At the end of the year, certain nights of the 82 game slog stand out, whether it be because of a great victory, a painful loss, or, as the Bulls have experienced far too often over the years, an injury. Tonight, however, was not one of those nights. Chicago blew many chances to steal this one and sweep their road back-to-back in what ultimately was a forgettable contest.

Early on, the Hawks established a single-digit lead they maintained throughout. They used a 9-0 run in the middle of the first quarter to take a 16-9 lead that they would never relinquish. The Bulls got within one just before halftime (Atlanta pushed it back to six before the intermission) and spent most of the fourth quarter within five points, culminating with Jimmy Butler making a great snag on a Kyle Korver pass as Atlanta was draining the clock. It went to a jump ball, Atlanta up just three, but the Bulls were unable to take advantage, and Jeff Teague’s free throws iced the game.

As disappointing as it was to see the Bulls get so close and not break through, it was assuring to know that this loss more fell on the fatigue factor and their inability to hit open shots. All three point guards were absolutely dreadful. Derrick Rose had six turnovers, missed all seven attempts from beyond the arc, and finished 6-21 overall. Kirk Hinrich went 0-7, a performance that tied him for most games in the league (seven) since 2012 (when he rejoined the Bulls) of zero field goals on five attempts or more. He was scoreless in 22 minutes, though he played in crunch time because Aaron Brooks was in full chucker mode and Thibs is allergic to Mike Dunleavy.

After thriving without him, the Bulls really felt Joakim Noah’s absence in this one. The Hawks attacked Pau Gasol relentlessly with Al Horford’s midrange game. Pau gave Horford plenty of room to shoot, likely due to a combination of pragmatism (his lack of foot speed prevents him from stopping drives past him) and fatigue (he played 40 minutes on the second end of a back-to-back because Thibs). Horford notched 21 points on 10-19 from the floor, adding ten boards and six assists. He and Paul Millsap (6-16, 17 points) were the only Hawks with more than 12 points. Kyle Korver’s only points came off of three pointers, hitting four of his eight tries. The Hawks had a balanced attack via scoring in transition, boosted by Chicago’s miserable efforts getting back on D.

The only above-average performances came from Taj Gibson (15 points, 17 boards) and Butler (22 points on 8-17, plus nine rebounds). The other six Bulls were somewhere between forgettable and awful. As a team, they shot 6-29 from distance and 37.6% overall. They couldn’t hit an open shot to save their lives, yet they had a chance to win on the road facing a quality team. The Bulls have had bad losses this year and this was not one of them.

The team gets a couple days to prepare for the lowly Knicks, a national TV game on Thursday. They’ll need to care of business in that one considering the three games following that are against the Grizzlies, Raptors and Wizards.

The post Bulls Come Up Short In Atlanta, Fall 93-86 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Tonight marks the first meeting between the Bulls and Hawks since Jimmy Butler hit a game-winning three in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, leading Stacey King to call him “Jimmy Jordan.” The Bulls advanced to the Finals and… oh, whoops, that was just a preseason game.

Funny thing is, at this point in the season, the idea of a Bulls-Hawks Eastern Conference Finals isn’t that crazy. Cleveland, Toronto and Washington will all have their say in that, but the Hawks just came off of a nine game winning streak and the Bulls have won three in a row themselves, with blowouts over also-rans and their first quality home win over Portland.

Just as the absence of Derrick Rose vs. Chris Paul matchups is to be lamented, so is the nearly two years it’s been since Joakim Noah and Al Horford, the pillars of the back-to-back Florida champs, have squared off. Both have had trouble staying healthy, Noah with various nagging conditions to his legs, ankles and feet, Horford with multiple pectoral tears. That stretch continues as Noah again sits due to his persisting ankle injury.

After relatively good health last year, Rose’s meniscus aside, Chicago can’t catch a break this year. That bad luck continued when supposedly minor knee discomfort turned into surgery for rookie Doug McDermott. The team has maintained their usual “everything is fine” mantra, but no knee surgery is a positive one, especially for a rookie who has thus far played poorly and failed to solidify his role in the rotation.

