NBA Round-Up: Tuesday, 21 December, 2010 - Part II
Chicago Bulls 121 - Philadelphia 76ers 76
Derrick Rose scored 22 points and 12 assists, as the Chicago Bulls took down the Philadelphia 76ers, 121-76 at United Arena.
Luol Deng also scored 22 points, and Carlos Boozer contributed a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls in the season’s 17th victory. Kurt Thomas finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks for the Bulls, who have won eight
of their last nine games.
"We played together as a group of guys. We came out much focused tonight and played a great game against [the Sixers]. It's a great thing for us to build on in the future," Carlos Boozer said after the game.
Andrea Iguodala had 17 points, and Thaddeus Young scored 12 points as the only double-figure scorers for Philadelphia. Chicago started the game in great fashion, as Rose and Deng scored 11 and 10 points respectively for the Bulls in the first, and helped
establish a 33-19 lead into the second.
Philadelphia coach Doug Collins said, "I knew in the first three minutes of the game we had no juice. I don't know if it was a couple of nights in between games in the same city and guys, at this time of year where you are out Christmas shopping and getting
stuff taken care of, they jumped all over us."
Chicago maintained the same velocity in the second quarter, and further extended their lead to 61-43 at half time. The Bulls then outscored the 76ers 31-11 in the third quarter, en route to a 92-54 lead entering the final quarter. Chicago and Philadelphia
removed a majority of their starters in the fourth quarter. The Bulls' lead eclipsed 50 with four minutes left, when reserve man Brian Scalabrine converted a powering dunk to give Chicago a 118-67 lead. The Bulls then dominated the game throughout the rest
of the period.
New Jersey Nets 101 - Memphis Grizzlies 94
Brook Lopez played one of his best games, as he scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed six rebounds, to help the New Jersey Nets snap a 10-game road losing streak with a 101-94 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum.
Sasha Vujacic added 16 points off the bench, Kris Humphries added 12 points and 15 rebounds, while Devin Harris contributed 12 points and five assists for New Jersey in just their ninth victory of the season.
Nets coach Avery Johnson said after the game, "We've got some positive energy. Our defence, even early in the season, was good enough to win some games, but we just couldn't score. Now we're spaced a little bit more and dominant offensively inside. Sasha
(Vujacic) gave us a big lift off the bench. We dominated the boards. ... I told our guys early on we had a really good shot of winning this one if we played the right way."
Marc Gasol did all he could and finished with 19 points for the Grizzlies. While O.J. Mayo came off the bench and scored 17 points, and Mike Conley registered 13 points and eight assists in Memphis' 17th defeat of the season.
The Nets started the game with a firm grip on every shot and turnovers. They scored the final nine points of the first quarter to take a 26-18 lead. In the second quarter, Memphis played offensively and scored 25 points while limiting the New Jersey to just
19. However the New Jersey maintained a two point lead 45-43, at half time.
Memphis started the third quarter in fantastic manner, and took control of the court for a few minutes. New Jersey then put together a 19-4 run to gain control again, and took a 73-67 advantage heading into the final stanza. The Grizzlies never got closer
than four in the final period.
"We limited them to one shot most of the second half and that's really what changed it. Randolph is bread and butter. He's good at getting those offensive rebounds and putting them right back in, so we tried to limit that after the half and it worked really
well for us," Nets' center Brook Lopez said after the game.
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