Nets 134 – Bulls 142 3OT

SERIES 3-1 Chicago

4/20 – CHI 89 @ BKN 106

4/22 – CHI 90 @ BKN 82

4/25 – BKN 76 @ CHI 79

4/27 BKN 134 @ CHI 142

More of the same early for Brooklyn as Kirk Hinrich forced a turnover and Carlos Boozer capitalized immediately and the Bulls lead 4-2 early on. Brook Lopez with four points early on paint touches. Bulls seem to have higher intensity early and it shows on the floor with 50-50 balls. Bulls lead 10-5 early. First miss for Deron Williams, he is cold with two turnovers and a miss to start the game. Nets with a 6-0 run to take lead on another Lopez jumper, 16-14 and look like they have life. Nets are shooting well at 60% (9-15) and Bulls are shooting well at 56% (9-16). Lopez with 12 points and four rebounds in first to give Nets a 26-25 lead after one.

A quick 9-0 run with two Bulls 3-pointers and a three point play for Luol Deng puts the Nets down 34-26 quickly to start the second. Williams fights back with a three and cuts the Bulls lead to 36-33 midway through the second. Nets bench duo of Andray Blatche and C.J.Watson have poured in eight points on 3-3 shooting. Nate Robinson went after Watson and the two went into the scorers table in a tussle. A double technical was give and a foul on Robinson. Nets get fired up and go on a 5-0 to get Bulls lead down to 44-43 with six minutes to play in the half. Williams found some daylight offensively against the Bulls and now has 10 points and has hit two threes. With a quick 9-1 run, Bulls take a 55-46 lead while the Nets missed their last five shots. Big back-to-back threes by Williams and Wallace to end the half brings the to within three at half, 58-55 Bulls.

Both teams continue to shoot well and Williams is carrying the Nets with 19 points and six assists and a huge dunk in traffic out of nowhere. Bulls leading 66-60 and have 17 points off Nets turnovers and 18 fast break points. Nets go on a quick 10-2 run to take a 70-68 lead and are shooting well behind Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans. Evans called for a taunting technical after a dunk and has 13 points and 11 rebounds. Williams was in a zone carrying the Nets as they matched their biggest lead of 84-76 and that was the score after three quarters of play. Williams had 24 points and seven assists and Lopez put an exclamation point on the quarter picking up a loose ball and hitting his first career 3-pointer. Nets lead 84-76 after three.

Things were going very well for Brooklyn entering the fourth quarter and were shooting 59 percent with momentum. Wallace remarkably hit a 3-pointer, now has 10 points, to bring the Nets lead to 91-82 with eight minutes to play. Hinrich trying his best to match Williams with 18 points and seven assists going into the fourth for Chicago while Robinson had 14 points as well. Wallace obliterated Robinson on a blind screen that was legal and he hit the floor hard with just under six minutes to play and the Nets up 100-91. Williams hits another 3-pointer to put the Nets up 107-95 with four minutes to play and this game looked over. Watson got a run out fast break layup that he tries to dunk to put the Nets up 16 with 3:19 to play and he missed the dunk. Everything changed. The Bulls employed the hack-a-Reggie and hack-a-Wallace tactic and it worked as they both missed free throws. The Nets then missed four straight shots and watched Robinson go on his own 12 -0 run to bring the game to 109-107 with just over a minute to play. Robinson scored 23 points in the 4th quarter alone. Williams had an opportunity to win the game but his fade away from just outside the paint was off and the ball was hit out of bounds to force overtime.

[quote_simple]“We’re going to have to go look at the tape but we made a lot of mistakes,” Williams said. “Up 14, it was so long ago I can’t remember all that went on, but we had the missed dunk, missed free throws, I fouled Nate on a three-pointer. We made a lot of mistakes in the fourth quarter. You go up 14 with three minutes and some seconds left, you’ve got to find a way to put a game away.”

“I knew I was going to dunk it,” Watson said. “I was just a little tired, but I still shouldn’t have missed it.”[/quote_simple]

Wallace and Joe Johnson hit jumpers to give the Nets a 115-113 with three minutes to play in overtime. Robinson continued to be on fire and hit a jumper to tie it 117 with one minute to play. Carlos Boozer hit a critical layup to give the bulls a 119-117 lead with 26 seconds remaining followed by a big shot by Johnson to tie it again at 119 with 11 seconds to play. Remarkably Robinson hit a running bank shot to put the Bulls up 121-119 with only 2 seconds remaining. Johnson once again was clutch and hit another runner in the lane as time expired to force a second overtime with the teams tied at 121.

Deron Williams missed 11 of his last 13 shots down the stretch and the Bulls took a 125-123 lead in the second overtime with two minutes left. The Nets missed four consecutive 3-point shots in the second overtime and found themselves down 127-123 with just over a minute left while Joakim Noah and Robinson hit big shots for Chicago. Turnovers by both teams and a block by Lopez of Noah forces a third overtime with the Bulls and Nets tied at 127. Hinrich leading the Bulls with 18 points, 11 assists and two steals while Williams went cold since late fourth quarter.

The third overtime started with the Bull sin serious foul trouble and right away Robinson was called for an offensive foul and you would think the Nets would take advantage. That did not happen. The Bulls went up 131-128 behind a big jumper by Jimmy Butler right after Noah fouled out. Williams finally hit a shot to get the Nets to within 133-130 with three minutes left and Robinson, Noah and Taj Gibson all fouled out. Out of nowhere Nazr Mohammed hit a jumper to put the Bulls up 137-132 with only 32 seconds to play and the Nets reeling. Lopez followed with a put back basket and Boozer was then fouled and hit one of two free throws to Chicago a four point lead 138-134 with 20 seconds to play. Mohammed sealed the game as he went right around Blatche to grab the Boozer missed free throw and layed it in with the foul to end the game in three overtimes 142-134. The Nets had six guys in double figures but could not close the deal in regulation and it came back to haunt them in Chicago once again. Bulls win 142.134 in 3OT’s.

Crushing loss for Brooklyn as the Bulls now go up 3-1 in this series as it heads back to Brooklyn for Game 5. Heartbreaking loss for the Nets.

[quote_simple]”We just have to focus [on Monday] and not talk about the things we could have done,” head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “We had a breakaway layup that would have made the lead 16. We missed a bunch of free throws, we made a bad foul [on a 3-point attempt], had trouble getting the ball inbounds. We’ve got to find a way to get a win in our building and bring it back here Thursday [for Game 6], it’s one game. It’s as simple as that.”[/quote_simple]

LEADERS:

Points – Williams – 32

Rebounds – Evans – 13

Assists – Williams – 10

STAT OF THE NIGHT: This was the first triple overtime game in Nets postseason franchise history. With the Bulls win scoring 142 points it was the most points scored in NBA Playoff game since Trail Blazers scored 153.

GAMECHANGER: Nets blew a 14-point lead in the final 3:45 of regulation allowing a Bulls 16-2 run to end the game and force overtime.

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