Basketball Daily

The Philadelphia 76ers met up against the Chicago Bulls in which the game was well suited for an up tempo and quick to shoot style.  Both of these teams have the same abilities and are very equally matched.  They like getting out on the break and taking early shots, instead of playing half court ball.  On this day, the Bulls topped the 76ers and rallied in the second half for an easy win.  The final score ended at 113-99.

The top three scorers for Chicago were Ben Gordon with 24 points, Tyrus Thomas with 24 points and Derrick Rose with 16 points.  The high man off the bench was the newcomer Brad Miller, who contributed 15 points to the tally.  The team as a whole did not miss a single free throw, shooting 19 for 19 at 100%.  The Bulls now improve their season long record to 39 wins and 40 losses.

The Utah Jazz who have been having trouble picking up wins on the road, got blown out once again against the Dallas Mavericks.  The Jazz played very sloppy on offense and on defense they were slow to react.  The Mavericks really took it to them especially in the third quarter when Dirk went off scoring 19 points by himself.  Utah and Dallas are now tied for 7th place in the West, with both of them having 4 games left on the roster.  The final score of this game was 130-101.

The leading scorers for Dallas were Dirk Nowitzki with 31 points, Jason Terry with 21 points and Jose (JJ) Barea with 18 points.  The team as a whole shot an incredible 54% from the field and an outstanding 45% from downtown.  With this win, the Mavericks clinch a Playoff spot and send the Phoenix Suns home for the summer.

The Portland Trail Blazers came out really stale against the San Antonio Spurs, but the Blazers turned it on in the second half and overcame a 19 point deficit.  Portland played extremely well pressure defense and was on a shooting extravaganza that the Spurs could not stop.  The final score ended at 95-83.  With this win by Portland, their is a 3 way tie for third place in the Western Conference, the Spurs, Blazers and Rockets sharing this spot currently.

The top scorers for the Blazers were Brandon Roy with 26 points, Lamarcus Aldridge with 20 points and Travis Outlaw with 12 points.  The team as a whole shot 52% from the field and 84% from the free throw line.  It will be really interesting to see how the West ends up, as teams 2 through 8 are very close.  Portland will need home court advantage in the first round to have a chance at advancing.  I for one hope they do because they have a young athletic team that are really fun to watch.