LVP: Joe Johnson is making $19.7 million this season. In a Game 7, he went 2-14 from the field, including 1-9 from three and tallied six points. Marquis Teague nearly matched his output.

X-factor: The Nets grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, which is not good at all for the Bulls. But Brooklyn converted those boards into just 16 second chance points. The Bulls scored 20 second chance points on 13 offensive rebounds. When Chicago got the opportunity they took it, while the Nets failed to take advantage. That could be said for much of this series.

Defining moment: Withfive minutes left in the game,Joakim Noah grabbed an offensive rebound off of a miss from Nate Robinson. Noah then dished it to Robinson who found Marco Belinelli for a triple to put the Bulls up ten. Belinelli did a little dance and the Nets would never get closer than six the rest of the way.

That was… “Bulls-like”: The Bulls had no right to be in this series. They had injuries piling up and there was more talk about one guy not playing than the 12 guys that were. They could have quit. But Tom Thibodeau wouldn’t allow that. Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Nate Robinson and the others wouldn’t allow that. This team isn’t the best offense, or the most exciting, but they couldn’t care about that. They go out and fight every night and that’s something that should be respected. Noah said it best after the game:“I’m just so proud of this team.”

The Bulls play Miami in the second round starting Monday night.

The post Quick Reaction: Bulls 99, Nets 93 (Game 7) appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

X factor: In a game that bodies were at a premium, the Bulls were in foul trouble for much of it. Both Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson fouled out, which meant more minutes for Noah as Thibs shuffled the already short rotation. Those fouls also gave the Nets a 33-18 advantage in free throw attempts.

Defining moment: The shot of Nate Robinson throwing up into a trash can during a timeout. Robinson played 42 minutes while fighting off an illness, scoring 18 points and dishing four assists, but he wasn’t the only guy fighting through pain.

That was…gutsy: The Bulls had no right being in this game with Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Derrick Rose out, but there they were within reach at the end of Game 6. I have grown very tired of the “moral victories” that Chicago has been racking up this season, but tonight was a great effort and the guys on the court deserve a ton of credit for their fight. Unfortunately that effort does nothing in the end except give the Nets something to think about going into Game 7.

The post Quick Reaction: Nets 95, Bulls 92 (Game 6) appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Fighting through injury Joakim Noah was the Bulls’ MVP once again, a spot he held down for most of the year. Nazr Mohammed stepped up, Kirk Hinrich’s defense was much improved and Rip Hamilton didn’t see the floor. Plus, nearly everything that worked for Brooklyn in Game 1, failed them in Game 2.

First, they couldn’t hit at the rim. After shooting 22-27 at the basket in the opening game of the series, Brooklyn struggled from in close, shooting 12-26. Brook Lopez was 2-6, Gerald Wallace was 1-5 and Kris Humphries was 1-3 at the bucket. The Bulls were contesting everything in close, and that goes for everyone from Joakim Noah to Nazr Mohammed to Luol Deng to Jimmy Butler.

Chicago also shut down Brooklyn’s role players. Wallace was 5-7 in Game 1 for 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks. In Game 2 he had just two points, on 1-7 shooting and grabbed three boards. That wasn’t necessarily the most surprising regression, considering Wallace has played poorly this season. And while Deng didn’t have a great shooting game (7-17 FG, 15 points), he didn’t get outplayed by Wallace like he did in the opening contest (ten rebounds, four assists, two blocks).

Back to the Nets role players, after combining for 26 points on 12-19 shooting, C.J. Watson and Andray Blatche struggled a little on Monday, hitting 8-18 from the field for 18 points.

The Bulls are playing without their star, and with their second best player hindered by plantar fasciitis. They need their role players to out-play Brooklyn’s. Butler needs to slow Joe Johnson. Deng clearly needs to outplay Wallace. Boozer, who had a down night with just 13 points, needs to control the boards against Reggie Evans and score on the other end. Brook Lopez and Deron Williams are almost always going to get their points, but the Bulls should win the rest of the battles.