In McDermott’s absence, Tom Thibodeau has predictably declined to expand his rotation. This is an eight man rotation, at least until Noah returns. Rather than give Tony Snell regular minutes in the first half, Mike Dunleavy and Kirk Hinrich will just soak up the few minutes McDermott was seeing. That’s not a bad thing in the short-term as Dunleavy has played particularly well as of late.

After trade rumors in the offseason, Dunleavy looks much more comfortable in his second year on the team, giving the Bulls their best threat from long range since Kyle Korver, who they’ll face off against tonight. Korver has somehow gotten even better with the Hawks and in his 30’s. He currently sits at 55% from three, an unfathomable figure, and surely one Thibs is aware of and prepared for.

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Shooting the Bull is back! Apologies for the three-week hiatus, but we have a new podcast for you. It’s shorter than usual, because we’ve determined that 90 minute podcasts are a touch impractical, but we think you’ll still enjoy it. This episode features Robby Kalland of Hawks.com and Hardwood Paroxysm. We discussed the race for the last spot in the East and why both of us have trouble watching the NCAA Tournament and how to make college basketball better.

One quick note: I mention at the beginning of the podcast that it wasn’t snowing in East Lansing, but I found out shortly after we finished recording that it was, in fact, snowing and I just hadn’t noticed. Michigan, ladies and gentlemen!

Anyway, if you want to check out previous episodes of Shooting the Bull, you can find them all here. Enjoy.

The post Shooting the Bull, a Chicago Bulls podcast: Episode IV appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Today is Joakim Noah’s 29th birthday and he couldn’t ask for a better present, on or off the court, with the Bulls taking a trip to Atlanta to face what’s left of the Hawks.

The Hawks have turned into what the Bulls were supposed to be: a team too broken to compete. Already having lost Al Horford for the season, somehow they are now without All-Star Paul Millsap and Carlos Boozer doppelganger Pero Antic, as well as Gustavo Ayon. That leaves them with just former Bull Elton Brand, Mike Scott and DeMarre Carroll up front, unless Bull-for-a-minute Dexter Pittman finds himself getting floor time.

Atlanta will lean on Jeff Teague and Lou Williams to create for their offense, and depend on Kyle Korver and Scott to space the floor. Scott is the type of stretch four that can take advantage of Chicago’s defensive system, but without Millsap to draw attention, the Bulls will likely key in on him a little more than usual tonight.

Both teams snapped streaks in their last game, with the Bulls losing their five game winning streak in Miami and the Hawks snapping their eight game skid at home over the Knicks. They managed to play small against New York, but that tactic will not work against the Bulls. In their two meetings so far this season, Chicago has won both by dominating the boards by margins of 52-43 and 57-28, and the Hawks had Millsap in both of those contests.

As for the Bulls, they are not devoid of injuries, as Jimmy Butler looks likely to miss a second game with his ailing rib. That leaves D.J. Augustin, Mike Dunleavy, Kirk Hinrich and Tony Snell all looking at 35ish minutes, unless the frontcourt is so dominant that this one turns into a laugher.

I somewhat expect that not only because of the mismatch down low, but also because of how displeased Noah was after their loss to Miami. Chicago lost that game because their offense was as bad as the pre-Augustin days, which makes sense considering D.J. was 0-10 from the field. However, Noah felt like his team didn’t fight hard enough and that they lacked intensity. Whenever Noah and Thibs perceive a lack of fight, the Bulls almost always come out swinging the next chance they get.

The post Bulls at Hawks Preview: A Birthday Gift for Jo appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

vpickering | Flickr

With the Chicago Bulls posting a commanding 100-85 win over the Atlanta Hawks last night, it would be easy to get carried away and start talking about the playoffs. The Bulls, after all, now sit fourth in the moribund east, right behind the Toronto Raptors. And that’s fine, so long as you understand that any first-round win — a real possibility, since this is the East — would lead directly to a major butt-kicking at the hands of either the Indiana Pacers or the Miami Heat.

But that’s a separate issue. For now, let’s stick to last night’s game. I think the thing we learned is that making a bunch of shots and rebounding pretty much everything in sight is a good formula for winning.

The Bulls, uncharacteristically, shot 50.6 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. They were also just 6/13 at the foul line, but considering they’d made their previous 34 attempts coming into the game, that’s probably just regression to the mean. Anyway, when you do that and also snag 57 rebounds as a team (17 offensive), you’re going to win a lot of games.

In particular, Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler were the driving force behind the win. Joakim, of course, slapped up a triple-double with 19/16/11 to go with 3 blocks. Taj had possibly his best game of the year, putting up 24/12/5 on 12/19 from the field. Jimmy had just 12 points on 5/9 shooting, but he added 13 rebounds, 5 of them offensive. Those three by themselves had 13 more total rebounds than the entire Hawks’ team (41 to 28), and 10 more offensive rebounds (15 to 5). That’s pretty good.

There’s really not much else to say, other than that Taj obviously should be starting, even when Carlos Boozer comes back. Tom Thibodeau probably won’t do it, but he should.

Anyway, that’s all I got. The Bulls are off tonight before they host the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday in the final game before the all-star break.

The post Chicago Bulls 100, Atlanta Hawks 85: What did we learn? appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

First off: #OperationTank is no more. The Bulls have now won 5 of 7, which despite the hole they dug themselves and the endless amount of injuries they suffered, has them right back in the sixth seed in the East. After their thrashing at the hands of the Rockets, I noted the Bulls had a good chance to tank, especially with Brooklyn, Cleveland and New York all showing signs of life. Since then, Brooklyn lost Brook Lopez for the year,  Cleveland found itself playing without an injured Kyrie Irving and a suspended Andrew Bynum, and the Knicks continued to do whatever it is that the Knicks do. In addition, the upstart Bobcats have dropped five games in a row. Barring another crazy cavalcade of injuries, not only will the Bulls make the playoffs, they may earn homecourt in the first round.

Now to the game, which, aside from the victory over Miami, was probably the most enjoyable Bulls game since that fateful night in Portland. Instead of the usual grind-it-out slugfest, Chicago ended up in a free-flowing up and down game with the Hawks. Now, a lot of that was due to turnovers and sloppy passes, but there was also some good ball movement and the Bulls did a good job getting out in transition. Chicago got out to a small lead and maintained it throughout the first half, but Atlanta cut it to two after finding (who else?) Kyle Korver wide open in the corner for three. However, Luol Deng countered by hitting the halfcourt shot seen above and the Bulls led by five at the break. After a rather aesthetically brutal third quarter, Chicago held on by the hair on their chinny chin chin, as the game often felt in doubt but they persevered, largely thanks to some huge plays by Taj Gibson, who started in Carlos Boozer’s absence. D.J. Augustin, who had yet another good game, fed Taj at just the right time on a two-on-one break to set up a monster dunk. Gibson got another slam thanks to a nice lob pass from Joakim Noah, who delivered another strong all-around game. On the defensive end, Gibson intercepted an Atlanta lob and stonewalled Jeff Teague on a crunch-time possession despite being isolated alone on the wing with him.

This game had so many more bright spots that going to bullet form feels appropriate:

-As noted in the game preview, with Taj already in the game having started, Tom Thibodeau did indeed go small to compensate for his bench minutes. In the second quarter Deng played power forward and in the fourth, Chicago deployed all three of their wings other than Deng, as Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy and Tony Snell shared the floor. One game is obviously small sample size theater, but Taj and small lineups are much more appealing than Boozer and Taj lineups. While that’s unlikely this year, it is a nice preview of what might be in store for next season.

-Speaking of Dunleavy, he continues to pay dividends and make the more patient Bulls fans look smart. Many of us noted he would need time to get integrated, as new additions in the past like Marco Belinelli have needed a similar adjustment time. While the amount of midrange jumpers Dunleavy takes can be a little irksome, his 11 fourth points and 20 overall were huge tonight.

