Philadelphia 76ers own the third quarter to snatch home court advantage from the Derrick Rose – less Chicago Bulls....
On Tuesday night, Jrue Holiday led the surging Philadelphia 76ers to a comfortable 109-92 win over the Chicago Bulls in Game 2 to even up the series at 1-1 here at the United Center in Chicago.
Holiday was impressive, shooting 11-of-15 for a game high 26 points which included three treys to lead the Sixers. Lou Williams lent him a helping hand with 20 points while coming off the bench. Four starters for Philadelphia finished
the game with double-digit scores as Evan Turner racked up 19 points.
Andre Iguodala finished the night with 11 points which included a spectacular dunk over Luol Deng. Elton Brand also had fair say in the game, signing off with 12 points.
Bulls who lost their starting point guard Derrick Rose due to a torn ACL in Game 1 had to rely on many different sources for their points in the game. Joakim Noah was the leading scorer with 21 points while shooting 10-for-11 from
the field. C.J. Watson who was given a starting nod by head coach Tom Thibodeau played well for 12 points. Richard Hamilton also scored in double digits with 10 points. John Lucas III came off the bench to record 15 points in the game.
The best rebounding team in the NBA had their work cut out for them as they got out-rebounded 32-38 by the 76ers. There was one another significant factor in the Bulls downfall which was their ability to get to the free throw line,
they had a total of 18 tries from the charity stripe and missed 8 of them.
In the opening period, there was no separating the two teams and both sides were finding it easy to turn possession into baskets which resulted in the scores being close for the most part. In the frame, the highest lead by any
side was of 5 points, held by the Bulls at the 6:40 mark.
However the Sixers quickly levelled up the proceedings and had it not been for a Watson three pointer, they would have finished the quarter level. The first quarter ended at 28-25.
It took exactly one and a half minutes for things to get started in the second quarter when Iguodala slammed the ball home on a Holiday assist to make the score 27-28. The action remained end to end from there on and at the 3:54
mark, the score was 39 each.
Chicago pulled off an 8-0 run at that point to establish a foot hold in the game and at the half way stage Bulls were leading with a score line of 55-47.
Sixers started the second half on a 7-2 run to get back to within striking distance. They went on to continue their charge and by the 7:21 mark in the third, were able to take the lead. In the next several minutes, Philadelphia
added 6 more points to their tally to get their noses in front by a substantial difference. From the scores being 75-68, the Sixers were then able to put together an 8-1 run to close out the period and were leading 83-69 going into the fourth.
Sixers never faced trouble in the final period. While continuing their offensive surge; they quickly got their lead to above 20. For the remaining part of the contest they did not have to break a sweat.
The all important Game 3 of this series will have a change of scenery as it shifts to Philadelphia.
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