's going on, how teams are playing him." 

The  Magic  led 95-92 late in  regulation after Harris' short runner with 4:38 
left,  but  Chicago scored  the next six  points to go  in front. After Nelson 
broke  the  spell with a  layup with just under  two minutes to play, Augustin 
silenced the crowd with a deep 3-pointer with 1:07 to go. 

Harris  then tipped  in an Oladipo miss on  the other end to make it a 2-point 
game.  After Noah missed  his layup try, Nelson isolated his man at the top of 
the  key  with 11.2 seconds to  play and canned a  deep two to tie the game at 
101-101. 

Butler  got tied up by Glen Davis on his last layup try, and the clock ran out 
on the ensuing jump ball to force the first extra session. 

The  Magic's Glen Davis  canned a deep jumper to break a 108-108 tie with 1:58 
left  in  the first overtime. Harris  then made 1-of-2  from the line for a 3- 
point  margin,  which Orlando  held until  Mike Dunleavy's  3-pointer out of a 
timeout  with 13.4  ticks to go. Nelson failed  to get a shot off at the other 
end over the long arms of Noah to force another five minutes. 

Snell's driving slam to start the second OT set the tone in the second session 
for  Chicago, which  led until  the closing  seconds, when  Davis knotted  the 
contest at 119-119 with a deep three over Noah. Dunleavy's falling jumper from 
the  left corner  was off  the mark,  leading to  a third  and final  overtime 
period. 

Oladipo  followed Harris' trey with a reverse layup for a 125-122 Orlando lead 
with  2:39  left, but the Magic  were kept off  the scoreboard the rest of the 
way.  Snell's  pull-up jumper  with 48.6  seconds left proved  to be the game- 
winner  as  the Magic missed  six shots  in the final  two minutes to seal the 
outcome. 

                                   Game Notes 

Noah  set season highs  in points and rebounds, while Nelson had a season high 
in  scoring ...  Butler's 60  minutes played  set Chicago's  all-time regular- 
season  record  ... Orlando outscored Chicago  60-42 in the paint and 21-10 in 
transition  ... Dunleavy  had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists ... Kyle 
O'Quinn  scored 12 points off Orlando's bench ... The Magic's Maurice Harkless 
played  nearly 46 minutes and took just one shot while netting four points ... 
The  game  featured 20 lead changes  and 14 ties  ... Both teams led by double 
figures during regulation. 

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