-Even the more maligned members of the team made big contributions tonight. Kirk Hinrich, more animated than usual, actually hit a couple shots, and despite leaving for a while with an injury, returned and played some pretty solid defense. Also, Nazr Mohammed in an eight minute first half stint delivered five points, four rebounds, an assist and a nice block on a midrange Jeff Teague baseline fadeaway. That might raise a couple questioning eyebrows, but Thibs wouldn’t let him relieve Noah for over eight minutes if he hadn’t played well.

-Six Bulls scored in double figures, while only four Hawks did so, and their two leading scorers, Teague and Paul Millsap who each tallied 16 points, were just 12-34 from the floor and 0-7 from three. Also, Korver was just 2-7 from behind the line.

-Chicago sometimes seems allergic to the three point line, and while they were only 1-8 in the second half, they went 5-9 in the first on 1-2 each from Butler, Hinrich, Dunleavy and Augustin, along with the halfcourt heave by Deng. Progress!

-It looked like Butler was going to be subjected to playing the entire second half, but Thibodeau gave him a rest with about seven minutes left and didn’t put him back in until a little less than two minutes remained. Progress!

-As David Vertsberger (@_verts), noted on Twitter, for the first time since 2009, Luol Deng played less than 30 minutes in back-to-back games. YES WE CAN!

-Again, the Bulls have won 5 of 7, and after a couple days to recover for a home tilt against the shockingly-good Suns, their upcoming opponents: Bucks, Bobcats, Wizards, Magic, Wizards, Sixers, Lakers, Cavs, Clippers without Chris Paul, Bobcats, Wolves before a six game Western road trip. If the Bulls are to make a legitimate playoff push, they couldn’t ask for a better slate for the rest of the month.

The post Bulls Riding High After Home Win Over Hawks appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

If two Eastern Conference teams not named Miami or Indiana play while an NFL playoff game is on, does it make a sound?

Either way, tonight the Bulls play host to the Atlanta Hawks, who after another pectoral injury to Al Horford are now forced to face a second recent season without their best player, a feeling the Bulls know all too well. Speaking of injuries, just as the Bulls got their normal crew back together in the lineup, Carlos Boozer will miss his first game of the season with a knee injury. That means we’ll see a Hinrich-Butler-Deng-Gibson-Noah starting lineup and likely heavy minutes for that group, as Gibson starting means Tom Thibodeau won’t be able to stagger his big man minutes as he usually does. Unless Taj plays all 48 (don’t rule it out…), either Erik Murphy will see rotation minutes or Thibs will resort to a tactic he rarely deploys: going small with Deng at power forward.

This the third of four consecutive home games for Chicago, with only a road game in the Bulls-friendly confines of Milwaukee before another pair of home games. Meanwhile, Atlanta played last night at home and lost a heartbreaker, giving up a last second three pointer to Andre Iguodala and falling by a single point to the red-hot Warriors. The Hawks started out 2-0 on second legs of a back-to-back, but have gone 0-5 since. The last three losses have come in Washington, New York and Boston, all teams with similar resumés as Chicago, so even without Boozer, this looks to be a very winnable game for the Bulls against Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and company.

The matchup that will decide this game though is between players traded for each other: Atlanta’s record-setting shooter Kyle Korver against the Bulls’ Traded Player Exception. Sigh. Enjoy the game everybody, whichever one it may be.

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It’s safe to say the Bulls have had an up and down season.

They have the one of the best road records in the league (10-5) but are barely above .500 at home (11-10).

They’ve earned impressive wins over the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat (on the road). They’re also 3-0 versus the New York Knicks, including two wins in Madison Square Garden. But they also have a mysterious collection of losses to teams like the Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Hornets and Phoenix Suns.

Take the previous two games: A fantastic win in New York followed immediately by a blowout loss at home to a Phoenix team that is spiraling hopelessly downward.

Watching the Bulls has become an adventure. Like running through a mine field win your eyes closed. Either you experience the ecstasy of escape or you get blown up. One or the other. And you never know which it’s going to be.

Take last night’s game. The Hawks arrived in Chicago with a 21-15 record. A tough game was expected, especially considering the Bulls’ lackluster home record.

