Sixers bounce back, stun Bulls in Chicago

CHICAGO - It was announced yesterday that the new Superman movie is going to be shot in the city of Chicago. The estimated budget for the movie is expected to be close to $175 million. Actor Henry Cavill is slated to play the lead role.

Wonder if Bulls point guard Derrick Rose got an audition. The third-year pro certainly has been having a superhero type of season, but last night in the first half the Sixers were able to make him look very Clark Kent-like, and Chicago never could recover.

Somehow, coming off two straight losses and visiting a Chicago team that torched them by 45 points here earlier this season, the Sixers pounded out a 97-85 win over the Eastern Conference leaders, avoiding their first three-game losing streak since late November while handing the Bulls their first loss at home in 15 games.

Sixers center Spencer Hawes hit three huge jump shots down the stretch to halt a Chicago rally that had cut the lead to as little as four in the final quarter.

The Sixers (38-36), sixth in the Eastern Conference, retained a two-game lead over the Knicks, who also won.

Hawes finished with 14 points. Thaddeus Young, who left the game in the fourth quarter after a slip in which he appeared to suffer a groin injury, scored a team-high 21 points. Andre Iguodala collected 19 points, seven assists and seven rebound while Elton Brand added 13 points and nine rebounds. Point guard Jrue Holiday added 12 points and six assists and sub Lou Williams had 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Rose finished with 31 points and five assists. In the first half, when the Sixers built the lead to as many as 23, he scored just seven points and dealt two assists while committing four turnovers.

A day after one of his poorest performances of the season against the Sacramento Kings in which he scored just four points and missed nine of his 11 shots, Young torched the Bulls, with 17 of his points coming in the first half when his team jumped to a 53-37 lead. Coach Doug Collins continuously called Young's number and the swingman responded with a variety of driving layups.

Rose tried to spearhead a comeback in the third, scoring 10 points in the quarter, but the Sixers had an answer each time, whether a jumper by Holiday or Iguodala or a spinning, driving layup by Young. In the fourth, when two free throws by Rose made it 82-76 with 4:29 to play, Hawes hit back-to-back 18-footers to build it back to 10.