Philadelphia 76ers close out series with 79-78 win against Chicago Bulls: NBA Playoffs 2012 Recap
Andre Iguodala knocked down game winning free throws with 2.2 seconds left on the clock to help the Philadelphia 76ers defeat the Chicago Bulls 79-78 in Game 6 on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center, helping
them clinch this first round playoff series 4-2, along the way.
The home side’s jubilation was clearly eminent from the fact that several of players including Iguodala climbed on top of the scorer’s table to celebrate with the crowd. The celebrations were long overdue because
this is the first time since 2003 that the Sixers have advanced into the second round of the playoffs.
Iguodala, who finished the game with 20 points, was extremely instrumental on the night as he dished out 7 assists on the night as well. Jrue Holiday on a 4 of 11 shooting night collected 14 points while Louis
Williams came off the bench to score the same number of points.
Luol Deng and Richard Hamilton carried the Bulls charge throughout the night by recording 19 points each - both of them combined together to shoot 17-36 from the field. Omer Asik who was playing in Noah`s position
contributed 10 points while Taj Gibson came off the bench to record 14 points on the night.
Chicago facing elimination for the second time in as many games came out strongly as they held an 11-5 lead early but the Sixers had their eyes set on treating this matchup like the last game of the series. They
rallied back with an 8-2 run to tie the game up at 13 each.
Rest of the proceedings in the first quarter were evenly matched as the scores remained even mostly, but courtesy to Williams’s first points on the night with 0.9 on the clock gave the Sixers a 24-22 lead.
Bulls started the second quarter with an 8-2 burst to take a sizeable lead in the ball game but in the next several minutes, Sixers responded back with an 6-2 run of their own to even up the score once again
at 32.
The next few minutes saw the home side add 11 points to their tally while holding the Bulls to only 2 opening up a 9 point advantage in their favour. Sixers held their lead for the remaining time in the first
half and were leading 48-40 at the halfway stage.
The third quarter saw the Sixers take their lead above the double digit mark and they were leading by that figure for most part and held the lead at 12 with 5:05 remaining in the period. From that point on till
the end of the period, Bulls responded with a 16-4 scoring burst to level up the scores at 63.
Bulls carried that momentum into the fourth quarter and were able to get a 5 point lead at one point in the period but the Sixers quickly responded back with 5 points to level the score at 70. The action was
close from then on and with 12.8 seconds remaining in the game, only 1 point separated the two teams.
With 7 seconds remaining in the ball game, Asik was awarded a trip to the free throw line when Hawes fouled him in the act of shooting. Had he been able to convert those free throws it would have put away the
game for sure but it was not to be.
Bulls had out-rebounded the Philadelphia team 56-33 in the entire game but they failed to grab the most crucial rebound of the game when Iguodala came down with the ball on Asik`s second missed free throw and
went racing the other way.
With 2.2 seconds remaining, he held his nerve from the line to convert on both attempts giving the Sixers a one-point lead. C.J. Watson attempted a three from backcourt out of desperation in the closing seconds
bit it came off the back of the rim, giving Philadelphia their first playoff series win in a long time.
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