Going into last night’s game, the Nets were 21 games below .500. But their record was at least somewhat deceiving since Deron Williams had only played six games in a New Jersey uniform.
In possibly related news, the Nets began the night having won five games in a row, which was tied them with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the league’s second-longest active winning streak. And in their last game, the Nets had beaten none other than the Boston Celtics.
As for the Bulls, they had the league’s longest active winning streak at seven games. Now it’s eight games and they’ve once again taken a half-game lead over the Celtics for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Despite the double-digit margin of victory, this wasn’t an easy win. The Bulls simply could not shake the suddenly troublesome Nets. But they did what good teams do: They locked down on defense and executed down the stretch.
On the defensive end, they held the Nets — who, again, have been on fire lately — to a season-low 73 points. And they did it in New Jersey. The Bulllies made them shoot only 34.9 percent from the field and forced them to brick 16 of their 19 three-point attempts. Williams, an All-Star, shot 1-for-12 and went 0-for-3 from three-point range. And check out this shot chart: The Nets attempted 14 layups and converted only five of them.
The Bulls basically pulled an iron curtain around the basket.
Said Luol Deng: “Our defense has been great. Our defense has been great all year. We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but holding a team like that to 73 points says a lot about our D. Especially a team who just won five in a row and beat a good team in their last game, so their confidence was pretty high coming into this game.”
Added Derrick Rose: “That’s what we’ve been doing the whole year — playing defense. If our offense isn’t going, that rarely happens, but if it’s not, we’ll rely on our defense and that’s what we did tonight: Make it tough on them. At first, they were getting everything that they wanted, then we just closed down the paint and rebounded the ball.”
The Bulls offense certainly wasn’t going last night. And, with all due respect to D-Rose, the offense is usually pretty average (which is why Chicago currently ranks 15th in Offensive Rating). The Bulls shot only 40.7 percent themselves and Rose, in particular, struggled to score his team-high 21 by shooting 8-for-23 from the field and (ugh) 0-for-5 from downtown. Rose also had only 2 assists.
Of course, he helped hold Williams to that 1-for-12 shooting — blocking two of Deron’s shots — and had a critical steal down the stretch. Perhaps more importantly, he had a game-high plus-minus score of +14. Here’s some video of one of Derrick’s sweet blocks on Williams:
As a team, the Bulls consistenly made big plays down the stretch:
With 5:35 left and the score tied at 65-65, Deng brought the ball across halfcourt against New Jersey’s trapping defense. For a second, it seemed like Lu was going to call timeout…and then he drove hard to the basket for a layup.
After Kris Humphries tied the game with a layup off an assist from Williams — who, in his defense, had a really good floor game with 11 dimes — Rose drove in for one of his patented driving layups to put the Bulls up two points with 4:52 left.
With 3:57 left and the game once again tied (69-69), Luol Deng drilled a 19-footer off an assist from Kurt Thomas. Bulls by two again.
With 3:17 left, Rose made a great steal off a long pass by Williams and took it the other way for a layup. Bulls by four.
With 2:16 left, the Nets committed an illegal defense, and Kyle Korver capitalized by draining the ensuing free throw. Bulls by five.
With 2:08 left, Joakim Noah tipped in a miss by Rose. Bulls by seven.
With 1:15 left, after the Nets had pulled to within five points off a layup by Sasha Vujacic, Deng busted New Jersey’s trap by making a crosscourt pass to Korver, who knocked down a triple to put the Bulls up by eight points.
With a minute left, Big Sexy hit a stop-and-go layup off a nice assist from Noah. That put the Bulls up by 10. After that, Korver and Noah combined to make three of four free throw attempts to round out the scoring.
Game over.
What I hope that description got across was the teamwork. Everybody contributed. Everybody did their job. The shooting, rebounding, passing. This team is in sync. They know each other. They believe in each other. And it’s all coming from the top.
I’m talking about coach Tom Thibodeau.
Said Noah: “We’re doing the same things every day. It’s almost becoming more and more routine. Thibs is preaching the same stuff and even when we’re doing interviews and stuff, I always end up saying what he’s saying to us all the time, and everybody’s saying the same things in interviews. It’s funny, but you know what? Thibs, he knows what he’s talking about and we’re listening.”
It shows.
On the subject of team play, let’s talk about the job Omer Asik did last night. He scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting while blocking two shots and ripping down a career-high 16 rebounds. Nine of his boards came on the offensive end. That’s nine extra opportunities in a close, low-scoring game in which the Bulls shoot poorly.
