Chicago: The Philadelphia 76ers established the second-longest losing streak in NBA history on Saturday, losing 91-81 at Chicago to drop their 24th game in a row.
Joakim Noah scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds to spark the Bulls, who also had 17 points from Jimmy Butler and 16 each from Taj Gibson and D.J. Augustin.
The 76ers, whose 15-55 record in the second-worst in the NBA this season, are two defeats shy of matching the all-time record NBA losing streak of 26 games set by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2010-11 season.
Philadelphia will visit NBA overall season leader San Antonio on Monday and Houston on Thursday and could set an all-time NBA futility streak record next Saturday at home against Detroit.
The 76ers surpassed the NBA’s prior second-longest losing streak of 23 games by the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies, 1997-98 Denver Nuggets and 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats.
The Bulls, 39-31 after winning four of their past six games, rank fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Thaddeus Young scored a game-high 28 points for the 76ers while Henry Sims contributed 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for Philadelphia, which last won at Boston on January 29 - four days before the NFL Super Bowl and nine days before the start of the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Half-time edge
Anthony Davis, the 2012 top NBA Draft pick and Olympic gold medalist, scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Saturday to lead the New Orleans Pelicans over Miami 105-95.
Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James had 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Heat, but the two-time reigning NBA champions fell to 6-7 in March.
Tyreke Evans added 16 points and eight assists for the Pelicans and Al Farouq Aminu scored 12 for New Orleans, which improved to 29-40, last in the Southwest division.
Mario Chalmers scored 19 points and added seven assists for the Heat, who fell to 47-21, second in the Eastern Conference, three games behind Indiana.
James hit a jumper at the buzzer to cut the Pelicans’ half-time edge to 45-43 and the heat were within 76-72 entering the fourth quarter. A 12-2 New Orleans run early in the final period gave the hosts a 92-78 lead, and Miami never got nearer than eight points the rest of the way.
