Chicago Bulls win double-overtime thriller against the Phoenix Suns
The Chicago Bulls (8-5) pulled away from the Phoenix Suns (7-8) in the second overtime period for a thrilling 123-115 victory at the US Airways Center in Phoenix. The Bulls improved to
3-2 on their current seven-game road trip while the Suns have now lost four of their past five games.
Starting point guard Derrick Rose put up his second-straight 30+ game, finishing with 35 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Rose, the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, has
now scored at least 30 points in four of his past five games. Joakim Noah, second in the league in rebounding, posted 17 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists while Luol Deng had 26 points to go along with 10 boards. Sharpshooter Kyle Korver made three three-pointers
off the bench, finishing with 24 points and five rebounds while James Johnson chipped in with 12 bench points.
Phoenix point guard Steve Nash had a game-high 16 assists to go along with 14 points and five rebounds while 38-year-old Grant Hill had 27 points and eight rebounds. Shooting guard Jason
Richardson had 20 points and seven rebounds while Channing Frye finished with 16 and seven. Hedo Turkoglu managed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Hakim Warrick led all bench players with 23 points and seven boards.
The Suns controlled the game early, shooting 67 per cent from the field in the first quarter to take a 36-17 lead into the second quarter. But the Bulls cut the the lead to 12 heading
into the break. Hill scored 12 points in the third frame to help Phoenix maintain their 12-point advantage going into the fourth. But led by Rose, the Bulls erased the Suns’ advantage in the fourth quarter. When Rose made two free throws with 14 seconds remaining,
the score was tied at 101 and the game was headed for overtime.
And Rose would continue to make clutch shots in the overtime periods. He sunk a game-tying jumper with 0.1 seconds left in the first overtime to force a second and then scored Chicago’s
first five points in the second overtime, sealing the win for the Bulls.
What they said
Rose told reporters after the game he was happy with his team's effort. "We just kept fighting. It wasn't going
our way, but we are the type of team that grinds and we are never going to stop. We knew we could come back on that team."
The Suns, who led by as many as 23 points last night, were frustrated they didn't close this one out. Richardson said they should have finished them off. "If we have a team down like that,
we've got to bury them. We have to have a killer instinct. We should have beaten them and we should have buried them."
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