East Notes: Bulls, DeMar DeRozan, Sixers, Magic

Bulls

The Bulls made a run, but had their two-game winning streak snapped Monday at Cleveland.

“What was disappointing was a lot of the (mistakes) when we went up one were self-induced,” coach Billy Donovan said. “It was rushed shots, turnovers, offensive rebounds; all stuff we did to ourselves.”

That’s sort of been the story of the season in Chicago. Every time the Bulls take a few steps forward, they seem to shoot themselves in those very feet.

• Guard/forward DeMar DeRozan suggested again that he’s not impacted by trade rumors. “I don’t sit up here refreshing my apps in the morning to see what’s what, rumors or anything,” DeRozan said, via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Should we, shouldn’t we . . . it’s a tough question for me because being in the league so long, I can really be at a point where that [expletive] doesn’t bother me.”
• Chicago has lost six straight to Cleveland. “They just outworked us, to be honest with you,” Donovan said. “Came up with loose balls, did a lot of those things, and we just dug ourselves a hole.”
• In case you missed it, there is about a “zero percent” chance that guard Zach Lavine will be acquired by the Lakers, one insider said. We have that full post here.

76ers

Not surprisingly, center Joel Embiid returned and really delivered, with 41 points and 10 rebounds in the Sixers’ win over the Rockets on Monday.

Embiid had missed the previous three games with knee inflammation. He can miss just eight of the Sixers’ final 44 games if he hopes to secure a second straight league MVP.

“We look at the long run and what’s coming up next,” Embiid said. “Hopefully (the knee) doesn’t swell up again.”

• As for the win, coach Nick Nurse suggested everyone played a role. “I think we got some rhythm, we got some confidence and we didn’t have to go too deep into the minutes,” he said.

Magic

Forward/center Paolo Banchero rested for the first half of the fourth quarter, then came in the game to knock down some big shots in the Magic’s road win over the Knicks on Monday.

He finished with 20 points as Orlando snapped a three-game skid.

“I think just wanting to come in the game and close it out,” Banchero told reporters of his mindset. “I had been sitting over there for a while, and I was ready to come in the game.”

• Center Wendell Carter Jr., the subject of trade rumors, returned from a five-game absence to score 17 off the bench.