The game wasn’t tough. It was an ugly blowout of a hapless opponent and one of the greatest defensive performances in franchise history.

The Hawks shot 29.3 percent from the field. According to Hoopdata, they shot 12-for-27 at the rim (44.5 percent), 2-for-8 from 3-9 feet (25.0 percent), 2-for-6 from 10-15 feet (33.4 percent), 6-for-24 from 16-23 feet (25.0 percent) and 2-for-14 from three-point range (14.3 percent). According to Basketball-Reference, the Hawks scored at a dismal rate of 66.1 points per 100 possessions. They also committed 15 turnovers, had 13 shots blocked, and got outrebounded 59-39.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, Atlanta’s 58 points were the second fewest Chicago has allowed since the inception of the shot clock in 1954-55. The only time a team scored fewer points against the Bulls was when the Celtics managed only 57 points…in 1955.

In the second quarter, the Hawks shot 2-for-21 and scored only 5 points. That ties them for the third-lowest one-quarter output in league history during the shot clock era. The only worse one-quarter performances include the following:

The Cleveland Cavaliers scored only 4 points on 2-for-19 shooting in the second quarter of an 87-72 loss to the Celtics on November 28, 2000.

The Toronto Raptors also scored only 4 points — this time on 2-for-16 shooting — in the second quarter of an 86-60 loss to the Wizards on November 7, 2003. This happened despite the presence of All-Star Vince Carter.

The Los Angeles Clippers scored only 3 points in the second quarter of a 95-68 loss to the Lakers on December 14, 1999.

Moving on.

The Hawks scored only 20 points in the first half. ESPN Stats and Information reports that the NBA record for fewest points in a first half is 19. This lofty record was set by the Clippers against the Lakers in the game mentioned above. The fewest in either half is 16, a record set by the Hornets during the second half of an 89-67 loss to the Clippers on March 1, 2006. The Hornets accomplished this feat by scoring 8 points (4-for-20) in the third quarter and 8 points again (1-for-14) in the fourth.

Is that enough historical perspective for you?

You could argue the ball got rolling in the first quarter when the Bulls held the Hawks to 6-for-18 shooting and outscored them 26-15. But as ESPNChicago’s Nick Friedell reports, this blowout began Monday morning at the Berto Center.

Said Taj Gibson: “As soon as he called us (out) in the walk-through and his face, his tension, how he was just looking everybody in the eye just raging. He was raging this morning. He basically said it was his job to really focus and get us better. And he said that he felt that he’s been slipping because he understands that we need to play harder, we need to work harder, because every game in this league is tough to win. He really dug into guys. He looked at everybody straight eye to eye and guys understood that. Nobody was joking around in here today. Everybody was serious faced and everybody knew what we needed to do today.

“It was crazy how he was yelling at us with so much passion. And understanding what it takes to be the best. He said the East is so crazy, you can be high one moment and lose the next couple of games. And we understand that we need to stay on a high pace because we really need to do better because we don’t have Derrick [Rose] right now. We don’t have our superstar that helps us out in the fourth quarter, especially when we’re down a lot of points late. We have to push and understand that we need to help each other and get better.”

Added Joakim Noah: “Early this morning, Tibs was going crazy on us at shootaround. Just waking up early in the morning and having Tibs just screaming at you and screaming at you and screaming at you, we didn’t want that to happen to us again. We were ready for this one. We had the right mindset, played with the edge and we rebounded the ball really well. Everyone came in and stepped up.”

They sure did. The Hawks trailed by as many as 44 points and never have a chance.

Said Atlanta coach Larry Drew: “This was very, very embarrassing. From where we were as a team to where we’re at right now, we have lost all sense of team on both ends of the floor. And why that’s happened I really can’t put my finger on it.”

The Bulls didn’t shoot well (41.8 percent), but they knocked down 43 percent of their threes (6-for-14), earned 33 free throws, scored 44 points in the paint and scored at a rate of 110.5 points per 100 possessions.

