Bulls beat Nets to level playoff series

Marco Belinelli of the Chicago Bulls goes up and scores two against the Brooklyn Nets in the second half during Game Two of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals of the 2013 NBA playoffs at the Barclays Center on Monday in New York City. The Bulls defeated the Nets 90-82. (AFP)AFP/New YorkDetermined defence and a gritty performance from Joakim Noah helped the Chicago Bulls notch a 90-82 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday that evened their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series. The Bulls bounced back from a disappointing game-one defeat to knot the best-of-seven first-round series at one game apiece, with game three back in Chicago on Thursday. Noah, playing restricted minutes after battling painful plantar fasciitis in his right foot, scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, and finished with 10 rebounds and two blocks as the Bulls bounced back from the 106-89 loss in game one on Saturday. “He willed it again, and we needed every bit of it,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Noah, who played just 13 minutes in game one. “It’s obvious we’re a much better team with him on the floor.” Bulls forward Luol Deng added 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, while Carlos Boozer and Kirk Hinrich chipped in 13 points apiece. Boozer also pulled down 12 rebounds for the Bulls, who connected on 48.1% of their shots from the field. Brook Lopez scored 21 points with three blocks for the Nets, with Joe Johnson adding 17 and C J  Watson contributing 10. But the Bulls, who displayed an uncharacteristically porous defence in game one, limited Brooklyn to just 35.4% shooting from the floor. The Nets, in the playoffs in their first season since moving to the New York City borough of Brooklyn, were trying for their first 2-0 lead in a post-season series since the first round in 2004 - when they swept the New York Knicks. Nets coach P J Carlesimo had warned his players to be ready for a Chicago team determined to rebound after their game-one defeat. “We know what we are going to get from Chicago is what I’m calling desperation, for lack of a better term,” Carlesimo said before the game. “We have to meet or exceed that, and that’s a big challenge.” In the end, however, the Nets couldn’t meet it. They made just four of 20 shots from three-point range and committed 12 turnovers that led to 16 Bulls points. The Nets managed to pull within five points, 69-55, on Reggie Evans’s slam dunk with 5:45 to play in the third quarter, but Chicago responded with a 9-2 scoring run. After falling 14 points behind with 10:23 remaining, the Nets reeled off nine straight points to trim the deficit, only for the Bulls to wrest back the momentum with a 7-0 scoring run. “We did a good job defensively,” Deng said. “When the Nets made a run, we did a good job responding with important shots.” Noah started the spurt with a dunk, then grabbed an offensive rebound on Chicago’s next possession and passed to Hinrich, who fed to Nate Robinson for a three-pointer. Noah added a tip-in to give the Bulls an 80-68 lead with less than six minutes remaining. “I’m happy my foot is holding up,” Noah said. “Being able to play in the playoffs is something I’ll never take for granted. And being able to do it in front of my loved ones and my family is very special to me.”

Paul’s last-second shot lifts Clippers Chris Paul made the game-winner with a tenth of a second left Monday, lifting the Los Angeles Clippers to a 93-91 win over the Memphis Grizzlies that stretched their NBA playoff series lead to 2-0. The victory followed the Clippers’ 112-91 triumph on Saturday in game one of the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series, which shifts to Memphis for game three on Thursday. Memphis centre Marc Gasol’s slam dunk with 13.9 seconds remaining had knotted the score at 91-91. After a timeout, Paul drove to the basket and banked in a shot over Tony Allen. Officials reviewed the play and declared the basket good. Memphis had a chance to inbound the ball, but with just a tenth of a second on the clock the Grizzlies had no time to get the ball in the basket. “We were on him,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said of Paul’s heroics. “What can you do? The kid made a tough shot. He’s a great player. That’s what great players do—they win games.” Paul finished with 24 points, nine assists and four rebounds for the Clippers. Blake Griffin added 21 points and eight rebounds. “We found a way to win the game,” said Clippers coach Vinny del Negro. “Blake was aggressive early, set the tone for us, and Chris made the plays down the stretch.” Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 28 points and nine assists. Gasol added 17 points and seven rebounds for Memphis, who trailed by 12 early in the fourth quarter. Allen finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but he wasn’t able to stop Paul—who scored eight straight points for the Clippers in the last four minutes. “He did a great job of staying on me,” Paul said of Allen’s defense on the crucial last-second play. “Every time I tried to get a little space to go left he ate the space up. I looked at the clock and it was ‘All right, I’ve got to go.’ “Luckily, I made the shot,” Paul said. Allen said he felt he let his teammates down, but he believed the Grizzlies—who fell to the Clippers in seven games in the first round last year—can turn the series around back home in Memphis.