Nicolas Batum hits 8 3-pointers as Los Angeles Clippers beat Chicago Bulls 124-112

Nicolas Batum got all of his season-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers, and Eric Gordon ded 22 points in Los Angeles Clippers' comfortable 124-112 victory over Chicago Bulls on Monday night.

Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points as Clippers rebounded from an embarrassing loss to New Orleans with 20 3-pointers in an impressive outside shooting display led by Batum. Frenchman replaced ailing Marcus Morris in starting lineup and produced a spectacular game from perimeter, hitting eight of his first nine 3-point attempts while Los Angeles ran away in first three quarters.

Gordon h his biggest scoring performance since returning to Clippers in a tre last month, and Russell Westbrook ded 12 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Los Angeles (40-36) kept hold of fifth place in Western Conference standings and moved a half-game behind fourth-place Phoenix.

Zach LaVine scored 23 points and Nikola Vucevic h 20 points and eight rebounds for Bulls, who followed up ir impressive win over Lakers on Sunday with a dud.

DeMar DeRozan h 21 points and seven assists in his hometown, but Chicago lost for only third time in 10 games and missed a chance to pull even with Toronto and Atlanta for eighth place in East.

Clippers improved to 2-1 without leing scorer Paul George, who is all but certain to miss rest of regular season after spraining his right knee in a loss to Oklahoma City last Tuesday.

Batum immediately ed with Clippers' starters, hitting five 3-pointers in first half. Morris has hit only five 3s in his last seven games combined, and Batum's contributions along with Gordon's 16 first-half points mostly against LaVine's defense boosted Los Angeles to an early 11-point le.

Clippers rolled to a 22-point le in third quarter, and Batum didn't miss his second 3-point attempt until right before quarter buzzer. Batum didn't take a 2-point shot.