NBA: Rose inspires Bulls

Derrick Rose poured in 26 points and dished out 13 assists as the Chicago Bulls improved their NBA-best record to 20-6 with a 113-90 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Rose was one of five Bulls scoring in double figures as Luol Deng, playing with an injured left wrist, added 21 points and nine rebounds, while Kyle Korver brought 18 points off the bench.

Drew Gooden led Milwaukee with 24 points, while rookie Tobias Harris broke out with 19 points off the bench.

Chicago lead the Central Division by 2.5 games from Indiana, who lost 85-81 to Orlando.

Tony Parker exploded for 42 points and became San Antonio's all-time assists leader - dishing out nine on the night to move to 4,477 - as the Southwest-leading Spurs beat the Northwest-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 107-96.

The Thunder retain their 3.5 game advantage over the Denver Nuggets, who went down 117-97 to Portland.

Clippers boost

In the Pacific division, the Los Angeles Clippers have stretched their advantage over the Lakers to 1.5 games, beating the Washington Wizards 107-81 while the Lakers lost 96-87 to the Utah Jazz.

Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Al Jefferson's 18 points led Utah.

The Philadelphia 76ers topped the Atlanta Hawks 98-87 behind 15 points from Nikola Vucevic to get back to winning ways, moving three games ahead of Boston atop the Atlantic Division.

Jeremy Lin had a career-high 25 points for the New York Knicks in a 99-92 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

Kyrie Irving came up with 20 points and Antawn Jamison had 19 as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, who got 24 points from Dirk Nowitzki.

The Detroit Pistons edged out their fellow strugglers New Orleans 89-87 while Minnesota enjoyed a 100-91 win over the Houston Rockets.

The Phoenix Suns topped the Charlotte Bobcats 95-89, while Sacramento recorded only their eighth win of the season, beating Golden State 114-106.