MINNEAPOLIS -- D. San Diego Padres Pro Shop .J. Augustins career was swirling down the drain when the Toronto Raptors waived him in December, and the former No. 9 overall pick seemed destined to join the long list of promising prospects that just never made it in the NBA. Four days later, the Chicago Bulls signed him in an attempt to add some scoring punch to a defence-first team. Augustin has flourished in Chicago, one of the big reasons the surprising Bulls have been able to weather Derrick Roses injury and the trade of Luol Deng to stay in the hunt in the Eastern Conference. "We needed him," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, "and he needed us." Augustin had another big game Wednesday night, scoring 21 points to lead Chicago to a 102-87 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Joakim Noah added 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double, moving into a tie with Indianas Lance Stephenson for the most in the NBA this season. Kirk Hinrich scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and the Bulls hit 11 of 21 3-pointers to stay right on Torontos heels for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. "We wouldnt be in this position without D.J.," Noah said. "His passing ability, his scoring ability, just the way he plays the game. ... I feel like I have really good chemistry with him and I think the rest of this team feels that way, too. Were going to need him down the stretch." Kevin Love had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves. But he hyperextended his right elbow in the first half and only made 7 of 20 shots, including 2 of 8 3-pointers. Ricky Rubio added 15 points and six assists, but the Wolves were just 4 for 17 from long distance. "I shouldve made a lot of those open shots that I missed," said Love, who also had a large bloody scratch on his chest after getting tied up with Carlos Boozer. "Yeah it was bothering me a little bit. But thats no excuse for the poor shooting." The Bulls entered the night with the same record as Toronto, with the tiebreaker going to the Raptors and only five games to play before the playoffs begin. The schedule certainly favours the Raptors, who beat the 76ers on Wednesday night and finish the season with two games against the Knicks and one each against the Pistons and Bucks. Thanks to the raggedy East, the Bulls dont have it much tougher with the Pistons, Knicks and Magic coming up before the season finale at playoff-bound Charlotte. That made this game against short-handed Timberwolves a crucial one. The Timberwolves played without Nikola Pekovic (right foot), Chase Budinger (right ankle), Kevin Martin (right heel), Shabazz Muhammad (right knee) and J.J. Barea (back and neck), leaving them with only 10 healthy players, and without three of their better offensive players to go at the tenacious Bulls defence. But even though the Wolves have been eliminated from playoff contention, theyve put up quite a fight against some of the best teams in the league down the stretch. Last week Minnesota beat Memphis at home and won at Miami. The Wolves then throttled the Spurs at Target Center on Tuesday night and shot 52.6 per cent to take a 53-48 lead over the Bulls at halftime. Eventually that Bulls defence started squeezing the Wolves and grinding the game down. The Wolves missed eight of their first 10 shots of the second half and scored only 17 points in the third quarter. They shot 33 per cent and managed just 34 points in the second half. "It looked like we ran out of gas in the second half," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. On the other end, the 3s kept falling. Mike Dunleavy, who had 15 points, hit one to give the Bulls a 65-62 lead they would never relinquish. Augustin hit two more in the fourth to help the Bulls pull away. Even bigger were his 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half, when the Bulls were struggling to get their offence going. "Im just getting a chance to play, period," Augustin said. "Just getting an opportunity and trying to make the best of it." NOTES: Bulls F Taj Gibson finished with 13 points and five rebounds. He picked up a technical foul in the fourth quarter for gesturing angrily after not getting a foul call under the basket. ... Little-used PG Alexey Shved had nine points and a season-high five assists in 16 minutes for Minnesota. ... The Wolves host their former coach and GM Kevin McHale and the Houston Rockets on Friday night in their third home game of the week. Stitched Padres Jerseys . A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week. Padres Jerseys China . -- Michael Phelps is 0 for 1 in his comeback to the pool. https://www.cheappadresjerseys.us/ .C. -- Benn Ferrieros familiar with scoring important goals, just not in back-to-back games.Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Braden Holtby stopped 38 shots and Washington scored three late goals in the second period for a 3-2 win over Chicago. Joel Ward, Andre Burakovsky and Marcus Johansson scored in the final five minutes of the second period for the Capitals, who snapped a five-game slide. Brandon Saad and Duncan Keith lit the lamp for the Blackhawks, who have lost three of four. Corey Crawford turned aside 21 shots in defeat. All these teams are getting better and tightening up, said Keith. Its not something new, teams are ready to play against us. Trailing by two, the Caps made it a one-goal game with 4:57 to play in the second as a 2-on-1 break saw Burakovsky skate down the left wing and snap a shot over the glove of Crawford for his third of the year. Inside the final minute, Johansson threw a turnaround shot on net from the right circle that was going wide, but it hit off the stick of Chicagos Brent Seabrook in front and slipped past Crawford with 46.3 seconds showing. The Capitals then took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission as Matt Niskanens loong blast from the right point was redirected in by Ward in front with just 4. San Diego Padres Gear. seconds left. It just goes to show how fast things can turn around in a game, said Ward. It kind of got switched around for us because weve had a few games where weve had the lead and given it up. Holtby came up with 13 stops in the final period, saving his best for last as Chicago pulled Crawford for an extra attacker late in the game. He made stops on Brad Richards and Keith in the final seconds to hang on for the win. Chicago scored with 2:48 to play in the first as a 2-on-1 between Marian Hossa and Saad was finished off by Saad with a one-timer from the right wing. Just 56 seconds into the second period, Chicago made it a 2-0 game on the power play as Keith blasted home a shot from the left point for his third of the season. Game Notes Chicago was 1-for-3 on the power play while Washington failed on its only opportunity ... Chicago hosts San Jose on Sunday ... Washington hosts Carolina on Saturday ... These clubs split a pair of games last season. ' ' '