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Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:22 pm
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CHICAGO -- The way everything was crumbling, the Chicago Bulls sure needed a reprieve. Mike Morgan Jersey . Knocking off the defending champions was a nice one. Carlos Boozer scored 27 points, and the Bulls pounded LeBron James and the Miami Heat 107-87 on Thursday night. Luol Deng had 20 points, Taj Gibson chipped in with 19, and Joakim Noah added 17 points and 15 rebounds as the Bulls had no trouble taking out the Southeast Division leaders. Chicago took control early on and hung on down the stretch after watching a 25-point lead in the third quarter dwindle to 12 late in the game. It was an impressive showing by a team that had dropped six of seven and is once again trying to get by without the injured Derrick Rose. "Our team needed it," Noah said. "We went through a lot the past couple of weeks. Its really hard to play without Derrick. I want to win with Derrick Rose." The Bulls shot 50 per cent and were 10 for 19 on 3-pointers -- four by Deng and three by Kirk Hinrich, who scored 13. They also outrebounded Miami 49-27. James scored 21 points for Miami, but the Heat shot a season low for the second straight game, converting 41.6 per cent from the field after hitting 43.9 per cent in Tuesdays loss to Detroit. "We cant just brush this loss aside," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We have to really own it, to understand what happened. They just got whatever they wanted, right in the paint, at the rim and if they missed those, then theyre just beating us up at the glass." It didnt help that Dwyane Wade stayed back at the hotel with an illness after sitting out the previous game because of knee soreness. Chris Andersen missed this one for personal reasons, but the Heat will get no sympathy from Chicago. After all, the Bulls lost Rose to a torn meniscus in his right knee in a game at Portland on Nov. 22, and although the former MVP left the door slightly open for a playoff return earlier in the day, the team has ruled him out for the rest of the season. "We really got snake-bitten," Gibson said. "When that happened to Derrick, that was really like, Wow. Were a family in here. When that stuff kind of happens, it was just ... tough. We were on the road, odds were against us." And as if that six-game trip wasnt difficult enough, there was a triple-overtime loss to New Orleans on Monday in their first game back at the United Center. The Bulls did just fine on Thursday, although things got a little tight down the stretch. Miami cut it to 93-81 on Norris Coles runner with 5:38 remaining. But Gibson answered with a jumper and blocked a layup by Udonis Haslem. Deng made a 3 with just under four minutes left to make it 98-81, and Chicago hung on from there. Before that, the only tension came early in the third quarter when Hinrich took a shot to the neck from Cole away from the ball. The result was an angry exchange, a flagrant foul one for Cole and a technical for Hinrich. The Bulls guard hit both free throws after James missed a foul shot, making it 67-45. Boozer led a scorching start by Chicago, scoring 19 points as the Bulls built a 58-44 halftime lead. But in the end, it was the Bulls rebounding and defence that had the Heat shaking their heads. "Weve never been a great rebounding team but weve been able to overcome that," James said. "Teams have done a much better job of rebounding against us. It could be an effort thing, it could be a lot of things but we just got to go out and just go get them. "Im going to do a better job of that, get more rebounds. But its a group thing for a team. We dont have a Kevin Love or Joakim Noah or Dwight Howard, those types of guys who can get you 15-plus, we have to do it as a collective group." NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the game to honour Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at the age of 95. ... This was the Bulls most lopsided win over the Heat since a 126-96 blowout at Miami on Jan. 16, 2008. ... Andersen expected to rejoin Miami on Friday in Minnesota. The Heat play the Timberwolves on Saturday. Damian Miller Jersey . "Yes, Id like to get them in," Detroits rookie manager said. "Mother Natures going to have a say in that." Sure enough, the Tigers had their game against the Kansas City Royals postponed because of rain on Thursday. Jay Bell Jersey . -- Kevin Harvick pulled away on a restart with 47 laps to go and ended Chase Elliotts two-race winning streak in NASCARs Nationwide Series with a dominating victory early Saturday at Richmond International Raceway. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/908l-mark-grace-jersey-diamondbacks.html . Although Olivetti, a qualifier, had 13 aces, he failed to force a single break-point chance on Gasquets serve and lost his own three times. Gasquet next plays third-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, who won had 18 aces in a 6-2, 6-4 win against seventh-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.CEDAR PARK, Texas -- Marlies goaltender Drew MacIntyre put on an impressive display on Friday, but he gave his Toronto teammates credit for making his job simple. MacIntyre stopped 49 shots and the Marlies defeated the Texas Stars 5-1 in Game 1 of the American Hockey Leagues Western Conference final. "I felt in control, so that was nice," MacIntyre said. "Then our guys were awesome. Blocking shots, I say it every game. These guys are fun to watch, its awesome and they made my night a lot easier." After stopping 12 shots in the first period, the 30-year-old goalie stopped 17 in the second and was continuously under siege in the third period -- where he faced 21 shots. "I knew that the (shots) number was going to get up there," MacIntyre said. "We all knew they were going to come in third period. Theyre a good team and they showed it." MacIntyres performance impressed Toronto head coach Steve Spott. "(MacIntyre) is a guy who is now starting to do what I think he needs to do to be an NHL prospect," Toronto coach Steve Spott said. "And I dont care what his age is. Hes a guy that is playing the best hockey of his career in a very, very good league. I think he should open up some eyes from not only our club, but 29 other clubs." Although the Stars applied consistent pressure, Toronto broke the game open in the second period when T.J. Brennan and Peter Holland scored 13 seconds apart. Brennan scored on the power play 7:15 into the second period when he fired a wrist shot past Texas goalie Cristopher Nilstorp. On the very next shift Holland forced a Stars turnover and beat Nilstoorp to give Toronto a 3-0 lead. Diamondbacks Jerseys 2019. Brandon Kozun, Sam Carrick and Jerred Smithson also scored for Toronto, while Chris Mueller replied for the Stars. Game 2 is Monday at the Cedar Park Center, where Toronto can extend its playoff unbeaten streak to 9-0. Texas had been a perfect 4-0 at home in the playoffs before the loss. "I think their whole team played well," Stars coach Willie Desjardins said. "I think we had to be better early, once you get behind youre going to generate a lot and we had to come after them a they outplayed us and give them credit." MacIntyre was tested early and often by Texas -- the AHLs regular-season champions -- but helped Toronto stay undefeated in the post-season with a couple dazzling stops. Late in the first period he was caught behind the net while battling for a rebound. The puck kicked out to Stars forward Brett Ritchie in front of the net, but MacIntyre scrambled back to make the save. Toronto played with the lead for most of the night after Kozun scored 3:11 into the game. Kozun collected a pass from Trevor Smith in the neutral zone, skated between a pair of Stars defencemen and fired a wrist shot over Nilstorps shoulder. Texas finally broke MacIntyres shutout bid with 4:27 remaining when Mueller scored on the power play. Two minutes later Carrick scored into the empty net, followed by a short-handed empty-net goal by Smithson to give Toronto a 5-1 lead. Nilstorp stopped 14 of 17 shots for Texas in the loss. The Swedish goalie also spent almost half of the third period on the bench after Desjardins pulled his goalie with 8:50 remaining while down 3-0. ' ' ' |
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