On Thursday evening, the Bulls held on for a 135-130 win over the Clippers at the United Center, the Chicago team rallied from a 16-point LA deficit and led by DeMar DeRozan to win in overtime.
The Bulls were starting their last round of home games before the playoffs, they were in the fifth possession of the eastern conference and were looking to secure the win against LA to pull away from the Play-In tournament. The Bulls were motivated heading into the game after their win over the Washington Wizards 107-94 last Tuesday.
On the other side, the LA Clippers were starting their last road trip and maintained their goal of securing a ticket to the Play-In tournament. They arrived in the city of Chicago prepared for the game, after beating the Utah Jazz in the return of their star Paul George who had an incredible game with 34 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds and 4 steals.
The game started and the strategies of each team were quickly noticeable, LA highlighting their attack in the paint using Marcus Morris who scored 10 points in the first quarter, who took advantage of his height and good footwork. The Bulls, on the other hand, started off by highlighting their two and three-point shots, emphasizing their good cuts to the basket that made it difficult for the Clippers' defense. However, the Angelinos were 10 points up on the Bulls.
The next quarter the Bulls started with a 9-0 run, which practically wiped out the advantage that the Clippers had achieved in the first half. The game continued to go their way, the defenses started to stand out and it became more difficult for the players to score. Despite that, LA went into halftime with a 9-point lead after the Bulls missed 16 shots in the quarter.
Coming back from the break, the Clippers returned to maintain their strategy and extended the difference to 12 points. A quarter highlighted by many points with a total of 65 between the two teams, Reggie Jackson scored 13 points and at the end of the third quarter LA maintained the lead with 10 points.
The game would not stay like that and for the last quarter, the game became intense and both teams gave their best to get the victory. Los Angeles kept attacking the paint and looking for their best player, Paul George, who the Bulls were defending all over the court. Chicago attacked the basket every chance they got, forcing the Los Angeles defense to commit several fouls. The game was close at the end, LA's lead in the game disappeared and Bulls forgave from the free throw line, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra period, both teams took the court and the nerves showed. Bulls took the strategy of giving the ball to their star, DeMar DeRozan, who decided to attack the line at every opportunity he had, scoring 11 points in overtime and thus guaranteeing the Bulls the victory by 5 points.
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The game ended with the Chicago Bulls winning 135-130 over the LA Clippers and thus finding back-to-back winning ways. The Bulls will continue their home games and return to action against the Miami Heat on Saturday, April 2. A showdown between two playoff teams that could go head-to-head to win the Eastern Conference.
Unimaginable game for the Bulls star, DeMar DeRozan, with 50 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Likewise, Nikola Vučević with a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds. Both players excelled in the game and played more than 40 minutes.
An excellent game Reggie Jackson with 34 points, 7 assists and 2 rebounds. Clippers star Paul George had 22 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. With this loss they maintain the eighth position in the western conference and will continue with their away game tour when they face the Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow April 1 at the Fiserv Forum.