Hughes Has The Big Pay Back Bulls Win 101-98

Posted by Jeff Sack under Main

“Revenge is a dish best?served cold”? Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. (Dangerous Liaisons)

I don’t know if Larry Hughes has even heard of “Dangerous Liaisons” never mind read it or saw the movie, but as time was ebbing in the game Thursday night between the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers that?line kept ringing in my head. More than a month after being traded from?the playoff bound?Cavaliers to the lottery bound Bulls, Hughes got his revenge against?his former team leading Chicago back from the dead, and beating Cleveland 101-98. Hughes led his?new team back from a 17 point second half deficit, and silenced the crowd at the Q.???

The two teams played each other to a standoff in the?first quarter as they were deadlocked at the end of the quarter 26-26. Cleveland pulled ahead in the second quarter, and went into the locker room up 55-45 at the half. The Cavaliers appeared to be on the verge of breaking this game open as LeBron James hit an outside shot to put his team up 78-61 with 4:09 left in the third. And then, it was like watching a beach ball deflate, as suddenly Cleveland fell out of sync, while the Bulls found their rhythm. Chicago would end?the period on a 16-7 run, and the Cavaliers lead was down to just?8 points as they led 85-77 heading into the fourth. The Bulls would tie the game at 96-96 with 3:57 remaining in the game?after Ben Gordon hit a pair at the line.??Cleveland took back the lead at 98-96 after Anderson Varejao drained the cylinder with 3:31 left. Maybe the biggest play of the game took place?with 1:42 left in the game, when Delonte West committed the “Cardinal Sin” he fouled Ben Gordon on a trey attempt. Three shots from the charity stripe later, the Bulls took their first lead of the second half at 99-98. With 3 seconds remaining Gordon sealed the win with 2 more from the line.

Hughes scored 25 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block. If Hughes had played like that last year during the NBA Finals Cleveland would not have been swept. But the Finals were no big thing to Hughes anyway as we found out after the trade.? Gordon scored 24 points off the bench, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, Luol Deng scored 15 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound, 1 block. ?Andres Nocioni scored 15 as well off the bench, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, Joakim Noah scored 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists,?3 blocks, 1 steal.

LBJ led all?players with 33 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2? steals, 2 blocks. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, Delonte?West scored 11 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, 2 rebounds. ?Wally Szczerbiak? came? off the bench and scored 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal. Chicago is now 30-45, Cleveland is 42-34.

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