Said Rose: “That’s almost every game with him. To come in and get that many rebounds. Got to the free-throw line, dunked a lot of balls, blocked shots, played a lot of defense, that’s what we need from him. We’re happy that he’s on the team.”
Added Noah: “He’s been playing so good for us and I think that’s the beauty of this team. We’ve got a lot of weapons. And Omer is someone who lives in the gym, improving, his confidence is getting better and better and he’s understanding how he can score in the offense. He’s playing at a really high level and we need that to do what we want to do.”
I know some fans wanted the Bulls to part with Asik to bring in somebody like Courtney Lee at the trade deadline. I was not one of those fans. Although I don’t think Omer will ever be an All-Star, I think he can be a very capable backup and at-need starter. Heck, he already is. He has a very high basketball IQ even if his arms look like wet pasta noodles. With all due respect to the Courtney Lees of this world, shooters become available every year, but talented, intelligent, hardworking big men are a precious commodity that should never be traded away lightly.
Management made the right decision keeping this guy.
Anyway, Asik was a big component of another strong outing for Chicago’s bench (32 points, 25 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocked shots, 2 steals). Which is yet another reason why, for today at least, the Bulls are the best team in the Eastern Conference.
From ESPN Stats and Information (via TrueHoop):
The Chicago Bulls pulled a half-game ahead of the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference with an eighth straight win Thursday, giving Chicago its longest winning streak since stringing together nine straight victories in 2005. The Bulls have outscored their opponents by 12.5 points per game during their win streak, with each of the last five wins coming by a double-digit margin. The only team to win MORE than five games in a row by at least 10 points this season is the Heat, who won nine straight by double digits from November 29 to December 13.
Chicago held New Jersey to a season-low 73 points, the NBA-best 12th time the Bulls have held an opponent under the 80-point mark this season. The only other season in franchise history when the Bulls held their opponents under 80 more times was in 1997-98, when Michael Jordan and crew held opponents under 80 13 times en route to a sixth NBA title.
The Bulls seem to have an easier road to the top seed in the Eastern Conference than the Celtics. Over the final four weeks of the regular season, Chicago will play more home games (7 to 6) and more games against teams with losing records (8 to 6) than Boston.
TrueHoop Network: Devin Kharpertian of Nets Are Scorching: “It’s almost paradoxical that a game prominently featuring two of the most innovate point guards in the league today was defined by such ugliness on both sides. Rose & Williams combined to shoot just 9-35 from the floor, and if you include backups, all the point guards for both teams combined to shoot just 10-48. Yes, that number actually gets uglier the more you look at it. Both stars shot poorly for different reasons; for Williams, it was a matter of his hand injury, while Rose struggled to get in rhythm with his jumper. … As an aside, it’s interesting how two guys who are legitimate stars at their position have significantly different roles — Rose is expected to anchor Chicago’s offense, while Deron is a cog in creating everyone else’s offense. Rose is expected to carry that huge offensive burden, and when his jumper’s not falling, it can cause a lot of problems for Chicago. That was evident in this game.”
New Jersey Nets Status Check: Record: 22-43
Division: 3-9
Conference: 12-25
Home Record: 18-16
Last 10 Games: 5-5
Streak: Won 5
Last game: beat Boston 88-79
PPG: 94.0 (28th)
Opponents PPG: 99.4 (15th)
Offensive Rating: 102.9 (26th)
Defensive Rating: 108.7 (18th)
Pace: 89.7 (26th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .475 (27th)
Turnover Percentage: .137 (22nd)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .750 (7th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .259 (16th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .226 (15th)
Opp. eFG%: .495 (14th)
Opp. TO%: .115 (30th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .248 (26th)
Leading scorer: Deron Williams (20.7)
Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.
New Jersey Injury Report: Damion James: mild concussion (expected to miss at least one week)
Quinton Ross: strained lower back (expected to miss at least 1-2 weeks)
Overview: Two of the hottest teams in the league face off in New Jersey tonight. The Nets are coming in on a five game win streak (against Toronto (twice), Golden State, Los Angeles and Boston). They needed overtime to win two of those games. It’s not the toughest stretch, but five wins in a row is still good. Just remember this win streak was directly preceded by six consecutive losses, so they are still the Nets, or at least they were up until the end of February.
But the Bulls are the hottest team in the NBA, if you go by current winning streaks. Their win over Washington was their seventh in a row. And this win came while they were very shorthanded. And JaVale McGee had more blocks than a set of Legos.
With their respective streaks, the Bulls are fighting for the top seed in the East, while the Nets are still in tenth place, 5.5 games back of a playoff spot.
