Bulls Top Heat in Friday NBA Action
The Chicago Bulls out rebounded the Miami Heat 48-28 on Friday night, helping them to a 96-89 win. Carlos Boozer had his second big night in Florida this week with 27 points as Chicago improved their record to 18-13 while the Heat dropped to 22-9. Boozer had 31 points on Wednesday night in a two-point win over the Orlando Magic. Boozer had 12 rebounds as did Joakim Noah, who missed Wednesday’s game with the flu. Noah also chipped in 13 points.
”It always feels good to beat the Heat,” said Noah. ”And we get a night out in the city, so we’re hyped right now. We haven’t been playing great basketball and this is probably our biggest win of the year against the defending champs. It feels good.”
In other Eastern Conference action on Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 106-104. Kyrie Irving scored 16 of the 20 points scored by Cleveland in the fourth quarter, including a pull up foul line jumper with one second left to hold off the Bobcats, who rallied from a 12 point deficit at the end of the third quarter to tie the game. Irving had 33 points on the night. Ben Gordon led the Bobcats with 27 points. The Cavs are now 8-26 and the Bobcats, who started the year at 7-5, are 8-24.
The Brooklyn Nets went to double overtime to get a road win over the Washington Wizards 115-113. Joe Johnson hit the game winner from 18 feet at the buzzer in the second overtime, the last two of his 18 points. Brook Lopez led the Nets with 27 points while Deron Williams added 24 points. Brad Beal led the Wizards with 24 points while Jordan Crawford chipped in 23. Brooklyn improved to 18-15 while the Wizards fell to a league worst 4-27.
The Detroit Pistons slipped past the Atlanta Hawks by one point 85-84. Austin Daye led the Pistons with 20 points while Greg Munroe added 18. The Hawks, who nearly erased a 19 point deficit to win the game, were led by Josh Smith with 20 points and Al Horford with 18. Detroit is now 13-22 while the Hawks slipped to 20-11.
The Boston Celtics got a much needed win over the Indiana Pacers 94-75. Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett each led the Celtics with 18 points. Tyler Hansbrough led the Pacers with 19 points. The win snapped a four game losing streak for the Celtics who ran their record up to 15-17 while the Pacers dropped to 19-14.
The Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks all lost to Western Conference teams on Friday. The Bucks lost to the Houston Rockets 115-101. James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points as they improved to 19-14. The Bucks fell to 16-15 after dropping their third in a row.
The Raptors fell to the Sacramento Kings 105-96. Demarcus Cousins had 31 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Kings. Sacramento is now 13-20 while the Raptors fell to 12-21.
Philly lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-85. Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 27 points and Kevin Durant added 26 as they improved to 25-7. The Sixers dropped to 15-19.
