Star Boomers guard Josh Giddey had an off shooting night as his Chicago Bulls suffered a final-quarter implosion in their 135-119 NBA loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Giddey shot just 3-of-12 from the field on the way to nine points, six rebounds and 13 assists in Thursday night's (Friday AEDT) match.
His plus-minus stat read negative 15 by the end of the game, mostly due to Minnesota's final-quarter barrage.
The Bulls (3-6) led 95-90 at three-quarter time, but were outscored a whopping 45-24 in the final term on the way to their fourth consecutive loss.
Anthony Edwards led the way for the Timberwolves (5-3) with 33 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Julius Randle (22 points,10 rebounds) and Rudy Gobert (21 points, nine rebounds) were also crucial.
For Chicago, Nikola Vucevic scored 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, while Coby White tallied 24 points and eight assists.
Elsewhere, San Antonio (4-5) defeated Portland 118-105 in what marked their fourth game without veteran coach Gregg Popovich.
Popovich has been absent since suffering an undisclosed medical episode, and no timeline has been put on his return.
Eight players made it into double figures for the Spurs, with Keldon Johnson and Malaki Branham leading the way with 17 points apiece.
Jerami Grant and Deandre Ayton scored 17 points each for Portland (3-6), with Australian Duop Reath only making it on court for 78 seconds in a scoreless cameo.
In Milwaukee, Damian Lillard (34 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (31 points, 16 rebounds) starred as the Bucks (2-6) snapped a six-game losing streak with a 123-100 win over Utah (1-7).
Utah led 71-70 before the Bucks turned the match on its head with a 17-1 run late in the third quarter.
Lillard and Antetokounmpo combined to score Milwaukee’s first 15 points in that hot run, helping the Bucks avoid their first seven-game losing run since dropping eight in a row in 2014.
Australian Patty Mills spent 16 minutes on court for the Jazz, finishing with five points, two assists and two steals.