The Bulls won’t be as shorthanded tonight though. Joakim Noah is expected to play, while Boozer will still be out (that’s four games in a row for those keeping score at home). Kurt Thomas will start in Boozer’s place, partly to keep the second line intact and partly because Thomas has done a really good job filling in (12.3 rebounds in the last three games).
One team is going to lose their streak, and the last time these two teams met, it was the Nets winning the game. That win over the Bulls was the only thing between New Jersey and a 12 game losing streak.
That team was different though. They traded away a lot of pieces to secure one of the best point guards in the league, Deron Williams. So the Bulls 1-1 record against the Nets this year doesn’t mean much. Derrick Rose has averaged 24.3 points per game against Williams (when he was on the Jazz).
A stat that does matter is that the Bulls have lost 16 of their last 17 visits to New Jersey, according to Stats LLC. Too much site-seeing in Newark?
Matchup to watch: Bulls starting PF versus Kris Humphries. During the Nets 5 games win streak, Humphries is averaging 16.8 points and 16.8 rebounds—that includes 4 offensive boards per game too. The Bulls have been rebounding the ball well all year long. They pull down 53.5 rebounds per game, second in the league to the T-Wolves who average 54.6. I assume at least half of those are Kevin Love’s though, so it’s not really a whole team effort (trust me I’ve seen Johnny Flynn rebound). And their defensive strengths have been well documented.
But whether it’s Taj Gibson, Kurt Thomas or even Joakim Noah coming from the other side, the Bulls need to get to the glass. They can’t allow second chance points.
Humphries numbers are a little inflated because he is playing 41 minutes per game over the last five, while he has averaged fewer than 27 for the whole season.
Turnovers: New Jersey has the lowest steals per game and consequently the lowest opponent turnover percentage. They average just 5.2 steals per game (and their Opponent TO% is .115). The next worst is Atlanta at 6.1 steals per game. As you may have guessed, the Nets are last in the league at forcing turnovers, averaging 11.9 per game. The Bulls are in the middle of the league when it comes to turning it over, and average 14 TOs per game. If Chicago can hold on to the ball it will go a long way. They can’t afford too many turnovers when they are missing an integral piece of their offense.
About the Author: Braedan Ritter was born and raised in Pennsylvania but was swayed by gifts from his aunt to follow the Chicago sports teams. It didn’t hurt that the Bulls had a guy named Michael Jordan playing for them, and the Sixers had…Derrick Coleman. Braedan has stuck with Chicago through thick and thin, and really thin (see: Chicago Cubs). And speaking of Coleman, Braedan is currently a student at Syracuse University.
How high have the expectations gotten for these Bulls?
On a night when the Bulls won by 19 points and took over first place in the Eastern Conference despite missing their second and third-best players — Carlos Boozer (sprained ankle) and Joakim Noah (flu-like symptoms) both sat this one out — there was an overwhelming sense that they should have won by more than 19 points. Should have crushed the Wizards much sooner and much harder.
The Bulls held Washington to 79 points on 43 percent shooting while scoring 22 points off 16 forced turnovers. The Wizards scored only 33 points in the second half. Again, this was without Noah, who leads the team in Defensive Rating. And yet Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau was unhappy with his team’s defense.
Yeah. I’d say the expectations have gotten pretty high.
I’ll admit, I fell into the expectations trap last night. When Washington erased a double-digit deficit by outscoring the Bulls 27-19 in the second quarter, I was like, “Whaaaaaa…?!” The Bulls were 29-4 at home. The Wizards were 1-29 on the road. It felt like some universal law was being violated.
Let me repeat: Minus their second and third-best players, it felt like the Bulls should have been up by 30 at the half. And giving up 46 points over the first 24 minutes seemed like abject failure.
That’s how good the Bulls have been this season.
Of course, the Bulls almost always crank up their defense in the second half, and it happened again tonight. The Wizards managed only 14 points in the third quarter. They scored 19 points in the fourth only because JaVale McGee was busting his butt to get a triple-double during garbage time. He got it on a dunk with 18 seconds left and celebrated by hanging on the rim and screaming. While his team was down by 18 points.
I guess you could say the Wizards are at the other end of the expectation spectrum.
Derrick Rose had another Derrick Rose-like game (23 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) and yet seemed pretty quiet. Luol Deng did what he’s been doing (20 pints, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals) but (ugh) logged another 43 minutes (too many in a blowout if you ask me). Kurt Thomas continued to defy the laws of nature and aging by ripping down a game-high 15 rebounds. Taj Gibson added 13 boards and scored 9 points. The bench contributed 21 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
And then there was Keith Bogans.
