NBA Playoffs 2012 - Chicago Bulls’ rout Philadelphia 76ers but lose Derrick Rose for the season
On Saturday night the Chicago Bulls hosted the Philadelphia 76ers in the game-1 of the first round of Eastern Conference playoffs.
The number one seeded Bulls played like true champions and dominated the game in all 4 quarters on their way to a 103-91 win, but catastrophe struck in the final quarter Rose tore his ACL and had to be helped off the court. After
the tests it was revealed that he will be out for the season.
Rose collected 23 points, 9 boards and 9 assists before getting hurt and his injury has now significantly jeopardized Bulls’ chances of survival in the Playoffs.
Apart from Rose, Richard Hamilton had 19 points while forward Luol Deng tallied 17 points and had 6 boards. Joakim Noah kept the crowd on their toes with his hi-octane dunks and also chipped in with a double-double, scoring 12
points to go with 13 boards. Reserve Kyle Korver poured in 11 points in Bulls 1st but unfortunate victory of postseason.
Sixers had 5 players hitting double scoring index, led by Elton Brand as he netted 19 points and had 7 boards. Jrue Holiday scored 16 points with 7 boards while Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala recorded 13, 12 and
11 points respectively.
With only 1 tie and 1 lead change, Bulls completely dominated the game. They opened the proceeding with a 10-3 burst and were ahead by 25-16 late in the opening frame. The Sixers trimmed the lead with an 8-3 run and reduced the
deficit to 28-24 by the end of segment.
Holiday and Turner came up with a jumper each and tied the scores at 28 early in the 2nd frame, only to see Bulls bounce back with 9 unanswered points and reclaim a 37-28 lead.
Chicago’s impervious defense clamped down the visitors and Bulls kept on widening the gap before finally concluding the 1st half with a double-digit, 53-42, lead.
The scenario remained the same in the 3rd quarter as the Sixers couldn’t hold the charging Bulls. With 4:08 left in third, Chicago were up by 71-55. The visitors came up with a 9-1 run to shave off the lead to 72-64
but Chicago nullified that with a 7-2 burst at the end of period.
As the game entered into its decisive frame the hosts were leading by a comfortable 13 points margin, 79-66.
Midway into the final frame, the Bulls had widened the gap to 93-73 and were cruising before the Rose incident occurred and pretty much marred the win for the Bulls.
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