Taj Gibson, who had combined for 13 points in the previous three games to dip his scoring average to 13.1, broke out of his mini-slump by scoring 19 off the bench for the Bulls. Mike Dunleavy added 16 points, D.J. Augustin had 12 and Kirk Hinrich finished with 10 for Chicago.
Isaiah Thomas scored 26 points and DeMarcus Cousins finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double in eight games for the Kings. Rudy Gay added 13 points for the visitors.
The Kings, who beat Chicago by 29 points in their last meeting on Feb 3, went neck-and-neck with the Bulls for most of the game. They took their final lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and remained within a possession until Noah scored four straight points to move out to a 79-74 advantage with just over five minutes remaining.
Thomas pulled the Kings back within three on a successful 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, but those would be their last points. The Bulls made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch and Sacramento missed its final four shots.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bulls were outrebounded 55-40 after getting outrebounded by 10 in their previous game against the Houston Rockets. … Kings F Reggie Evans started his second game since he was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets last month and he finished with five points and eight rebounds. … Jimmy Butler, who came in averaging 13 points for the Bulls, missed his first 10 field-goal attempts before converting a layup with 3:21 left that boosted the lead back to seven
Sacramento | Chicago | |
Isaiah Thomas 26 | Scoring | Joakim Noah 23 |
Isaiah Thomas 5 | Assists | Joakim Noah 8 |
DeMarcus Cousins 14 | Rebounds | Joakim Noah 11 |
Isaiah Thomas 10 | Free Throws Made | Taj Gibson 7 |
DeMarcus Cousins 4 | Steals | Joakim Noah 3 |
Rudy Gay 2 | Blocks | Joakim Noah 5 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Sacramento | 87 | 36.5 | 2-14 | 23-37 | 12 | 55 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
Chicago | 94 | 39.7 | 6-20 | 26-33 | 21 | 40 | 8 | 6 | 11 |