Chicago Bulls defeat Orlando Magic 102-99: NBA Recap
The Chicago Bulls registered their 60th victory of the 2010-11 season with a narrow 102-99 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Amway Centre on Sunday night. The victory extended Chicago's winning streak to seven games.
The Bulls took full advantage of the absence of Orlando's centre Dwight Howard, who was suspended for one game without pay, after picking up his NBA-high 18th technical foul of the season. Bulls guard Derrick Rose once again had a fantastic night as he scored
a game-high 39 points and pulled down five assists and three rebounds in the victory.
Forward Luol Deng had 15 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Taj Gibson came off the bench with 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who have won 49 of their last 61 games. Carlos Boozer also had an impressive night with 12 points, six assists and six rebounds
in Chicago's 25th road victory of the season.
The starting centre for Orlando, Ryan Anderson, finished with a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat. Anderson agreed that the absence of Howard was a big blow, but praised his team-mates for putting up a good fight.
He said, "Because Dwight (Howard) wasn't in the game, guys had to create a little bit more to fill in for him. We obviously had to get to the offensive rebounds more. When he's out you have to work extra hard, and today I think we did a great job fighting
the whole game."
Guard Jason Richardson finished with 24 points while Jameer Nelson chipped in with 17 points, 11 assists and five rebounds for the Magic, who saw their two-game winning streak snapped. Brandon Bass and Gilbert Arenas weren't up to the mark for Orlando as
they shot a combined 4-for-19 from the floor.
Match Analysis
The Bulls got off to a quick start as they went on a 9-2 run early in the first quarter to take the initial lead. The Magic played offensively midway through the quarter to make it a two-point game at 24-26. Chicago scored six unanswered points in the last
two minutes of the quarter to carry a 32-24 lead into the second.
Hedo Turkoglu scored seven of his nine points in the second quarter as Orlando outplayed the Bulls 25-18 in the quarter. However, Chicago managed to hold a single-point lead at 50-49, going into the locker room.
Both teams played a close game in the third quarter with two ties, but Chicago found their rhythm in the closing minutes to take an 80-77 advantage at the end of three quarters.
The fourth quarter was even tighter than the third as the scores were tied five times with just two minutes to go in the game. However, the Bulls were able to make it to the free throw line, and went on a 7-4 run in the last minute to seal their 60th
win of the season.
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