Bogans — who’s been persona non grata in Chicago all season — nailed five three-pointers and scored a season-high 17 points. (In case you’re wondering, his career high is 28 points, which he set against the Utah Jazz on November 16, 2004.) And despite playing his best game of the season, Bogans was still the subject of mockery in ESPN’s Daily Dime Live chat. I guess Keith exists at the low end of the expectation spectrum, too.
Said Bogans: “It doesn’t frustrate me at all. I’m being talked about. I’ve been around long enough, people are going to say things. But, I’m here for my team, I want to win. I’m not worried about individual stuff. I’ve had individual things; my main goal is to win a championship. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Yep. That’s a 2010-11 Chicago Bulls attitude for you.
Added Bogans:
“My job on this team is to defend first. I don’t get caught up in ‘I’m a shooting guard.’ We’ve got Derrick, we’ve got Carlos, we’ve got Luol [Deng]. They take the bulk of the shots. I’m going to get us going defensively and when my shot’s there, I’m taking it. I know my role on this team.”
And, really, that concept is what has made the Bulls so effective this season. There’s no confusion. Players know their roles. They understand what’s expected. Then they go out and do it.
Said Thibs: “If we are preparing the way that we are supposed to and doing the right things, the results will take care of themselves.”
Currently, the results are that the Bulls are 48-18, dominating their division and sitting alone in first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time since the final day of the 1997-98 season.
Washington Wizards Status Check: Record: 16-49
Division: 1-12
Conference: 10-30
Road Record: 1-29
Last 10 Games: 1-9
Streak: Lost 4
Last game: Lost 89-116 to Oklahoma City Thunder
PPG: 96.5 (22nd)
Opponents PPG: 104.2 (22nd)
Offensive Rating: 101.8 (28th)
Defensive Rating: 109.9 (24th)
Pace: 93.9 (9th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .470 (28th)
Turnover Percentage: .139 (23rd)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .710 (29th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .267 (15th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .211 (27th)
Opp. eFG%: .514 (27th)
Opp. TO%: .142 (8th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .247 (25th)
Leading scorer: Nick Young (17.7)
Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.
Washington Injury Report: Andray Blatche: strained right shoulder (missed Monday’s game)
Rashard Lewis: right knee tendinitis (missed Monday’s game)
Cartier Martin: right knee tendinitis (missed Monday’s game)
Overview: It’s strength versus weakness in this one. Or strength versus non-existent part of game. The Bulls have been great at home this year (29-4). And they’ve gotten better as the year has gone on. They haven’t lost a home game since January 18th. That’s eleven in a row at the United Center.
The Wizards are 1-29 on the road this season. Their lone win away from home came at Cleveland on February 13. But that game didn’t change anything. They are 0-4 on the road since that game, and have gone 1-11 overall since they won that titanic showdown (their one win came against the Timberwolves, who were playing on the second night of back-to-backs).
Now the Wizards are coming into Chicago on the second night of a back-to-back set. They lost to the Thunder in Washington last night, and have to make the trip to Chicago and the short turnaround for the game. Washington is 2-15 on the second night of back-to-backs this year. One of those wins was their only road win, against the Cavaliers. Not extremely surprising.
The other win came against the Celtics. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, the Celtics did show up to play that game. And yes it was their normal team. They were short-handed in the center department, with Semih Erden starting (Shaq, Perkins and Jermaine O’Neal were all out), but JaVale McGee isn’t an unstoppable center, so that shouldn’t have been too much of a problem. The four most important starters for Boston played, but the Wiz still won, thanks to a banked-in three pointer in the final minute by John Wall.
That means that the Wizards can beat you, if you overlook them. And Chicago is probably going to be without some big men of their own.
Carlos Boozer is expected to miss his third straight game. The Bulls have gone 13-7 without Boozington this year. Most of those losses came in the first 15 games of the season, which Boozer missed. They went 9-6 without him during that stretch. Since then they are 4-1.
The Wizards have their own injury woes. They could be without their second and fourth leading scorers (Blatche and Lewis). Blatche is also their leading rebounder.
The Bulls can take the lead in the Eastern Conference with a win tonight. It will only be a half-game lead, but maybe a sniff will make them hungrier for that top spot. And really, they couldn’t ask for a nicer matchup to get a win. Even without Boozer and (possibly) Noah.
