By now it seems as if the Philadelphia 76ers are getting all the breaks in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Chicago Bulls. And to their credit, they are making the most of it, as they now earn a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after a 79-74 Game 3 victory.
The 76ers, paced by Spencer Hawes 21 points, used a amazing 18-2 run, which featured the Bulls going scoreless for nine minutes of the fourth quarter, to come-from-behind and knock off top-seeded Chicago for the second straight game.
Philadelphia trailed by 14 points with about 10 minutes to play, and then rallied after Bulls' forward Joakim Noah rolled his ankle (GIF below) and never returned.
From there, the Sixers put together an epic rally that was capped by two free throws and a jumper by Hawes, who gave Philly a 72-71 lead with 2:11 to go in the fourth quarter.
The 76ers pushed its lead to 75-71 with three more free throws, but had its margin trimmed to 75-74 after a 3-pointer by John Lucas with 43.8 seconds to go.
The victory was cemented when Evan Turner (16 points and nine rebounds) nailed two free throws to push the lead back to five points and the Philly defense forced a bad shot on the Bulls' final possession.
Carlos Boozer scored a team-high 19 points and collected 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who now maybe without Derrick Rose and Noah for the remainder of the postseason.
For more on the Sixers, stay tuned to SB Nation Philly and team blog Liberty Ballers. For more on the Bulls check out SBN Chicago and Blog a Bull.