| Bos |
23 |
25 |
22 |
19 |
89 |
| Chi |
28 |
27 |
24 |
21 |
100 |
Date of game: 12/18/2012
|
Recap: Chicago vs. Boston
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Joakim Noah recorded his second career triple- double as the Chicago Bulls rolled over the Boston Celtics, 100-89, at the United Center.
Noah finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, while Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng each netted 21 points and Nate Robinson connected on five 3- pointers en route to 18 points for the Bulls, who have won three of their last four.
"It feels good to play well. My teammates hit some tough shots and I feel like we moved the ball great," said Noah. "When we move the ball like that we're a tough team to beat."
Rajon Rondo paced the Celtics with 26 points and eight assists as Boston dropped its third straight contest.
Paul Pierce contributed 16 points, Courtney Lee had 14 and Kevin Garnett scored 10 in defeat.
"They took us out of everything with their effort," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said about Chicago. "I thought they were the tougher team tonight, the more physical team and it was not even close."
Boston trailed, 55-48, entering the third quarter, but after Boozer opened the frame with a jumper, the Celtics netted six straight points to close their gap to 57-54.
The Bulls, however, responded with a 7-2 push to stretch their lead back up to 64-56.
The Celtics managed to cut their deficit to three points on two separate occasions from there until a 9-0 spurt by Chicago opened up a 79-67 advantage with less than a minute left in the third.
Rondo scored the final three points of the third quarter to get the Celtics within 79-70 heading into the fourth, where Chicago took advantage of a stretch of nearly six minutes without a Boston basket to reel off a 14-1 run to jump ahead, 95-75, at the midpoint of the final stanza.
Both teams emptied their benches from there as the Bulls cruised to the victory.
The teams traded blows over a back-and-forth opening period that saw six lead changes and three ties until Deng netted eight of his 14 first-quarter points during a 10-5 push that gave the Bulls a 28-23 edge heading into the second.
Chicago carried that momentum into the second quarter, using a 10-2 run to take a 42-29 lead with 6 1/2 minutes left in the frame.
The Celtics trailed by eight points or more from there until a late 7-2 spurt brought them within 55-48 at the break.
Game NotesRobinson shot 5-for-7 from three-point range and made all of the Bulls' shots
from beyond the arc. The rest of the team went 0-for-2 on 3-pointers ...
Chicago shot 50 percent from the field for the game, while Boston hit 43.2
percent of its shots ... The Bulls held a 43-35 advantage on the glass and
outscored the Celtics in the paint, 48-36.
