AUBURN HILLS—Ben Gordon scored 28 points and the hot-shooting Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 108-92, yesterday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, pulling to 3-2 in the series.
Game 6 is Thursday night in Chicago and if Game 7 is necessary, it would be Monday night back on the Pistons’ home court.
The Bulls started the game Tuesday night with a sense of urgency and didn’t let up in a game they never trailed. They made 72.2 percent of their shots in the first half—falling just short of an NBA record—but only led by eight at halftime.
Luol Deng scored 20, Kirk Hinrich had 17 and P.J. Brown scored a playoff-high 15.
Chauncey Billups scored 17, Richard Hamilton had 16 points and Rasheed Wallace added 15, but the trio combined to shoot just 16-of-42.
Jazz 100, Golden State 87
At Salt Lake City, Utah, Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points, 15 rebounds and three steals to lead Utah over Golden State, wrapping up the Western Conference semifinal series in five games.
Utah held Golden State to 14 points in the fourth quarter and unraveled the Warriors, who had knocked out top-seeded Dallas in the opening round but were badly outmatched in much of this series.
Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 14 boards and Derek Fisher scored 20 points for the Jazz, who clinched it from the foul line after struggling with free throws all night.
Baron Davis led Golden State with 21 points and eight assists.
Meanwhile in Phoenix, center Amare Stoudemire and teammate Boris Diaw were suspended Tuesday for one game for leaving the bench after Robert Horry’s flagrant foul of Steve Nash in Game 4 of the Suns’ National Basketball Association quarterfinal playoff series game against San Antonio.
Suspension
The NBA also announced Horry was suspended for two games for knocking Nash into the scorer’s table with 18 seconds remaining in the Suns’ 104-98 victory at San Antonio on Monday night. Phoenix’s victory evened the series at 2-2.
All three players will miss Wednesday night’s (Thursday morning in RP) Game 5 in Phoenix of what has been a rough, intense showdown between two of the best teams in the NBA. Horry also will miss Friday night’s Game 6 in San Antonio.
Horry was suspended for flagrantly fouling Nash and striking Raja Bell about the shoulders with a forearm, NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said in a statement. Stoudemire and Diaw were suspended for leaving “the immediate vicinity of their bench” during the altercation. (AP)
