Kevin Seraphin fashions an upset Washington Wizards win over the mighty Chicago Bulls – NBA Recap
The Washington wizards were able to pull off an upset here on Monday night when they hunted down the Chicago Bulls 87-84 in their own den.
Chicago were playing without MVP Derrick Rose, who missed his 24th game of the season with a sore right foot. Luol Deng was also absent for the Bulls with sore right ribs. Rose injured his ribs on Sunday night’s win
against Detroit Pistons. In his absence, Richard Hamilton started and finished with a game high 22 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds.
The night however belonged to Kevin Seraphin, who had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards while John Wall added 16 points.
Chicago led with the first play of the game. Even though Washington tied the game on 6 occasions in the 1st quarter, the Bulls kept the lead until late in the period when a free throw by Jordan Crawford gave the Wizards
a 19-18 lead - their first of the night. Chicago responded immediately, with a 3 pointer by Rip. He then drilled a floating jump shot to finish the quarter and Chicago went into the 2nd period leading by 23-19.
The 2nd half was also quite evenly contested; with Washington taking a 34-33 lead through a fade away jump shot by Crawford. They held on to their advantage, though Chicago was right on their tail. The Wizards led the
Bulls 43-40 at half time.
Chicago made early inroad in the third and after some resistance from Washington; they raced off to a 12-2 run to take a54-49 lead. Washington made it a one possession game seconds later, but a jumper from Carlos Boozer, 2 free
throws by C.J. Watson followed by a free throw by Omer Asik gave the Bulls a 59-52 lead. Chicago finished the 3rd period leading 63-57.
The Wizards however stormed into the game in the final quarter with a 13-0 run. Trailing 68-57 to the Bulls, Maurice Evans hit 5 straight points. Brian Cook then made a 3 pointer to tie the game at 68 and Shelvin Mack scored a
jumper to give Washington a 70-68 lead. Chris Singleton scored a dunk to put Washington up 82-77 with 1:40 remaining in the game.
C.J Watson scored a jumper and after a free throw by Wall, Watson connected another jump shot to bring Chicago to 81-83. Wall connected two free throws to give the Wizards an 85-81 lead but Watson hit a three to get Chicago to
within one. However, unlike their previous two games, the Bulls could not manage a buzzer beater to clinch the victory here and the Wizards held on to win 87-84.
Maurice Evans came off the bench to score 14 valuable points for the Wizards. For Chicago, C.J Watson had 17 points and 8 assists. He was 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Carlos Boozer had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Joakim Noah had
a mediocre night with only 6 points and 11 rebounds.
It was not a good shooting night for the Bulls. They shot 4 of 14 from the 3 point line and 16-22 from the foul line. They were also only 38.1% from the field. The Bulls had 50 rebounds to 44 for Washington, but had 17 turnovers
compared with 12 for Washington. They also had 7 steals to 9 for the Wizards, and 8 blocks to 11 for the Wizards. Washington brought the defense to the Bulls and matched their intensity while guarding the ball and the paint. Hence, they were able to steal
one away from Chicago.
With the loss, Chicago are 3 games clear of Miami. After having 3 good games against New York, Miami and Detroit, the Bulls have clearly lost momentum with the shocking loss to Washington.
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