Hill returns in victory over Bulls

? Tyrone Hill was on the sidelines so long, John Lucas started calling the injured forward “coach.”

Hill made it onto the court for the first time this season and helped the Cleveland Cavaliers earn a 114-101 victory Saturday night over the Chicago Bulls.

Lamond Murray scored 37 points, and Hill had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who won their season-high fourth straight game.

Lucas, the real Cleveland coach, says his team needs the rebounds Hill provides more than it needs his off-the-court leadership. Hill was unable to play for 50 games because of chronic back problems.

“Nothing surprises me about ‘coach’ Hill,” Lucas said. “Now we can take the ‘coach’ off and just call him Tyrone.”

Hill gives the Cavaliers one of the better rebounders in the league.

“His physical presence made a big difference for us,” Lucas said. “I knew Tyrone would make our team look different, but I didn’t know he would make our team look that different. Now we can look at what kind of basketball team we have.”

Andre Miller had 18 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers. Murray was 14-of-23 from the field and had 12 rebounds for Cleveland.

Hill helped to break open a tight game with about five minutes to go.

With Cleveland up 88-87, Hill got his own rebound, made a basket and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but Murray got a rebound and hit a turnaround jumper with 5:51 left.

SuperSonics 99, Celtics 79

Seattle  Gary Payton had 19 points and Brent Barry added 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as Seattle snapped a three-game home losing streak. Sonics forward Rashard Lewis was ejected on his own bobblehead doll night after swearing at referee Ron Olesiak for a no-foul call in the third quarter.

Magic 109, Rockets 100

Houston  Tracy McGrady scored 39 points and had 12 rebounds to lead Orlando over Houston. Darrell Armstrong scored 27 and Pat Garrity added 17 for Orlando, which never trailed. Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley each scored 27 for Houston. Kenny Thomas added 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Clippers 119, Mavericks 110

Los Angeles  Eric Piatkowski scored a career-high 36 points, and Jeff McInnis added 20 points and a career-high 15 assists as Los Angeles beat Dallas. The Midwest Division-leading Mavericks shot 42.7 percent from the field.