BY NISAR KHAN
Miami HEAT topped the Blazers by two points while Pelicans got an overtime win in Monday’s NBA action. Here is the full round-up.
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| LeBron James scored 32 points as Miami HEAT defeated the Portland Trail Blazers. GETTY IMAGES |
There were ten games in total, including East conference leaders Pacers in action, an overtime win for the Pelicans, and another loss for the 76ers.
Indiana Pacers 77 – 89 Chicago Bulls
HIGHEST POINTS: Taj Gibson (23 PTS)
HIGHEST REBOUNDS: Lance Stephenson (10 RBs), Carlos Boozer (10 RBs)
HIGHEST ASSISTS: Joakim Noah (8 assists)
Chicago Bulls topped the East-leaders Indiana at the United Center in a convincing win, as Taj Gibson lead the charge for the hosts with 23 points on the board, with his coach Tom Thibodeau calling him “a monster” from his performance. Meanwhile, his teammate in the backcourt, Kirk Hinrich, contributed 18 points to the total.
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| ESPN |
As for the Pacers, who will face defending Champions Miami HEAT on Wednesday, Paul George had a lackluster 8-22 from the field. Lance Stephenson added 10 boards, alas in vein though as Pacers were out of it from a game-defining 12 – 0 run from the Bulls.
Indiana Pacers, however, lead by one point going into the half – the game closely knit from poor field percentages from either side, falling shy of 35%. Chicago Bulls would control the game.
A 12 – 0 run was accumulated by a superb shooting showcase to start the third, as the Bulls made nine of their first eleven shots, setting up for an easy win as they controlled the game from then on in.
Portland Trail Blazers 91 – 93 Miami HEAT
HIGHEST POINTS: LeBron James (32 pts)
HIGHEST REBOUNDS: Chris Anderson (10 RBs)
HIGHEST ASSISTS: Damian Lillard (6 assists)
LeBron James and Chris Bosh helped Miami HEAT to go within two games of Pacers atop the Eastern Conference, managing to protect their 17 point lead in the fourth quarter that they came uncomfortably close to squandering.
With 11.4 seconds left, highest point scorer LeBron James scored his final two points, before Chris Bosh denied Damian Lillard’s lay-up in the final play for a slender, thrilling win.
Damian Lillard, though, was key in the resistance effort as he assisted 6 field goals and scored 19 points.
More prosperous for Miami HEAT was seeing Chris Bosh deliver another huge performance, the types that will come welcomed with open arms in the postseason.
With the game tied at 91, LeBron James hit it of the glass for the game-winning shot to cap of a brilliant performance, meanwhile Chris Bosh celebrated his 30th birthday contributing a key block in the final play.
Blazers’ biggest downfall came from their shooting beyond the arc. Just 11 were made from 39 attempts, allowing the HEAT to take control.
Around The League
With Spurs and Nets also in action, there were some 8 other games around the NBA.
Houston Rockets 100 – 89 Charlotte Bobcats
James Harden’s game-high 31 points over the Charlotte Bobcats kept the Houston Rockets on hot form, while Dwight Howard’s return was also a positive one with double digits on the boards count. The Bobcats lead 66 – 65 in the third, before Rockets ran away with it and propelled past the North Carolina side.
Phoenix Suns 102 – 95 Atlanta Hawks
The Suns won their fourth straight as five team members got double digit to tie even with Dallas Mavericks for the final playoff spot in the West conference. Eric Blesdoe was key as he scored twenty points to overturn the Hawks’ early lead with magnificent three-point shooting. PJ Tucker crashed 11 boards for the winning side.
Minnesota Timberwolves 92 – 109 Memphis Grizzlies
Grizzlies’ built an early lead out in their home arena, and shut out the Timberwolves for the whole game. Mike Conley’s 23 points were part of the comfortable win in Memphis.
Brooklyn Nets 104 – 109 New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans turned around a game where they were 22 points down in the third quarter to win in overtime, thanks in part to Tyreke Evans, scoring 22 out of his 33 season high points tally. They were looking on course to lose in the third as they were down by 22 points – until they forced overtime and thwarted the Nets emphatically.
Philadelphia 76ers 91 – 113 San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs handed the 76ers their 25th straight loss as Austin Daye topped the stats with 22 points and Marco Belinelli had 8 assists. It was an easy rout for the Texans, not needing to rely on their bigger stars as much in the game, putting 76ers one more loss from equaling the record for most consecutive NBA losses.
Detroit Pistons 114 – 94 Utah Jazz
It was music, or maybe Jazz, to the ears of Detroit Piston fans as they snapped a five game winning streak to defeat Utah by 20 points. Andre Drummond’s impressive 14 rebound stat was an exemplification of the dominance portrayed from the Pistons, controlling the paint and boards from early on.
Milwaukee Bucks 98 – 106 LA Clippers
In the final game of the night, as Blake Griffin scored 27 points and crashed 14 boards to get the Clippers to their 50th season win and keep up in the battle for third place in the West conference playoffs. Chris Paul added 7 assists and 3 steals while Bucks have now went a year without winning consecutive games.
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