Night No. 3 of the 2013 NBA Playoffs brought to us two contrasting match-ups with some exhilarating action. Did a road team finally win on their opponents’ home court? Take a look.Chicago Bulls, 90 - Brooklyn Nets, 82
Series tied, 1-1A balanced scoring effort by the Bulls was the recipe for success in Game 2 of their first round series with the Nets. The Bulls won, 90-82, bringing the series to an even 1-1. They were led by double-doubles from Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah. They also got good production out of Kirk Hinrich (13 points, five assists) and Nate Robinson (11 points).
Everyone expected low-scoring games for this series, but I can’t imagine anyone thought it would be this low. This was not Brooklyn’s night. They shot a very poor 35-percent from the floor and scored only 11 points in the third quarter, which was the perfect opportunity for the Bulls to pull away with the game.
Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson led the Brooklyn in scoring with 21 and 17 points, respectively. For Game 3, both teams will head to Chicago to break the tie.
Los Angeles Clippers, 93 - Memphis Grizzlies, 91
Clippers lead series, 2-0
Some late game heroics from Chris Paul carried the Clippers to a huge Game 2 win over the Grizzlies on Monday night, 93-91. It was a back-and-forth affair from the very beginning, as both teams seemed determined to get this pivotal win.
Paul ended the game with 24 points and nine assists. Blake Griffin’s opening quarter performance of 13 points and five rebounds that paved the way to 21 points and eight rebounds helped L.A.’s cause greatly as well.
Memphis battled and clawed to stay in this game for the duration. They came very close to pulling out a victory, but could not stop the wonderful play of CP3 with just seconds left on the clock. Mike Conley led the Grizzlies’ charge with 28 points and nine assists. Marc Gasol added 17 points, Tony Allen posted 16 points and 10 rebounds and Zach Randolph added another 13 points.
Both teams will head to Memphis, but the Clippers have the clear upper-hand in this series.
