National Basketball Association Play-offs 2010-11: Saturday Roundup - Part 1
Eight teams of the National Basketball Association went head-to-head in the Play-offs on April 23. The Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Oklahoma City Thunder came out on top in their respective games.
Here is an overview of the matchups:
Indiana Pacers 89 – Chicago Bulls 84
In another tightly contested battle of the play-off series, the Indiana Pacers defeated the Chicago Bulls 89-84 at the Conseco Fieldhouse. It was the first victory of the Pacers in the Eastern Conference best-of-seven quarter-final series. However, the Bulls
are still leading the series by 3-1.
Forward Danny Granger finished with a game-high 24 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists for Indiana, which collapsed in each of the first three games of the quarter-final series.
Centre Roy Hibbert added 16 points and 10 rebounds while guard A.J. Price came off the bench with ten points in the victory.
The 26-year-old Joakim Noah paced Indiana with 21 points and 14 rebounds in the defeat.
The Most Valuable Player favourite Derrick Rose sprained his left ankle late in the opening quarter. However, he returned to the court after a few minutes and ended with a season-low 15 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, and four steals.
Luol Deng had 16 points while Carlos Boozer scooped out 15 points and 13 rebounds for Eastern Conference Champions.
Indiana got off to a fast start and dominated the first and second quarters, taking a 49-33 lead into the locker room.
The Bulls outplayed the Pacers 23-18 in the third quarter but Indiana found its way to carry a 67-56 lead into the final stanza.
Trailing by 11 points after three quarters, Chicago got their hot shooting touch back in the fourth quarter and cut their deficit to one, 85-84, with 15 seconds remaining in the game. Granger hit four crucial free throws in the closing seconds as the Pacers
walked away with victory.
Portland Trail Blazers 84 – Dallas Mavericks 82
Guard Brandon Roy came off the bench a game-high 24 points as the Portland Trail Blazers downed the Dallas Mavericks 84-82 at the Rose Garden. The win levels the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points, six rebounds and three steals in the victory.
Guard Andre Miller added 14 points while Gerald Wallace ended with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers.
Dirk Nowitzki scored a team high 20 points while Jason Terry totalled 13 points in the losing effort.
The 32-year-old Shawn Marion contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who have closed the regular season at 57-25.
Both teams played a nasty game of basketball in the first quarter and missed some easy shots. However, Dallas managed to carry a 16-11 lead after 12 minutes. Portland scored six unanswered points in the last two minutes of the second quarter to cut the deficit
to two points at half-time.
The Mavericks finished the third quarter strong, outscoring the Blazers 30-14 and taking a 67-49 advantage into the fourth.
Portland at the back of the dazzling Roy caught fire in the fourth quarter. The Rose Garden was rocking as Roy scored 18 of his 24 points in the fourth. Trailing by 18 points after three quarters, the Blazers tied the score at 82-82 with one minute to go
in the game. Roy comes around with his breath-taking pull-up bank shot to seal the hard-fought victory with just a two-point margin.
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