Spencer Hawes scored a team-high 22 points and Jrue Holiday scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half to help the Philadelphia 76ers earn a 89-82 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference playoff series. The 76ers now own a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which now heads back to Chicago for Game 5 on Tuesday (9:30 p.m on NBA TV).
Hawes tallied 17 of his 22 in the first half to help the Sixers earn a 44-42 halftime lead, but it was Holiday who carried Philly to the critical victory which puts the top-seeded Bulls on the brink of elimination.
Ahead just 74-73 with 4:43 to play in the fourth quarter, Holiday nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to push the margin to 80-73 with 3:34 remaining.
From there, Chicago was able to pull within two points, 80-78, but the Sixers made seven of their last eight free throws down to stretch to cement the victory. Before that free-throw shooting display, Philly was just 65-percent (15 of 23) from the charity stripe.
Bulls center Carlos Boozer scored a game-high 23 points and collected 11 rebounds, however, he lost the ball on a critical late-game possession that could have helped Chicago cut the Sixers' margin to two points with less than a minute to go. Overall, Boozer had five turnovers.
Andre Iguodala finished with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Evan Turner went fore nine and six.
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