The Sixers got revenge on the Bulls last night as they held on in overtime in the Windy City, winning the second of back-to-back, home-and-away games against Chicago.
The win ended Philly's four game losing streak, the last of which was the double-digit loss to the Bulls on Sunday night.
Andre Miller put his bad game at the weekend behind him, scoring a season high 28 points, nine of which came in overtime as he helped his team pull away from Chicago for good.Bulls rookie Derrick Rose, who had been all over Miller at the Wachovia Centre two days before, received a personal backlash from the point guard, with Miller getting the youngster into foul trouble.
Elton Brand was big again for the Sixers, collecting 22 points and 14 rebounds - his 9th double-double of the season (including 21 points and 12 rebounds on Sunday).
Andre Iguodala also rebounded from a sub-par game at the Wachovia Centre to put up 25 points, whilst there was support off the bench from rookie forward Marreese Speights (11).
The worrying thing for Philly is that for the second game in a row, the team let a big lead slip.
It cost them the first of the two games against the Bulls, where they had led by as many as 15 in the first half, and they held a slender lead going into the interval before the Bulls ran all over them in the second half.
Last night the 76ers again found themselves with an early double-digit lead (16 points), and they even had a nine point advantage in the fourth quarter, before the Bulls rallied and tied the score with 17 seconds left - Tyrus Thomas slamming home after Rose drove and missed.
Philly did have one last chance to win the game in regulation, with Iguodala drawing defenders and setting up Miller in the corner, but his shot was short.
Miller made up for this miss in the extra period, making sure Chicago never got close by taking the Sixers past 100 for the first time in eight games, a worrying statistic with the free-scoring Lakers coming to town tonight.
Here's the highlights:
On the whole Philly shot quite well, going almost 40% from the floor, with 44 points in the paint.
However, the perimeter shooting was woeful, with the Sixers just 2-11 from 3 point range - another thing they will have to put right if they are going to even get close to the Lakers.
The win is only the 76ers (8-10) third on the road this season, with the other two also coming against Eastern Conference opposition (Toronto and Indiana).
The Bulls also fall to 8-10, despite big performances from their two guards, Rose (24 pts) and Ben Gordon (18 pts).
However, it will still be the plays Rose made in Philly three nights ago that will continue to make the highlight reels. Here are the highlights from that game. You won't have to look hard to see Rose's stunning defensive and offensive plays:
The Sixers have a relatively good 4-2 record against Western conference opposition, but with the best of the West coming to the Wachovia Centre tonight, the 76ers will have to be perfect if that record is going to improve.
1 comment:
A great win for the Sixers after their home loss to the same side. Obviously they learnt their mistakes. Was also good to see Miller showing Rose who the rookie was in this game. Hopefully we can progress for this kind of win
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