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Bulls escape Orlando with triple-overtime win

Jan 16, 2014 - 5:49 AM 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.