About the Author: Braedan Ritter was born and raised in Pennsylvania but was swayed by gifts from his aunt to follow the Chicago sports teams. It didn’t hurt that the Bulls had a guy named Michael Jordan playing for them, and the Sixers had…Derrick Coleman. Braedan has stuck with Chicago through thick and thin, and really thin (see: Chicago Cubs). And speaking of Coleman, Braedan is currently a student at Syracuse University.
The Bulls are now in a first place tie with the Boston Celtics at the top of the Eastern Conference dog pile. Technically speaking, Boston is still ahead of the Bullies because they currently lead the season series 2-1. The Celts visit the United Center on April 7.
Speaking of which, check out Chicago’s remaining schedule: 17 games left, 9 on the road, 8 at home. The Bulls will face 10 sub-.500 teams (Wizards, Nets, Pacers, Kings, Bucks, Timberwolves, Pistons, Raptors, Cavaliers and Nets again), a couple fringe teams (Grizzlies and Suns), a few solid playoff teams (Hawks, Sixers, Knicks) and two potential title contenders (Celtics and Magic).
Despite a season of doubt (specifically about the quality of the team’s starting two guard) and injuries (to Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah), the Bulls could actually finish with the number one seed in their conference.
Can you believe it?
There are some potential stumbling blocks, though.
Next Tuesday, the Bulls play the Hawks in Atlanta one night after playing the Kings in Chicago. Road games against playoff teams jockeying for seeding are always tough. Plus, the Hawks will probably be looking for revenge for last Friday night’s blowout loss in the UC.
Following that back-to-back, the Bulls play another tough set of back-to-backs on Friday and Saturday, at home against a surging Memphis Grizzlies team and then on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Griz are trying to secure the final playoff spot out West. The Bucks are trying to fight their way up to the eight spot here in the East. I expect both games will be played with postseason intensity.
The Bulls have two more potentially disastrous back-to-back situations. As noted, they play the Celtics in Chicago on April 7. They then have to travel to Cleveland for a game the next night. If the Celtics game is as rough as I think it’ll be, and the Cavaliers are trying to salvage a little pride, the Bulls could fall into a classic trap game.
The Bulls then finish the season in a back-to-back set at New York (and you can bet the Knicks would like to move up to the fifth seed to avoid a potential matchup with the Heat) and then at home against a suddenly red-hot Nets team (last night they helped the Bullies out by beating the Celtics for their first five-game winning streak since 2008).
What I’m saying is this: The Bulls have a great chance to finish with the East’s top seed…but their margin of error is smaller than Earl Boykins. And even some of their “easy” games — like against the Cavs and Nets — could be dangerous.
If they want to finish first, they’re going to have to go all out every night until the end of the season.
Luol Deng is coming off back-to-back strong games: 18 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists in a win over the Hawks and 26 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a blowout victory over the Jazz. Deng also had 3 steals in each game while playing with a deep thigh bruise.
After the win over Atlanta, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau called him “The glue of this team.”
On Saturday, Michael Jordan went one better, saying Deng is the key to Chicago’s title hopes: “He’s the deciding factor for this team in winning a championship. If he plays well, that helps out their team quite a bit.”
Praise from MJ? That’s quite a leap for a guy who has long been considered overpaid, overrated and (more often than not) unwanted by Bulls fans. After Deng signed a huge contract extension back during the summer of 2008, people expected him to be an All-Star. Years later, Lu has yet to make an All-Star game and has waged a nearly constant battle against tags like “injury-prone” and “soft.” Yet now the perception is starting to change.
Has Deng’s game changed? Let’s take a look.
Last season, Lu averaged 17.6 PPG. This season, he’s averaging 17.6 PPG.
Last season, he shot 46.6 percent from the field, 76.4 from the free throw line and 38.6 percent from downtown. This season, his shooting percentages are 45.5, 74.5 an 33.8, respectively.
He’s averaging 5.9 RPG this season. That’s down from 7.3 last year.
His player efficiency rating has dropped from 16.1 last season to 15.4 this season. His rebounding percentages are all down. His usage percentage is about the same (21.9 last season and 21.2 this season).
Some analysts have noted Deng has “become more of a slasher” and has been “taking fewer jump shots.”
Really?
According to Hoopdata, Deng is currently averaging 14.3 FGA versus 14.5 last season. He is attempting 4.1 shots at the rim this season versus 4.3 last season. And his free throw attempts stand at 4.2 per game this season versus 4.7 last season. So, by the numbers, Deng isn’t attacking the basket any more this season than he was last season.
