Boston Celtics 91 Miami Heat 72
The Miami Heat were never really in the game as the Boston Celtics used big first and third quarters to take control of the game. The Celtics led by at least 19 most of the second half. Rajon Rondo played a nearly flawless, balanced game. He finished with 16 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds. The triple-double was Rondo's fifth of the season and was another outstanding performance in a marquee game on national television. The Celtics' stifling defense frustrated the Heat, who shot only 34.8% from the field. LeBron James finished with no assists for only the second time in his career. The game was another alarming loss for the Heat. They have now lost 7 of their last 10 road games. The loss was their third consecutive with a margin of defeat of at least 15. The Heat are 21-2 at home, but only 16-12 on the road. This team does not appear nearly as complete as was once thought.
Oklahoma City Thunder 92 Chicago Bulls 78
In one week, the Oklahoma City Thunder have destroyed the other two teams competing for the best record in the NBA. Last Sunday, they beat the Miami Heat 103-87. Today's win over the Chicago Bulls wasn't even as close as the score indicates. Russell Westbrook led the scoring for the Thunder with 27 points and Kevin Durant added 26 points and 10 rebounds. The Thunder's shutdown defense took care of the rest. The OKC lead grew to as much as 30 points in the 4th quarter before the starters went out. The Bulls obviously missed having Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton, but this result was much worse than just missing him. The team looked flat in every aspect of the game and were outhustled completely. The question becomes how good are the Bulls really. Rose must get healthy for them to be truly competitive. But if Rose does have a bad game, will they be able to recover? This game certainly should be a wakeup call for the Bulls to say the least.
No comments:
Post a Comment