John Salmons scores 23 as Chicago Bulls beat Sacramento Kings 101-87

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Salmons leads Bulls past Kings

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — John Salmons scored 23 points and the Chicago Bulls beat the Sacramento Kings 101-87 on Tuesday night.

It was the first game with more than 100 points for Chicago, which was held under 90 in five of its previous seven games and entered with the NBA’s third-worst shooting percentage. The Bulls shot 47 percent and made seven of 12 3-point shots.

Making only his fifth career start, Donte Greene scored 24 points for the Kings, who had won four straight. Tyreke Evans scored 20 points and Beno Udrih had 13.

Luol Deng scored 16 for the Bulls. Joakim Noah, the NBA’s leading rebounder, had 15 points and 14 boards.

Jason Thompson scored with 4:25 left to cut Chicago’s lead to 92-83. But the hustling Noah had a tip-in and Salmons followed with a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 14-point lead with 3:16 remaining.

It was the first matchup between Rose and Evans, who both played point guard for one season at Memphis State before moving on to the NBA. While Rose was earning Rookie of the Year honors a year ago with the Bulls, Evans took over the starring role at Memphis and later was the fourth overall pick by the Kings.

After building a 17-point lead with 4:49 left in the third, the Bulls suddenly went cold as the Kings pulled within nine on two occasions. But Salmons closed out the quarter with nine points in the final 1:44 to help Chicago carry an 86-72 advantage into the fourth.

NOTES: Andres Nocioni, who played his first four seasons in Chicago and came to the Kings a year ago in a trade that involved Salmons and Brad Miller, missed the game with a hip pointer. Chicago’s Jannero Pargo hit a 3-pointer to end the first quarter and scored seven quick points in the second, giving him 10 points over a 54-second span. He finished with 12. Bulls rookie forward Taj Gibson fouled out early in the fourth quarter after playing just 12 minutes.