Carlos Boozer (20 points, 7-for-14, 13 rebounds) and Luol Deng (18 points, 7-for-9, 2 steals) did most of the heavy lifting on offense. Noah was only 2-for-11 from the field but ripped down a game-high 16 rebounds. Gibson came off the bench to contribute 8 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

But this game was all about the defense.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart.

The post Game Recap: Bulls 97, Hawks 58 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

In the NBA playoffs, thanks to the best-of-seven series, the better basketball team usually wins.

That’s what happened last night.

While it’s certainly true the Bulls haven’t always played up to their potential this postseason, they did it on the road in Game 6, blowing out the Hawks in their own arena. There were some crazy numbers in this one. Like Chicago’s 53.2 percent shooting. If you subtract their 3-for-13 effort from beyond the arc, the Bulls converted 59 percent of their two-pointers. And they registered 34 assists on their 41 made baskets.

That’s pretty incredible.

The Chicago D came through yet again, holding Atlanta to 36.5 percent from the field and only 1-for-11 from three-point range. Al Horford (2-for-10) and Jamal Crawford (also 2-for-10) were non-factors, and Joe “The 120 Million Dollar Man” Johnson managed only 19 points on 18 shots and committed a game-high 4 turnovers.

Said Derrick Rose: “If anything, our defense won this game.”

Added Crawford: “After Game 1, they made me and Joe’s life a living hell.”

That’s what this team does. And credit Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau for remembering the Bench Mob in this series. For whatever reason, Thibs was reluctant to play the reserves much in the first round. The bench played a much bigger role in this series and it made a difference. Particularly because the Hawks — who were without Kirk Hinrich — don’t get much production outside of the starting unit.

Said Horford: “What goes underrated about them is the depth of their team. They just wear on you. They just kept coming, kept coming every game. It seemed like their starters were fresh.”

Carlos Boozer sure looked fresh. He went 10-for-16 from the field (and 7-for-10 on jumpers) to finish with 23 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. The sigh of relief from Bulls fans after Boozer’s big night probably altered weather patterns across the globe.

Said Booz: “D-Rose gets so much attention. The 15-footer was open for me. I shot it.”

Speaking of Rose, he attempted his fewest field goal attempts of the postseason (14) and finished with his second-lowest playoff point total (19), but he dished out 12 assists (to only 3 turnovers) and finished with a game-high plus-minus score of +24.

It was just a precision game for the Bulls. They did whatever they wanted whenever they wanted to do it. But what about Atlanta? I mean, the Hawks didn’t just play poorly. They looked beaten from the opening tip.

Jeff Fogel of Hoopdata writes: “Atlanta committed only 12 personal fouls on the night. TWELVE! That means Chicago was getting their looks without drawing contact. As passive as it gets.”

And:

“Atlanta let the Bulls put on a Globetrotter’s passing clinic, as 35 of Chicago’s 41 baskets were assisted. So, it wasn’t a case of Chicago taking turns driving straight to the basket for layups. It was pass-pass-pass open look. Half-hearted rotations AND not hitting anybody from the Hawks.”

And:

“While trailing most of the second half by double digits, Atlanta still played incredibly slow on offense. No sense of urgency. No ‘we’ve got to get back into this thing’ mentality. Patiently work for a shot to see if you can cut a 16-point deficit to 14…then go back and move around slowly on defense.”

It’s hard to say what happened. The Hawks were playing pretty spirited basketball through the first five games. Their collective will seemed to break during the fourth quarter of Game 5. Remember: Their starters were logging nearly 40 minutes per night against a grueling defensive team. Like Horford said, the Bulls’ depth wore them down.

Like I said, the better team usually wins.

There’s not much more to say than that, is there? The Bulls, simply put, thoroughly outplayed the Hawks in every conceivable way. They did what they were supposed to do — what everybody thought they should do — and now they will face the Miami Heat for a chance to go to the NBA Finals.

Said Rose: “It’s going to be fun. It’s going to definitely be fun.”

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

The post Round 2 Game 6: Bulls 93, Hawks 73 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Atlanta:
Jeff Teague: 21 points (8-11), 7 assists

Overview:
Closing. That’s what Chicago did in the fourth quarter of game five. That is what they can do tonight—close out Atlanta and reach the Eastern Conference Finals.