I say “almost always going to get their points,” because both Williams and Lopez had trouble in Game 2. Deron Williams had an awful game, hitting just a single shot from the floor (1-9) and finishing in single digits (eight points). I’d love to say this was all the Bulls’ defense, but that wasn’t the whole story. Hinrich did a good job defending Williams, but Deron missed some open shots. (The same can be said of Joe Johnson who went 6-18.) What the Bulls did do, was keep Williams away from the basket. In Game 1, Deron went 4-4 at the rim and 3-4 from 3-9 feet. In Game 2, he was 0-1 at the rim and 1-2 from 3-9 feet. Hinrich and good help defense are to credit for Williams being unable to get anything going inside.

And although Brook Lopez was still solid he did most of his damage from outside. That’s exactly where the Bulls want him to work. Lopez went 2-6 at the rim and 3-5 from 16-23 feet. Lopez can hit that long two, but the Bulls will give it to him rather than getting roasted in the paint again. Lopez hit all three of those jumpers in the last 4:41 of the second quarter. The Bulls played it the same every time. Noah, who was a step slow, didn’t contest as he usually would have, but the bottom line is that if Lopez wins the series with that shot, the Bulls will live with it. Brook shot 37 percent from 16-23 feet this season.

Chicago also benefited from Brooklyn shooting 2-of-19 in the third quarter and missing their last 10 shots in the frame. That helped the Bulls turn a one-point halftime lead into a 12-point advantage going into the fourth.

Finally, the Nets went 8-10 on isolation shots in Game 1. In Game 2, they were 2-15.

Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls clearly made their adjustments after Game 1, and Game 2 was much more what I expected from this series. It was close and ugly. The Bulls defense showed up and made the Nets work. But at the same time, Williams isn’t going to have another 1-9 shooting night and Brooklyn missed an awful lot of open shots. The Bulls made their changes, especially protecting the rim, but the Nets had a pretty bad night.

In the end, Chicago did what it needed to do: it stole home-court by gutting out a win, and now needs replicate that in the United Center.

The biggest question is how well Noah will play: will it be Game 1 Jo or Game 2 Jo? Heading into the playoffs, Noah has three days of rest before the opening contest. He managed just 13 minutes in that matchup, and they weren’t very productive minutes. Then, he got two days of rest before carrying the Bulls in Game 2. Now, he is back to having three days of rest before playing in the United Center. Hopefully, the extra day of rest means Noah will have the same type of energy he did in Game 2. According to Tom Thibodeau, Noah is expected to be on the 25-minute limit once again.

And speaking of plantar fasciitis, Joe Johnson did not practice on Wednesday because of it. He is listed as a game-time decision for Game 3.

The Bulls went 24-17 in the United Center, while the Nets were 23-18 on the road.

The post Nets-Bulls Game 3 Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

MVP (Most Valuable Player): I’m going to give it to two guys who really stepped up: Joakim Noah and Nazr Mohammed. Noah tallied 11 points, ten rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 26 minutes…and all of that on one foot. Seriously, what Noah did was amazing. His 25-minute limit turned into a little 25:29, but his nine points, six rebounds (three offensive) and one block in the fourth were enormous when the Bulls were trying to hold onto the lead. Mohammed did a great job filling in for Noah when he was resting. Nazr hit 4-5 from the field for eight points. It doesn’t sound like much, but he scored more than eight points just five times during the regular season.

LVP (Least Valuable Player): Deron Williams looked like his second-half-of-the-season, former All-Star self in Game 1. In Game 2, he looked like—well I’m not sure, but I could sure get on board with it. Deron hit just 1-9 from the field, including 0-5 from three, and finished with eight points. If Nazr Mohammed is matching Deron Williams in scoring, that is the best news the Bulls can get. Joe Johnson also has a poor game, scoring 17 points on 18 shots.

Defining Moment: Fighting that plantar fasciitis, Joakim Noah made a diving save off of a Bulls’ miss and tossed it to Kirk Hinrich. Hinrich made a touch pass to Nate Robinson who drilled a three. That pushed the Bulls lead to ten (78-68) with 6:15 remaining. It was the epitome of Joakim Noah. Playing through an awful injury and still giving his all, making an important hustle play when the Bulls needed one.

X factor: The Nets shot 2-of-19 in the third quarter and missed their last 10 shots in the frame. That helped the Bulls turn a one-point halftime lead into a 12-point advantage heading into the fourth. Another important stat: Brooklyn was 14-30 at the rim in Game 2, after shooting 22-27 in the opening game (Chicago hit 20-35 at the rim Monday). The Bulls made necessary adjustments to protect the paint, and it paid off with a win.