But if we further dissect where he’s shooting from, we can isolate the biggest change in Lu’s game. Last season, he averaged 6.7 FGA from 16-23 feet and ony 1.2 threes per game. This season, he’s taking 3.6 FGA from 16-23 feet while launching 4.2 three-pointers per contest.
In essence, Deng is substituting three-point attempts for a few attempts he used to chuck up from 16-23 feet. This explains why his effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage have both gone up despite his lower FGP and 3P%. After all, they adjust for the relative worth of twos and and threes.
As near as I can tell, Deng’s game has remained essentially unchanged. The main differences seem to be a) he’s playing more minutes, b) he hasn’t gotten injured, and c) he’s taking more threes than long two-pointers. In terms of effort and productivity, Deng is still Deng.
The biggest difference is that the Bulls are winning more than they have since the Jordan era. And winning does more to change perception than anything else. Staying healthy has helped. There’s no doubt about that. But Deng has been a solid contributor to the Bulls for years. He hasn’t quite been able to raise his game to All-Star levels, but he works hard, plays great defense and does whatever he’s asked to do on a nightly basis. He may not be consistently great…but he’s consistently solid for this team.
And he has been for years. It’s just that now, finally, people have to take notice.
Update! In case this post confuses anybody, I’m not saying that Deng doesn’t deserve praise. I’m saying he’s deserved it for a long time and is not getting it thanks to the team’s success.
Update again! As some of you have mentioned in the comments, another difference is that Deng is now the third or fourth option (behind Rose, Boozer and/or Noah) and therefore expectations for him to perform like a first or second option no longer apply. As a result, his occasional “Where’d ya go, Lu?” games are less onerous (and less disastrous to the team) than they used to be.
It was great seeing so many of the Bulls from that 1990-91 team back. It was especially great seeing Pip and MJ out there all smiles and good feelings. If you’ve read The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith, then you know that championship season was rocky from the beginning to the end. There were fights and tantrums and battles with management. MJ once said “The triangle is killing me.” Phil Jackson was threatened by Scott Williams.
This season’s Miami Heat have made a lot of news for their on and off the court drama. But the 1990-91 Bulls were a soap opera that dwarfs anything the Heat could even imagine. But the great thing about history is that is smiles on winners and softens hard feelings.
At any rate, it was a chill-inducing ceremony, a reminder of good times, and, hopefully, a harbinger of more good times to come.
When they blow out a solid playoff team with relative ease despite missing a guy who ranks second on the team in scoring, rebounding and player efficiency rating.
When said blowout happens despite the fact that Joakim Noah went scoreless (0-for-4 from the field and no free throw attempts) in 30 minutes. Jo did grab 11 boards to go with 2 assists, 2 steals and a block, though.
When the team’s superstar has a bad game (9-for-24 from the field and 2-for-9 from downtown) and yet plays great (a game-high 34 points, 14-for-15 from the free throw line, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and a game-high plus-minus score of +25). For the record, Rose outscored Atlanta 18-10 in the third quarter.
When Luol Deng fights through an injury – and people call him soft! — and posts an All-Star stat line of 18 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot while playing 40 minutes (again!). After the game, coach Tom Thibodeau said, “He’s the glue to the team.” And that wasn’t just a coach throwing his player a bone, either. It’s true.
When the defense slowly chokes the opposition into submission as the game goes on. After a 50-point first half, the Hawks were held to 26 points over the final 24 minutes. The Bulls have now held nine straight opponents under 90 points. In fact, for the season, Chicago is holding teams to only 89.0 PPG in the United Center.
When a guy like Kurt Thomas starts cold after a long stint on the bench — Big Sexy hadn’t played in eight games — and rips down a game-high 13 rebounds as the Bulls dominated the glass 50-28 (including 14-4 on the offensive end).
When the reserves come in and fans actually get excited about it…and with good reason. Seriously, the Bulls bench is coming into its own. Last night, the pine riders scored 38 points to go along with 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals. Sure, that scoring total was padded by Brian Scalabrine’s garbage time jumper. But still. The depth of this team, and Thibodeau’s crisp rotations, are a not-so-secret part of Chicago’s success. The Bulls have won 12 of their last 14 games, by the way.
When, against all reason, despite the injuries and the doubters, the Bulls have pulled to within a half game of the Boston Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
I wonder if Ryan DeGama of CelticsHub is starting to have second thoughts about this post.
The best part of this win, for me, is how grounded the Bulls seem to be despite the growing buzz and their own stampeding momentum. Check out the quotes.
Noah: “Yes sir, it’s exciting stuff. But we understand, to get to where we want to get to, we just got to stay focused on the moment. Not worry about expectations, not worry about what you guys are talking about. When you win a couple games in a row, everything’s unbelievable and then you lose one it’s like the end of the world. We’re not worried about that; we’re staying focused on what we need to focus on, and that’s just getting better, improving, and winning ballgames. It’s good stuff.”
Rose: “Of course people talk about it, but that’s not the thing, just to be ahead of the Celtics. We’re not talking about that. We’re just trying to win games and put games together.”
That said…there’s a little pride mixed in there as well.
Deng: “All you guys want to talk about, ‘This team got three guys, this team got three guys.’ We’ve got a lot of guys who can play. Kurt Thomas can play. We’ve been a team all year. Guys have been very unselfish; we’ve got guys stepping up when their name is called. When we have injuries like that, guys are ready. Guys are ready to jump in and get the job done.”
And the Bulls, as a team, are getting the job done.
Atlanta Hawks Status Check: Record: 37-27
Division: 8-3
Conference: 25-13
Road Record: 19-15
Last 10 Games: 3-7
Streak: Lost 3
Last game: Lost 101-87 to the Lakers
PPG: 95.7 (25th)
Opponents PPG: 95.4 (9th)
Offensive Rating: 106.5 (19th)
Defensive Rating: 106.1 (13th)
Pace: 89.6 (27th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .500 (12th)
Turnover Percentage: .136 (18th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .745 (11th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .244 (24th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .211 (27th)
Opp. eFG%: .490 (12th)
Opp. TO%: .123 (28th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .211 (4th)
Leading scorer: Joe Johnson (19.0)
Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.
Atlanta Injury Report: None
Overview: A lot of labels are put on games; “trap games,” “revenge games,” “statement games,” “must-win games.” Sometimes they aren’t needed or don’t make sense, but this game really is a revenge game for the Bulls. They got embarrassed in their last matchup against Atlanta, when the Hawks came back from a 19-point deficit to win by 3. That was Chicago’s only loss in their last eight games.
There would have been more publicity on this failure, but Miami did something worse the next night, and took the headlines. Thanks again for that, Miami.
The wound is still fresh; it happened only 9 days ago. The Bulls rebounded from the loss really well, winning their next four, but the way they lost definitely affected them. The Hawks, on the other hand, are 0-3 since they beat Chicago.
Now Chicago finds themselves somewhere they have been before: without one of their starting bigs. Carlos Boozer went down awkward late in Tuesday’s game versus the Bobcats, and limped off the court and into the locker room. X-rays were negative, but with Boozer’s history, who knows how long he could be out. Coach Thibodeau said Boozington will be out a “few days to a week,” according to the Daily Herald’s Mike McGraw.
The Bulls were just getting used to playing with all their stars. Now they may be back where they started the season, missing their biggest offseason acquisition.
But the Bulls are used to being shorthanded. They’ve been there, done that.
With their last win they clinched the central division. But there is still unfinished business. The Bulls are only 1.5 games behind the Celtics in the East. That’s impressive when you consider they have been at full strength for only 18 games. They are 14-4 in those games at full strength. Dropping the first two games after Boozer came back in December, and the first game after Noah came back after the All-Star break.
In the last Atlanta-Chicago matchup, Al Horford went off, tying a career-high in scoring with 31 points (13-20) and adding 16 rebounds. Joakim Noah won’t allow a repeat of this.
Ex-Bull Kirk Hinrich played a great game against Derrick Rose as well. Rose scored only 12 points on 5-21 shooting (0-6 on three-pointers) and had 6 turnovers. For as well as Hinrich played on the defensive end, he was the opposite on the offensive side of the ball, scoring just 3 points and 2 assists.
“The game was definitely on me,” Rose said after the loss. “But I guarantee it won’t happen again.”
Rose has responded all season to challenges. He sees this game as a challenge as well. He won’t want to get shown up by Hinrich twice in less than two weeks.
And, as if Rose needed any more motivation. Jerry Reinsdorf and Michael Jordan both gave the Bulls and Rose praise recently. Hopefully, Rose will respond to praise the same way he does to challenges.
Stepping in and stepping up: Taj Gibson has started 14 games this season. According to Stats LLC, he averaged 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. He also averaged about one better defensive play than Carlos Boozer would have per minute (unofficial stat).
About the Author: Braedan Ritter was born and raised in Pennsylvania but was swayed by gifts from his aunt to follow the Chicago sports teams. It didn’t hurt that the Bulls had a guy named Michael Jordan playing for them, and the Sixers had…Derrick Coleman. Braedan has stuck with Chicago through thick and thin, and really thin (see: Chicago Cubs). And speaking of Coleman, Braedan is currently a student at Syracuse University.