Chicago started and finished strong in game five, but it wasn’t pretty in between that (those pesky second and third quarters). The Bulls started the first quarter hot and held an eleven point lead after one. Then after letting Atlanta back in the game in the second and third quarter, and actually giving the Hawks the lead at points, Chicago started the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run. Their defense made sure the Hawks wouldn’t be coming back.

If someone looked at the box score, they wouldn’t be able to tell how much the bench meant in this game.

Omer Asik: 20 minutes, zero points, 4 rebounds, 1 block
Taj Gibson: 20 minutes, 11 points (5-5 shooting), 2 rebounds, 2 assists
RonnieBrewer: 21 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals

Those are nice numbers, but they aren’t great (with the exception of Gibson’s perfect shooting from the field, which was, well by definition, perfect). But those three guys, along with Rose and Deng, won the game for Chicago. The Bulls had a one point lead going into the fourth, and ended the game up 12.

It goes back to the rotation, which was such an important part of the regular season. And credit must be given to Thibodeau, for sticking with the hot hands.

“We’ve basically done that all year,” Thibodeau said. “When one group gets going, we’ll ride them a little bit longer. It just happened to be at the end of the game. We’ve relied on everybody.”

Joakim Noah (zero points) and Carlos Boozer (4-11 from the field) made it a little easier on Thibs, but it is still a decision that leaves him open for criticism. If the Hawks had come back, there would have been questions about why Chicago’s best players weren’t in during crunch time.

It just shows the trust this team has; players trust coaches, coaches trust players, and the players trust each other. Rose kept feeding the hot hand, Gibson, for 11 points in the fourth. Rose added eleven of his own, and the Bulls closed the game extremely well.

Chicago went back to what got them the best record in the regular season, and it felt good. In the fourth, Chicago’s defense was at its best. Instead of having a liability on the court in Kyle Korver, they played Ronnie Brewer instead; a very solid defender.

Brewer had two steals, and Chicago’s fourth quarter defense didn’t allow Atlanta anything easy. Or anything at all really. The Hawks shot 5-16 from the field in the fourth and turned the ball over five times. Atlanta scored only 15 points in the period. Game over.

Atlanta loves to go to their isolation offense, especially to Joe Johnson, and according to ESPN Stats and Information, Chicago has gotten a lot better at defending it. In game one, Johnson was 5-8 (62.5 percent) in iso. Since then, he is 9-26 (34 percent), including going 3-8 in game five. On other plays, Johnson is shooting 60.6 percent (20-33), so clearly it’s the Bulls defense holding him back on the isos. If defense wins championships, like the saying goes, then I like Chicago’s chances.

If there is one problem with Chicago’s defense, it is how there is a Jeff Teague sized hole in it. Teague had another good night, going for 21 points (8-11) and seven assists. There were a few times that Teague got into the lane way too easily. Chicago has to figure out how to stop these drives; otherwise the ship may go down, not necessarily in this series but in the next (if they make it there). But for as good as Teague played, he still recorded a plus/minus of -12.

After tonight, Chicago’s next game is in the United Center. The Bulls, and their fans, are just hoping that game is against the Heat.

Deng it!
In the five games so far in the Atlanta series, Luol Deng is shooting just 12.5 percent from three. He went 0-4 in game five and is 2-16 for the series. This comes after Lu shot 40.9 percent in the Indiana series and 34.5 percent in the regular season. Deng will need to start hitting from the outside to keep his defender honest on drives by Rose, and to make it easier for him to make drives of his own.

History:
According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Bulls are 12-1 all-time in a best-of-seven series when leading 3-2. Chicago’s only loss in that situation was to the Warriors in the 1975 Conference Finals. And in NBA history, when a team leads 3-2, they go on to win the series 85.5 percent of the time.

Josh, back up:
In this series, Josh Smith is shooting 60 percent (21-35) from within five feet. He is shooting just 10.3 percent (3-29) from ten feet and beyond. (This stat and others in the post came from ESPN Stats and Information).

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.

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