Thaddeus Young helps Philadelphia 76ers beat Chicago Bulls 97-85
The Philadelphia 76ers overcame a big night from Derrick Rose to overcome the Chicago Bulls 97-85 at the United Centre on Monday night. The result snapped Chicago’s impressive 14 match unbeaten run at home.
However, the Bulls still maintain the best record in the Eastern Conference, leading the standings with 53 victories in the 2010-11 season. Chicago is ahead of the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat in the East by two games.
Six Philadelphia players scored in double figures. Forward Thaddeus Young came off the bench with a team-high 21 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to lead the Sixers, who snapped their two-game losing streak.
Andre Iguodala added 19 points and seven assists while Spencer Hawes contributed 14 points and four assists for Philadelphia. Elton Brand had 13 points and nine rebounds while Jrue Holiday finished with 12 points and six assists in the victory.
Derrick Rose once again scored a game-high 31 points and pulled down five assists and four rebounds for Chicago. However, Rose also committed 10 turnovers in the defeat.
A dejected Rose admitted that he played sloppy basketball on the night. He said, “We came out sluggish. This one is definitely on me. Just me taking care of the ball and missing shots that I normally hit. ... Just careless, some of them were me driving and
kicking the ball off my foot."
Carlos Boozer contributed 15 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls, who lost only their fifth home game of the season. Forward Luol Deng and Joakim Noah finished with 10 points apiece for the Bulls, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped. Noah also
grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Match Analysis
After a defeat against the Sacramento Kings in their last match, Philadelphia Head Coach Doug Collins sent a text message to the 22-year-old Thaddeus Young to boost his confidence. Young acted upon the instructions of his coach and played a stellar game
for Philadelphia in his 25 minutes on court.
Collins asked his players to clog the middle, kept his starters fresh and did a great job of spreading minutes around to his bench. The Sixers limited the Bulls to 30 percent shooting from the field in the first quarter. Hawes scored eight of his points
in the first to help Philadelphia take a 27-13 lead into the second.
Young paced the Raptors with 13 points in the second quarter as the 76ers extended their lead to 53-37 at half time. The Bulls battled back in the third quarter and cut a 16-point first half deficit to 69-64 heading into the final stanza.
The Bulls were able to play wire-to-wire shots throughout the fourth quarter but back-to-back jumpers by Hawes gave Philadelphia an 86-76 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the quarter. The Sixers upped the ante down the stretch and went on a
9-4 run in the last minute to seal a 97-85 victory.
Tags: