CHICAGO (AP) ― The fans gave Derrick Rose a standing ovation before the game. There wasn’t much for them to cheer about in the end.
Jrue Holiday scored 26 points, Lou Williams added 20 and the Philadelphia 76ers beat Chicago 109-92 on Tuesday night to even their first-round series in the Bulls’ first game since Rose’s season-ending knee injury.
The superstar point guard received a standing ovation and waved to the crowd as he limped onto the court to present the game ball, then watched from a suite as the 76ers simply blitzed the Bulls in the third quarter.
Gregg Popovich was honored as the NBA’s Coach of the Year after leading San Antonio to 50 wins and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. (AP-Yonhap News)
They outscored Chicago 36-14 in the period, turning an eight-point deficit into an 83-69 lead, and pulled even with the league’s top-seeded team.
Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.
“This game we caught fire and it was pretty hard to put it out,” Holiday said.
All the Bulls could do was shake their heads and vow to do better.
“Disappointed,” Chicago’s Joakim Noah said. “Disappointing effort overall. We didn’t play well defensively. We didn’t play well offensively.”
Holiday was 11 of 15 from the field, and the Sixers shot 59 percent overall. Williams came up big, going 8 of 13 after hitting just 1 of 6 shots in the opener, and Chicago product Evan Turner chipped in with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Noah led the Bulls with 21 points and eight rebounds. John Lucas scored 15 points, but Carlos Boozer scored just nine and Luol Deng finished with eight. More alarming, the Bulls simply couldn’t stop the Sixers, particularly in the third quarter.
Turner scored 11 points in the period, and Philadelphia wiped out a 55-47 deficit.
“That third quarter we played tonight was as good a quarter as I ever seen our team play as long as I’ve been with them,” Philadelphia coach Doug Collins said. “We were active.”
For the Bulls, that was about as bad as it gets.
Boston 87, Atlanta 80
LA Lakers 104, Denver 100
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
