Belinelli lifts Bulls to over-time win over Celtics

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AFP) –

Marco Belinelli (R bottom) is swamped by his Chicago Bulls teammates after his turnaround jump shot on January 18, 2013

Marco Belinelli (R bottom) is swamped by his Chicago Bulls teammates after his turnaround jump shot with 3.1 seconds left in overtime lifted the Bulls to a 100-99 National Basketball Association win over the Boston Celtics on January 18, 2013. Chicago own the Eastern Conference’s best road record of 12-5.

Marco Belinelli’s turnaround jump shot with 3.1 seconds left in overtime lifted the Chicago Bulls to a 100-99 National Basketball Association win over the Boston Celtics.

Richard Hamilton scored 20 points and Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah both notched double-doubles for a Bulls team that claimed a third-straight win and their fifth successive win on the road.

Chicago own the Eastern Conference’s best road record of 12-5.

Boozer scored 19 points and grabbed a season-high 20 rebounds, while Noah finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Boston’s Rajon Rondo scored a season-best 30 points and handed out seven assists. He led the Celtics back from an eight-point deficit early in the fourth quarter but fouled out with 1:16 remaining in over-time.

Kevin Garnett scored 16 points and Jared Sullinger posted 15 rebounds for the Celtics, whose season-high six-game winning streak has now been followed by two straight defeats.

Trailing 70-62 in the early stages of the fourth quarter, Boston engineered a 12-4 scoring run that included six points from Garnett to knot the score at 74-74 with seven minutes to play in regulation.

Rondo made one of two free throws to give the Celtics their first lead of the game with 4:37 left, and the game stayed close until the end of regulation.

A Rondo jump shot with 36.6 seconds left in the fourth snapped an 84-84 tie. Boston maintained a two-point lead until the Bulls’ Kirk Hinrich drained a jump shot with two seconds remaining to force over-time, in which neither team led by more than three points.

Chicago gained the win despite a disappointing night for leading scorer Luol Deng, who was held to a season-low three points on 1-of-6 shooting while playing just 27 minutes because of a strained hamstring.