Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets win: NBA Round-up 25 Feb.
On Thursday night, the Miami Heat took on the Chicago Bulls in the clash of the Eastern Conference Titans. The high profile extravaganza lived up to its reputation and turned out to be humdinger. In the other match of the night, the mighty Boston Celtics
were shocked by the Carmelo Anthony–less Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Centre in Denver. Here is brief round-up of the matches played on 25 February.
Miami Heat 89 – Chicago Bulls 93
On Thursday night, two of the most potent offensive powerhouses of the league took on each other in the battle for supremacy in the Eastern Conference. The nail-biting contest however, did not turn out to be an offensive show for either team.
Rather, it was a tight half-court defence from both sides that never allowed the game to flow freely, until the stretches of long misses and turnovers opened up transition opportunities. In a battle of resilience, the Chicago Bulls finally emerged triumphant,
as they kept their nerves to script a 93-89 win over the Miami Heat.
In a game that had a distinct playoff feel attached to it, the Bulls broke through in the third quarter. Not only, did they bombard the Miami rim with 27 points but they also reduced their offence to 16 points in the frame, as they converted a nine-point
half time deficit into a 71-67 lead.
The Heat however, bounced back midway through the fourth quarter, as they rattled an 11-point unanswered spurt to grab a four-point lead of their own. What ensued was a nine-point scoring spree from the Bulls. The Heat rallied again with a 5-0 spurt though,
as the match headed into a deadlock, with 36.8 second s to go.
Loul Deng finally brought the game to life, as he ripped in a three-pointer with 16 seconds left to break an 89-all tie. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade both missed long-range efforts in the final seconds as the Bulls held on for their 16th win in
the last 21 games.
Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 26 points, while Dwyane Wade had 34 points and LeBron James had 29 for the Heat. Both teams shot at nearly 40 percent off the field.
Boston Celtics 75 – Denver Nuggets 89
In a game that pitted two teams that had reshaped their rosters ahead of the NBA trade deadline, the Denver Nuggets kept the misfiring Boston Celtics scoreless over the final six-plus minutes of the game, as they cruised to an 89-75 win.
Kenyon Martin had 18 points and 10 rebounds and was pivotal in hounding Kevin Garnett down the stretch as the Celts offence completely lost shape.
The Celtics started the game positively and led the Nuggets by five points at the culmination of the first 12 minutes. The Nuggets offence however, picked up the pace after that. They outscored the Celts 19-13 in the next frame and headed into the locker-room
with a 37-36 advantage. The third quarter followed a topsy-turvy path with both teams churning out one spurt after another. The Bronchos though managed to hold on to a single point lead.
The Celtics gained the initial momentum in the fourth with a 15-12 stretch. However, they failed to capitalise on that advantage, as the Nuggets sprinted to a 16-0 run to finish the match.
New comer Wilson Chandler chipped in with 16 points for the Nuggets, including three shots from downtown. For the Celtics, Paul Pierce led with 17 points.
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