Danilo Gallinari scored 24 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder hold on for a 124-122 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds and Dennis Schroder added 21 points off the bench as the Thunder won their fourth straight game and 13th in their past 16. Chris Paul had 19 points and nine assists and Steven Adams added 16 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.
Zach LaVine poured in 41 points for the Bulls but was off the mark with a 3-pointer as time expired. Chicago recovered from a 24-point, second-quarter deficit but lost for the ninth time in its last 10 games.
Rookie Coby White scored a season-best 35 points while making six 3-pointers and collecting seven rebounds.
The 20-year-old White joined legendary Michael Jordan as the only rookies in franchise history with three straight 30-point outings. Jordan had five streaks of three or more consecutive 30-point outings — including one of four — in 1984-85.
Chicago shot 53.6 percent from the field, including 12 of 31 from 3-point range.
The Thunder connected on 55.3 percent of their shots and were 14 of 30 from behind the arc.
Gallinari drove for a dunk to give the Thunder a 115-114 lead with 1:39 left. Paul scored in the lane with 1:03 remaining to increase the margin to three.
The lead reached six before LaVine knocked down two 3-pointers in less than seven seconds to pull the Bulls within 121-120 with 16.4 seconds to go.
Paul made three of four three throws down the stretch to make it a two-point game prior to LaVine’s final miss.
Oklahoma City shot 63.4 percent from the field in the first half while taking a 72-55 advantage. But Chicago dominated the third quarter as LaVine had 19 points and the Bulls outscored the Thunder 38-19 to take a 93-91 lead into the fourth quarter.
White buried his sixth 3-pointer to give Chicago a 107-106 edge with 5:33 remaining. He later drove for a layup to provide the Bulls with a 114-113 lead with 2:02 remaining.
