At the beginning of the postseason, the Chicago Bulls had grand dreams of winning the NBA championship with superstar point guard Derrick Rose leading the way. After losing Rose in the first game to an ACL tear, they're now on the brink of elimination after losing a third consecutive game on Sunday afternoon.
With Sunday's 89-82 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Bulls will need to win out the final three games of the series to avoid elimination. The most recent defeat has Chicago trailing 3-1 to Philadelphia in the seven-game first round series.
The Bulls and Sixers played a tough game, but Chicago couldn't execute down the stretch yet again without its key playmaker and scorer in Rose, as well as injured center Joakim Noah. The Bulls shot just 40 percent from the field for the game, turning the ball over 14 times compared to Philadelphia's eight turnovers.
C.J. Watson (17 points, six rebounds) helped to keep Chicago in the game with some key scores, but down the stretch the team simply couldn't find good shots on offense. Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with 23 points and 11 rebounds, but he turned the ball over five times, including some especially untimely ones.
On defense, the Bulls just didn't make enough timely stops down the stretch. Jrue Holiday was inconsistent but made some huge shots late, finishing the game with 20 points, eight rebounds and six rebounds, plus Spencer Hawes was huge with 22 points and eight rebounds. Andre Iguodala added a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
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