LOS ANGELES -- More Marreese Speights was just what the Los Angels Clippers needed to keep their best record in the NBA.

Speights scored all 16 of his points in the second half as the Clippers rallied from a double-digit deficit in a 102-95 win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday at the Staples Center.

Blake Griffin had a team-high 26 points for the Clippers, who maintained their best record in the NBA at 12-2. They also snapped the Bulls' four-game win streak.

Speights even garnered a seat at the postgame news conference between Griffin and Chris Paul, and his teammates were joking with him about his star status for the night. Speights played just four minutes in the first half as Doc Rivers benched him for ineffective play. But Speights made up for it in the second half.

"I've been in this position before, and my teammates have been good to me," Speights said. "I talked to Paul Pierce. He's been around a long time. He said, 'Keep your head up. You'll get another chance.' I got another chance to help the team win, and that was (Saturday), thanks to my teammates."

The Bulls started hot and led by as many as 19 points midway through the second quarter, but the Clippers rallied to cut the lead to five points by halftime. The Clippers whittled away at the lead and got their first lead in the second half with 6:01 left in the game.

Dwyane Wade, making his first appearance with the Bulls in Los Angeles, started hot and had a fantastic game with a game-high 28 points. He had 18 points -- including 4 of 6 from 3-point range -- in the first half.

"It was a good night for us. We just didn't come out with the win," Wade said. "It's the NBA, leads are whatever. I'd rather have a 19-point lead in the second half.

"I'm not all about the 20-point leads in the first half, especially on the road. A team is going to come back and the game is going to turn in their favor at some point. We started the way we needed to start and for the majority of the game. We had a lead until they took it. It was right there."

Speights -- known as "Mo Buckets" -- had no buckets in the first half. He was instrumental in the second half. He tied the score at 87 for the Clippers in the fourth quarter as he drove to the hoop and made a layup, then gave the Clippers a lead with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc.

Speights also got a key offensive rebound off a Jamal Crawford miss and then assisted Crawford on a reverse layup with 49 seconds left to put the Clippers up 97-92.

"He stretches the floor," Griffin said. "He's smart, too. He gets buckets, but he knows when to make the next play, when to take a shot, when to be aggressive, when to draw the foul. He's good at that."

Griffin posterized Robin Lopez with a one-handed dunk in the second quarter. It was part of the Clippers' comeback after a poor first quarter. Griffin was effective inside, per usual, and had 16 of his 26 points by halftime.

And then there was Speights.

"They made the necessary plays down the stretch," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Marreese Speights hit a lot of shots out there, he was picking and popping. We felt with that, that we needed two guys that could get back out to him. So we had Bobby (Portis) back out there on the floor in the fourth quarter.

"They're a great team, and they're playing the best basketball in the league. We fought them and gave ourselves a chance."

The Clippers had played three games in the last four days and back-to-back nights after a win in Sacramento on Friday.

" ... You knew this before the game started that it was going to be a hard game," Doc Rivers said. "They came out and attacked. ... We have five, six, seven chances to let go of the rope, but over and over we cut into the lead.

"Did you see the lineup we had? It was the most unconventional lineup. I don't think we've played with that lineup. It was one of those games where you throw out any coaching book and just throw guys out there until you find the right combination."

Jimmy Butler did his usual thing for the Bulls and finished with 22 points, 11 of which came from the free-throw line. Wade and Butler have been quite a tandem for the Bulls, and Doc Rivers joked about their positive influence on each other.

"It's just two brilliant Marquette students is the way I look at it," said Rivers, who also played at Marquette.

NOTES: The Clippers have the NBA's best record. Both of their losses have come at Staples Center. ... The Clippers sent C Diamond Stone to the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA D-League. ... F Wesley Johnson (heel) sat out for the Clippers ... Bulls PG Rajon Rondo was back in the starting lineup after going through shootaround and warmups. ... Chicago SG Jimmy Butler has seven straight 20-point games, the most since Derrick Rose also had seven straight in the 2010-11 season. ... Chicago had a four-game winning streak halted.