Ballin': The Bulls Without Derrick Rose Looked Pretty Bad
By Jason McIntyre
Boston 87, Atlanta 80: I thought the Celtics needed a “historic” performance from Paul Pierce to win without Rondo, and while 36 points and 14 rebounds doesn’t qualify as historic, it still was magnificent. (The Tebowing? Less so.) Avery Bradley’s night at point guard went well – 14 points, three assists, three steals, three blocks, only one turnover in 41 minutes. Typical Hawks – another blown opportunity.
LA Lakers 104, Denver 100: The Nuggets hung around until the end, but too much Kobe (38 points) and Bynum (27 points, nine rebounds) were able to offset a 2-for-15 night shooting from the 3-point land and the Lakers are up 2-0. Denver media seems to think it is over. It probably is.
Philadelphia 109, Chicago 92: No Derrick Rose, no chance? The 76ers outscored the Bulls 36-14 in the third quarter and knotted the series at one. Jrue Holiday, who probably would have been defended by Rose, shot 11-of-15 and scored 26 points. Lou Williams added 20 off the bench. Chicago was led by Joakim Noah’s 21 points. He also crossed up Thad Young pretty bad.