Bulls and Warriors Win in Overtime, Take 3-0 Leads in NBA Playoff Series

In an entertaining pair of games, the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls both took 3-0 leads in their NBA playoff opening round series on April 23rd, but each team needed overtime to do it.

In New Orleans, the Golden State Warriors were down by 20 points at the end of the third quarter, but showed why they were the Best in the West (the Western Conference, that is) during the regular season by storming back to tie the game and send it to overtime. Point guard Stephen Curry tied the game with a three pointer and then gave the Warriors the lead for good in overtime with another three pointer. Curry hit seven three point baskets in all and scored 40 points in the game. Anthony Davis paced New Orleans with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Golden State won 123-119.

Golden State can wrap up the series in Game 4 Saturday night April 25th in New Orleans.

In Milwaukee, the Chicago Bulls had a 10 point lead with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter, but the Bucks came back and almost won it in regulation, missing the final shot at the buzzer. The Bulls pulled away with a dominating performance in the second overtime, winning 113-106.

Derrick Rose had 34 points and eight assists for the Bulls. The oft injured Rose is showing how valuable he is to the Bulls in this series, and is playing like a man on a mission. Rose hasn’t been in the playoffs since the 2011-12 postseason, and then he only played in one game and got injured.

The Bulls can eliminate the Bucks in Game 4 on April 25th in Milwaukee. Assuming they get beat at some point here (no team in the NBA has come back to win a series after being down 3-0) the Bucks have a bright future. Under new coach Jason Kidd, Milwaukee went from a league worst 15-67 to 41-41 this year, and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. This was with top draft choice Jabari Parker missing most of the season with an injury.