The Chicago Bulls kept daring LeBron James to shoot jumpers and he obliged. LeBron scored 40 points (15 in the fourth quarter) as the Cavaliers, fueled by a rabid home crowd that booed every move by Joakim Noah, maintained home-court advantage by beating the Bulls 112-102 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
James added eight rebounds and eight assists, just missing a triple double for the Cavs, who led 96-93 with 4:30 left before the league's soon-to-be 2-time MVP took over. When James came off the bench in the fourth, teammate J.J. Hickson touched his fingers to his forearm the same way a baseball manager would to summon his closer from the bullpen. And in came basketball's version of Mariano Rivera (though I still think Kobe is a better closer). He hit a 3 with the 6-foot-11 Noah coming at him and followed with a quick dance move and wink directed at Chicago's talkative bench. LeBron then made two free throws, a layup and two jumpers, scoring 11 straight points as Cleveland opened a 107-98 lead with 1:36 left.
Noah, who drew the ire of Cleveland fans by criticizing the city's lack of downtown activity, had 25 points and 13 rebounds. He has officially become the most hated person in Cleveland history. He dissed LeBron for his lack of professionalism while on the sidelines early in the year and now he just basically said Cleveland sucks. His exact words were, "You like it? You think Cleveland's cool? I never heard anybody say 'I'm going to Cleveland on vacation.' What's so good about Cleveland?" (obviously Joakim has never seen season 1 of 30 Rock) Derrick Rose added 23 points and Luol Deng had 20 for the Bulls, who will head home for Game 3 on Thursday night.
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With Utah seemingly running out of players, Deron Williams carried an even bigger load. Williams had 33 points and 14 assists while chalking up nearly 45 minutes to lead the Jazz to a 114-111 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series. Carlos Boozer, pitched in 20 points and 15 rebounds also; as the injury-riddled Jazz tied the series before it shifts to Salt Lake City for Game 3 on Friday night.
Williams and Kyle Korver made two free throws each in the final 11 seconds to hold off the Nuggets, who had overcome a 14-point third-quarter deficit to take a 102-98 lead with 4 1/2 minutes left in the game. And Utah was playing without two of its most experienced playoff performers in forward Andrei Kirilenko, who is out for this series with a calf injury, and center Mehmet Okur, who tore his left Achilles tendon in Game 1 and is done for the playoffs.
Carmelo Anthony was flustered all night despite scoring 32 points just 48 hours after his playoff-best 42-point performance in the opener. Melo made 14 of 15 free throws but was just 9 of 25 from the field and was whistled for four offensive fouls and he fouled out of a playoff game for the first time in his career. Anthony didn't have the open looks he did in Game 1, when he shot over his defenders. This time, Wesley Matthews and Miles were up in his face every time he took a step toward the basket.
Denver is 1-11 all-time when Melo fouls out and he was whistled for his sixth foul with 25 seconds left and the Nuggets down by a point. However, the officials blew the call. C.J. Miles had stepped out of bounds before Melo fouled him, which would have not only kept Melo in the game but Denver wold also have gotten the ball back, but the officials didn't see it and Miles made both free throws for a 110-107 lead. Each of Denver's other four starters finished with five fouls, and the Nuggets had 37 altogether. The slow-down effect of the fouls had Denver off-rhythm all night as they struggled for any sort of fluidity to their game but they were still in it in the end. Too bad some poor officiating at the end dictated who won the game. Honestly though the NBA refs do a solid job every game and they do make mistakes from time-to-time but after all they are human.
Peace and Much Love to Ya :)
*Again I apologize for the lateness of this post my internet problems have persisted for 2 days but it seems now it's all under control so I shouldn't spill over to the next day anymore.
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