That Was … better, but still not there: Chicago got the win, but it was far from convincing. Although the Bulls’ defense was much improved from Game 1, the Nets missed a bunch of easy shots, and as noted above, went 2-19 in a quarter. The win is all that matters, but I’m not sure Brooklyn is going to miss that many open looks in another game in this series.

The post Quick Reaction: Bulls 90, Nets 82 (Game 2) appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Overview:
Almost nothing went right for the Bulls in their opening game of the postseason and it was over before halftime. If playoff series are all about adjustments, Tom Thibodeau has a chance to show how good of a coach he is. It’ll be an uphill battle, but there are plenty of changes he can make.

Chicago got beaten in every facet of the game. Brooklyn’s stars showed up (Brook Lopez had 21 points and Deron Williams had 22), while the Bulls’ stars were sidelined (Rose), hobbled (Noah) or invisible (Deng). When Carlos Boozer leads your team in points, rebounds and assists, something has gone terribly wrong.

What I would suggest? Do everything differently—everything.

The Bulls gave up 40 points in the paint in the first half, while managing to score 35 total points. They let the Nets convert 20 of 24 shots at the rim for the game and 8 of 12 shots from 3-9 feet. That’s 28-36 inside of nine feet. The Bulls cannot allow that type of conversion if they want to win this series.

The guy who did the most damage in the paint was Brook Lopez. Brooklyn’s center was 7-8 at the rim and 7-7 from the line, meaning all 21 of his points came from those two areas. He was 0-1 from 3-9 feet and 0-5 from 16-23 feet. That shows how imperative it is for the Bulls to keep Lopez away from the basket.

Unfortunately, Lopez showed that Taj Gibson can’t guard him on the block. Lopez was too strong for Taj, leaving the only options either Boozer or Nazr Mohammed (Noah didn’t play enough minutes to be a factor). As much as the idea of playoff minutes for Nazr probably scares Bulls fans, it may be a necessity. Because if Chicago cannot find a way to make it harder for Lopez to score—preferably pushing him out and forcing him to shoot midrange jumpers instead getting buckets at the rim—then this series will be over quickly.

Stopping, or rather slowing, Lopez and Deron Williams would be nice, but the Bulls may want to focus on stopping the role players. During the regular season, Lopez scored 22.0 points per game against the Bulls. Williams added 19.8 in the four games with Chicago. So that combination averaged 42 points against the Bulls in the regular season, and scored 43 in Game 1. News flash: the Bulls didn’t lose by one point.

It was the other guys that hurt the Bulls more. C.J. Watson (OF ALL PEOPLE) went 6-8 for 14 points off the bench. Gerald Wallace woke up from his season slumber to score 14 points (5-7 FG) as well. Joe Johnson tallied four assists and four rebounds to go along with his 16 points. And Andray Blatche dropped 12. Hell, even Reggie Evans scored five points (Evans averaged 4.5 points this season).

Lopez and Williams are star players. It will be very tough to stop them. With Noah either out or a couple of steps slow, it will be even tougher to handle Lopez and protect the rim in general. But the Bulls have been doing that all season. Chicago was seventh best in the league at protecting the rim, holding teams to 63.0 percent from there. They also held opponents to 38.9 from 3-9 feet. Chicago will need to get closer to those numbers to keep this series within reach.

K.C. Johnson says that it’s possible either Marco Belinelli or Rip Hamilton may be bumped out of the rotation. I have my fingers crossed that it’s Rip. He was dreadful in game one, and considering Hamilton played just seven minutes compared to 20 for Belinelli, I’d say Thibs knows who should sit as well.

The bigger news is that Noah is apparently going to give it a go again tonight. He wasn’t good in Game 1, hobbling through 13 minutes of action in which he recorded four points and five boards. I don’t know if Joakim can do any more damage to the injury by playing on it, but at this point, in his bruised state, I’m also not sure he is doing the Bulls a ton of good. Although an injured Noah was far the Bulls only problem.

“The thing is, we’re disappointed. We played poorly and we have to change the mentality. We have to correct the mistakes,” Thibodeau said after the loss.

