Chicago Bulls take lone lead in the NBA Eastern Conference after Nikola Vucevic’s late trey
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Chicago Bulls centre Nikola Vucevic shooting and scoring a game-winning three-pointer against Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes during the second half of their 113-111 NBA home win.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
LOS ANGELES – A titanic duel between the top two teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern Conference saw the Chicago Bulls fight back from a 24-point deficit to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 113-111 in the Windy City on Nov 4.
“Tonight was one of the best wins that I’ve ever been a part of,” Bulls guard Josh Giddey was quoted by ESPN as saying. “Just in terms of how bad we were down that early in the third. And to gut that one out and dig ourselves out of the hole that we did was unbelievable.”
Game-winner Nikola Vucevic added: “We have belief. And I think we also were aware that we played really, really bad basketball in the first quarter, especially defensively.”
The Sixers looked to be heading for a blowout win after outscoring the Bulls 45-27 in the first quarter, with Tyrese Maxey nailing four three-pointers in a blistering start for Philadelphia.
The 76ers continued that dominance in the second quarter, building a 75-56 advantage at half-time after leading by 24 points earlier in the period.
But Chicago flipped the script after the break, outscoring the Sixers 28-20 in the third period and then edging closer in the fourth.
Vucevic’s three-pointer with just over three seconds remaining sealed victory for Chicago, who improved to 6-1 to lead the standings.
Australian Giddey led the Chicago scoring with a 29-point triple-double that included 15 rebounds and 12 assists.
Chicago coach Billy Donovan praised his team’s second-half comeback – but warned they would need to improve their physicality to have a chance of challenging for honours this season.
“We were really disappointed in the first half, physically,” Donovan said. “We were very fortunate to win. I’m happy they fought, never gave up, battled and competed and were able to win.
“But we’re not going to be a very good team if we just try and rely on running the ball down the floor and shoot. We’ve got to be more physical.”
The result put the Bulls at sole leaders in the East on 6-1, while the second-placed 76ers fell to 5-2.
In the West, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept his remarkable scoring streak alive as the Oklahoma City Thunder came from behind to extend their unbeaten start to the season with a 126-107 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The reigning NBA and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player finished with 30 points, 12 assists and four rebounds as the Thunder moved to 8-0 at the top of the Western Conference.
Gilgeous-Alexander has now scored 20 points or more in 80 consecutive games – a feat only bettered by NBA great Wilt Chamberlain, who leads the all-time rankings with 20-point game scoring streaks of 92 and 126 games.
“I just put in the work, I take care of my body, I get enough rest and I do it all over again,” the Canadian said.
“I’ve found a formula that works for me and I just try to hammer it home every day, every opportunity that I can,” he added.
Meanwhile, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has been added to a lawsuit that contends the defendants committed fraud by using a sustainability company to pay star forward Kawhi Leonard off the official NBA books.
The initial suit was filed in July, with the tech billionaire Ballmer added on Nov 1, Front Office Sports reported.
Eleven former investors of the company, then called Aspiration Partners, contend Ballmer used the business to bypass the league salary cap by channelling millions earmarked for Leonard through Aspiration’s bank accounts. AFP, REUTERS
