Clippers end Bulls run with rare road
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?Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin (center) is guarded by Chicago Bulls' Omer Asik (left) and Kyle Korver during their NBA game in Chicago on Saturday. Korver was called for a foul. |
Chicago guard Derrick Rose missed a free throw with less than a second left to hand the Los Angeles Clippers a 100-99 win over the Bulls on Saturday.
The defeat is the Bulls' first in eight games while the Clippers scored their second consecutive win on the road after losing their first 11 away from home this season.
The Clippers led by seven points with 42 seconds left, but the Bulls had trimmed that lead to two when Rose took a pass and drew a foul with 0.8 seconds left as he drove to the Clippers basket.
He made his first free throw but the second was short and bounced off the front of the rim.
"I was gonna hit'em," said Rose, of his thoughts as he went to the free throw line. "That's basketball. I hope I get put in that position again. I know I'm not going to miss. It felt good, but I left it a bit short."
Playing their second game in as many nights the Clippers outscored the Bulls 20-11 in the first six minutes of the game.
"Our problem was our intensity to start," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "In this league, you have to come ready to play every night, and if you don't, you're asking for trouble."
The Bulls battled back but were outscored 33-22 in the second quarter by the Clippers thanks to Rasual Butler, who scored 11 points in the period to give Los Angeles a 61-53 halftime lead.
The Clippers had five players score in double digits led by rookie Blake Griffin, who recorded his 15th consecutive double-double with 29 points and 12 rebounds.
Rose led the Bulls with a game-high 34 points and Carlos Boozer added 25 points. In San Antonio, the Spurs' NBA winning streak only just survived a strong Memphis challenge, with Tony Parker scoring 16 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to give the Spurs a 112-106 win over the Grizzlies.
Parker was 15 for 21 from the field, putting up a season high while scoring nine of San Antonio's final 10 points in regulation. His 8-footer with 1:01 left in overtime also helped seal a third straight down-to-the-wire Spurs victory, and their eighth straight overall.
Elsewhere in NBA, it was: Jazz 95, Bucks 86; Heat 95, Wizards 94; 76ers 97, Magic 89; Cavaliers 109, Knicks 102, OT; Nuggets
