Chicago Bulls Blog – Page 57 – NBA Blog

Deng, Boozer lead Bulls past 76ers in Game 5

The Chicago Bulls aren’t quite finished after all. They’re still in a dire situation, though.

Luol Deng scored 24 points, Carlos Boozer added 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Chicago beat the Philadelphia 76ers 77-69 on Tuesday night to avoid a first-round playoff exit.

The top-seeded Bulls finally won without point guard Derrick Rose, building a nine-point halftime lead and staying in control down the stretch to pull within 3-2. Game 6 is Thursday in Philadelphia, and the way Chicago sees it, maybe, just maybe, some of the pressure is now on the 76ers…

Deng played more like an All-Star after averaging just eight points in the previous three games, hitting 4 of 5 3-point attempts – three in the fourth quarter. He also grabbed eight rebounds. Boozer tied a career-playoff high with six assists, and the Bulls came out on top just when their season appeared to be unraveling…

Jrue Holiday scored 16 points for Philadelphia but hit just 5 of 17 shots. Lou Williams scored 13 points and Andre Iguodala and Spencer Hawes both finished with 11 as the Sixers remained one win from their first series victory since 2003.

Hawes grabbed 14 rebounds, but it was a rough night for him after scoring 21 and 22 the previous two games. He wound up with a nasty scratch running from the side of his left eye to below the lip after going up for a shot during the fourth quarter…

Ronnie Brewer and Evan Turner appeared to exchange some heated words, but Gibson and Brand wound up getting technical fouls with 2:25 left.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Joakim Noah will miss Bulls-76ers Game 5

Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah were at the Berto Center on Monday. While the swelling in Noah’s severely sprained left ankle has subsided some, he remains in a walking boot and is out for Game 5 on Tuesday.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau continued his cat-and-mouse game regarding injuries, merely conceding Noah is “most likely out.” But minutes later, he said the same starting lineup from Game 4 featuring Omer Asik at center would start Game 5.

“He did a good job for us,” Thibodeau said of Asik. “He has to keep doing what he does — anchor the defense, protect the rim, set great screens, run the floor. Just do his job.”

As for Rose, the clock on his recovery from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament starts after he undergoes surgery, which hasn’t been scheduled. Given that Rose typically trains during the offseason in Santa Monica, Calif., some of his recovery likely will take place there.

— Reported by the Chicago Tribune

Despite poor shooting, Sixers in command of series with Bulls

Flash ahead to this week where the Sixers have surprisingly built a 3-1 series lead over the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. To build that lead the Sixers won back-to-back games where they shot 39.2 percent or lower. Since 1986, there have been just 10 other teams to win two playoff games when shooting 39.2 percent or worse.

In Game 3, the Sixers beat the Bulls by five points while shooting 34.2 percent from the field. Since 1986, only seven other teams have won playoff games while shooting worse. Six of those teams eventually advanced to the conference finals. Five of them went to the NBA Finals.

“We get tight at home sometimes and we want to make every shot,” said Andre Iguodala, who has made just six of the 30 shots he has attempted outside of the paint in the series. “We appreciate the support we get from our fans, but sometimes we want to do so well that we get tight, so we have to get back to the main message, which is to keep playing and keep shooting.”

— Reported by John Finger of CSN Philly

Bulls don’t blame refs for loss but still cry foul

The 89-82 deficit on the scoreboard hurt the Bulls badly enough.

The 31-14 discrepancy in free-throw attempts felt like piling on.

“Listen, we’re not going to blame the referees for our loss,” Carlos Boozer said. “It was our fault we let up 25 points in the fourth quarter. But the discrepancy was huge and I thought we were being pretty aggressive.”

Several critical plays down the stretch rankled the Bulls.

Trailing 82-80, Boozer drove hard and appeared to draw contact from Elton Brand, who blocked his shot.

“It was a great pocket pass by C.J. (Watson),” Boozer said. “I was trying to go to the hole strong. Obviously, I wanted a layup or dunk. I thought I had some contact. I thought I got fouled to be frank. The fouls they were calling on the other side, I thought that call could’ve been made. But they didn’t call it. We just kept playing on.”

— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

76ers beat banged-up Bulls, take 3-1 series lead

Spencer Hawes scored 22 points and Jrue Holiday had 20 to help the surprising Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls 89-82 on Sunday and take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

Andre Iguodala had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, who have won the last three games after losing Game 1.

Holiday stretched the lead with consecutive 3-pointers late in the game to put the Sixers one win away from joining the short list of eighth-seeded teams that have won a series against a No. 1 seed.

Game 5 is Tuesday in Chicago.

The top-seeded Bulls played without Derrick Rose (torn ACL) and Joakim Noah (sprained ankle). Rose is out for the season and Noah is day to day for the rest of the series.

— Reported by the Associated Press

76ers beat Bulls 79-74 in Game 3 for 2-1 lead

Spencer Hawes scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and hit the go-ahead jumper late in the fourth quarter to help the Philadelphia 76ers rally to beat the Chicago Bulls 79-74 on Friday night and take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

Hawes scored 10 clutch points in the fourth to give the eighth-seeded Sixers the surprising series lead.

Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

Already playing the rest of the series without reigning MVP Derrick Rose, the Bulls got another scare in the third quarter when Joakim Noah left with a sprained left ankle. Noah, who scored 12 points, returned in the fourth quarter and mostly hobbled around the court…

The Bulls missed 10 straight field goals over 5-plus minutes in the fourth to lose all of their 14-point lead.

Holiday scored 17 points and Turner had 16 while reserve Lou Williams added 14.

Carlos Boozer had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls and Richard Hamilton scored 17 points…

The Bulls need to figure out a new way to play without Rose and to protect Noah if they don’t want this series to slip away.

— Reported by Dan Gelston of the Associated Press

76ers pull away in 3rd, beat Bulls, tie series 1-1

Jrue Holiday scored 26 points, Lou Williams added 20 and the Philadelphia 76ers beat Chicago 109-92 on Tuesday night to even their first-round series in the Bulls’ first game since Derrick Rose’s season-ending knee injury.

The superstar point guard received a standing ovation and waved to the crowd as he limped onto the court to present the game ball, then watched from a suite as the 76ers simply blitzed the Bulls in the third quarter.

They outscored Chicago 36-14 in the period, turning an eight-point deficit into an 83-69 lead, and pulled even with the league’s top-seeded team. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.

Holiday was 11 of 15 from the field, and the Sixers shot 59 percent overall. Williams came up big, going 8 of 13 after hitting just 1 of 6 shots in the opener, and Chicago product Evan Turner chipped in with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Joakim Noah led the Bulls with 21 points and eight rebounds. John Lucas III scored 15 points, but Carlos Boozer scored just nine and Luol Deng finished with eight. More alarming, the Bulls simply couldn’t stop the Sixers, particularly in the third quarter.

Turner scored 11 points in the period, and Philadelphia wiped out a 55-47 deficit.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Derrick Rose injury update: Torn ACL

The Chicago Bulls played well this season while Derrick Rose was out with injuries, but they’d still rather have their star guard healthy and on the court.

Unfortunately, the team will have to push forward without the player’s services.

The Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers 103-91 in Game 1 of their first round playoff series, but during the game, Rose suffered a knee injury. It’s now been confirmed by the team that Rose tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). He’ll miss the rest of the playoffs, and he won’t be able to play for Team USA during the summer Olympics in London.

ACL injuries take a long time to heal. This is bad for the Bulls as well as every fan of good basketball.

Deng leads Bulls over Mavericks 93-83

Derrick Rose could feel some pain in the area of his right ankle and foot, the site of his most recent injury during a season in which he has missed 26 games.

It was OK, though. All worth it. The fans were cheering for him, he was back on the court and the Chicago Bulls got another victory that moved them closer to clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

”It was throbbing a little, but the great thing about it is we got the win and we get a couple of days off to get treatment and I’m going to stay off my feet and hopefully it’s going to get better,” Rose said after the Bulls beat the Dallas Mavericks 93-83 on Saturday night.

Rose’s return after missing three straight games wasn’t spectacular, but it was still a 32-minute effort that saw him get 11 points and eight assists…

The Bulls, able to use their starting five for just the 14th time this season, got 22 points from Luol Deng and 19 from Richard Hamilton in beating a Mavericks team that had already clinched a playoff berth two nights earlier, played at home Friday night and rested guards Jason Kidd and Jason Terry…

Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 points and Rodrigue Beaubois, starting in place of Kidd, added 16 – 10 in the final quarter – despite playing the second half with a dislocated finger. After leaving with about 7 1-2 minutes to go in the first half after hurting his finger guarding Ronnie Brewer, he returned minutes later to the game with his fingers taped.

— Reported by Rick Gano of the Associated Press

Despite awful D-Rose game, Bulls beat Heat 96-86 in OT

Had he known he was going to play so poorly, Derrick Rose might have sat this one out. Good thing for him, his Chicago teammates picked up the slack.

C.J. Watson scored 16 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation, and the Chicago Bulls pulled away in overtime to beat the Miami Heat 96-86 on Thursday night.

Carlos Boozer scored 19 points and Kyle Korver added 17 for the Bulls, who outscored Miami 12-2 in overtime to boost their lead in the Eastern Conference to four games…

LeBron James scored 30 points for Miami but missed a free throw that would have made it a two-possession game late in regulation. Dwyane Wade added 21 points, Chris Bosh scored 20, but the Heat lost for the sixth time in 11 games…

Rose hit just 1 of 13 shots and sat out the extra period, a brutal night for the reigning MVP. Then again, he hasn’t played much lately, so this wasn’t a total shocker…

Luol Deng scored 16. Boozer grabbed 11 rebounds and fed Watson for that tying 3. Korver came up big again, hitting 5 of 6 from beyond the arc after scoring 14 on Tuesday.

— Reported by Andrew Seligman of the Associated Press