Members of the Celtics got to spend time with Barack Obama on Tuesday night before a fundraiser at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the President wanted to talk about the Bulls. Specifically, Obama thanked the Celtics for “giving” coach Tom Thibodeau to the Bulls.
Talk about buzz.
With all that serving as a backdrop, the Bulls blew out the Bobcats in Charlotte, winning for the 11th time in 13 games, moving to within 1.5 games of the Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and clinching their sixth playoff berth in the last seven seasons.
Of course, no “dream come true” moment is complete without a sobering dose of reality. In this case, the reality check was delivered in the form of a flagrant foul by Kwame Brown that put Carlos Boozer on the ground and injured the big man’s ankle in the process.
The incident occurred with 4:24 left in the game and the Bulls leading 92-75. Considering the circumstances — Chicago was in full control and Taj Gibson (14 points, 6-for-7) was playing better than Boozer (10 points, 4-for-9) anyway — you have to wonder why Carlos was still in the game at all. But then again, Thibodeau has had a habit this season of leaving his starters in the game longer than absolutely necessary.
I’m not blaming Thibs. Not exactly. But Rose was sitting at the time. Why not Booz?
Oh well. No use crying over milk that’s already been spilled. Which means we have to move on to the more important subject: The extent of Boozer’s injury.
It sure looked bad, didn’t it? Boozer walked to the bench under his own power. But he declined to shoot his free throws — Kyle Korver knocked them down in his place — and limped gingerly to the locker room before play could resume. His night was over. And his season could be on hold for…nobody knows how long.
Said Thibodeau: ‘‘The X-rays were negative. It’s too early. We’ll just have to wait and see tomorrow what type of swelling he has. It’s his left ankle. He came down pretty hard. I’m hoping it’s just his ankle.’’
Well, that tells us a fat lot of nothing.
Said Joakim Noah (12 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks): ”[Boozer] said it hurts but it’s not too bad or broken or anything. Carlos brings a lot because of what he can do offensively. But we’re confident and capable. Taj is a helluva player. He’s someone you can rely on to step up and play physical and tough.”
Added Rose (20 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals): “It’s going to hurt us [if Boozer is out], but we still have to go out there and play the game. It’s going to take a lot more energy, a lot more focus going into games. And people are going to have to step up. If it happens, Taj did a great job when Carlos was out before. People are going to have to play big minutes. I think our team should be fine, but I hope he plays the next game.”
I hope so, too. But I also hope Taj is ready. Just in case.
Said Gibson: ”I’ve been in this role many times the last two years. I have to get my mind right if it does happen, and just play my game, play with a lot of energy, and just try to hold it down while he’s down.”
As for the game, this was one of those “take care of business” wins. The Bobcats were without leading scorer Stephen Jackson (hamstring), sixth man Tyrus Thomas (knee surgery), backup center Joel Przybilla (knee) and reserve guard Matt Carroll (ankle). Charlotte shot lights out in the first half, but Chicago held them to 35 points in the second half to win going away.
Ultimately, the Bulls wore the Bobcats down with their defense and depth. Speaking of which, the reserves poured in 51 points, led by Kyle Korver (20 points on 7-for-10 shooting), Gibson (who, again, scored 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting) and Ronnie Brewer (10 points on 4-for-8 shooting).
Said Thibodeau: ”We needed them. The first half, offensively we were good, defensively we were poor, very poor. The second half, the defense started coming around, and the bench was great. Carlos got in the early foul trouble, so that hurt us, but Taj came in, did a great job. Ronnie was playing really well, and, of course, Kyle, so they did a great job and C.J. was running the team well.”
The bench has been great this season. It really has. And it’ll have to be even better if Boozer has to miss many games. Okay, “have to be” may be overstating things. But the Bulls are trying to hold onto the second seed in the East while setting sights on the first seed. So, assuming the expectations remain high, the reserves will have to help carry the team through this crucial late-season stretch.
Jerry Reinsdorf, quote machine:
“If you don’t see something special in Derrick Rose, then you’re blind. We have an outstanding coach, an outstanding bunch of players, the team is deep, and if we stay healthy we have an awfully good chance of winning at least four championships.”
Michael Jordan, quote machine: “[Rose] deserves [the MVP]. He’s playing that well. He deserves it. Without a doubt. And if he doesn’t get it, now he’ll see how I felt a lot of years.”