Usually, Thibs does a great job of correcting the Bulls errors, at least on defense, and getting them to respond and come out strong after a loss. Game 2 is when the adjustments take place and if Thibs can get the Bulls protecting the rim, Chicago can get right back in this series.

Boozer added: “We feel like we got our butts kicked, in the first half especially, but we didn’t play our best game. We all felt we can do so much more. That’s where it’s at. To a man we’ve got to do a lot better.”

The Bulls did do better in each one of the four regular season games they played against Brooklyn. They need to protect the rim, contain the role players and show that they belong in this series.

As awful as that game was—and we all know it was awful, probably one of the worst defeats under Tom Thibodeau—it still just counts as one loss. Meaning if the Bulls win in Game 2, whether by two points or 20, they are tied in the series.

The post Bulls-Nets Game 2 Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Brooklyn Injury Report:
Joe Johnson: missed Wednesday’s game (sore heel)
Gerald Wallace: missed Wednesday’s game (sore foot)

Overview:
One team can beat any other team on a given night in the NBA, and there may not be a better example of that than the Chicago Bulls. They ended Miami’s 27-game winning streak, without many of their best players. Three games later, they lost their second game this season to the Washington Wizards, with the same lineup.

Now the Wizards aren’t as bad as they have been in recent season. Or even as bad as they were to start this year, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t ugly. Whenever you get outscored by the worst offense in the league, it’s been a bad day at the office. Although when your offense is 22^nd in the league, it happens more often than one would think. In the end it was a loss to a subpar team that, with the win over the Bulls, has won eight straight at home.

Brooklyn will be on the second night of a back-to-back after blowing out Cleveland on Wednesday night. MarShon Brooks scored a career-high 27 points (12-16 FG) to go with seven assists and Deron Williams posted 24 points and eight assists.

Because it was a blowout, nobody had to log huge minutes for the Nets. Brooks was the highest with 37 minutes, with everyone else playing 27 minutes (Williams and Reggie Evans) or less.

The Nets won’t have too many tired bodies tonight, but the Bulls will after this game. Chicago has five players out for this game: Rip Hamilton, Derrick Rose, Marco Belinelli, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah. That means Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler are all but guaranteed to play at least 44 minutes. This isn’t exactly what you want to be forced into doing in the stretch run before the playoffs, but it’s exactly how the Bulls’ season is going. Or the Bulls could play the likes of Daequan Cook, Vladimir Radmanovic and Marquis Teague while getting some rest for the more important players.

“The No. 1 thing is just getting guys healthy and seeing who’s available,” Brooklyn coach P.J. Carlesimo said before Wednesday’s game. “We’ve got to get through these next couple (of games) and hopefully we can take a deep breath and get situated.”

Wait a second. Is he trying to say you don’t have to win every single regular season game? But what if the Bulls have already clinched a playoff spot and could really only fall to seventh in the Eastern Conference, which right now would matchup with the Knicks, a team Chicago has had a lot of success against this season? I guess there are other options than running people into the ground.

If the Bulls do take down the Nets, it’ll help them in the playoff chase. Chicago is sixth right now and Brooklyn is in fourth, 2.5 games ahead of the Bulls. With many of Chicago’s opponents below .500 to finish the year, it’s possible that the Bulls could get to that fourth spot in the playoffs and have home court in round one. If that were the case, the Bulls would then have to face Miami if they were to make it past the first round.

The Bulls are 2-1 against the Nets this season, with every game being decided by single digits. Boozer is averaging 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in his two games against Brooklyn this season.

But Noah, who will be out still battling that ever-present plantar fasciitis, was posting 16.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 blocks in the two contests he played against Brooklyn.

The post Bulls-Nets Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Brooklyn Injury Report:
Tornike Shengelia: out (concussion-like symptoms)
Jerry Stackhouse: missed Friday’s game (personal)

Overview:
The Bulls got back on the winning track against the lowly Sixers, but now take on four straight playoffs teams and then the Lakers, who are playing their best basketball of the season, to start the month of March.

Brooklyn is up first on the schedule, and they are half a game ahead of the Bulls in the Eastern Conference for the fifth place spot. Fifth place would match-up with the Hawks right now, while sixth place would take on the Pacers.

The first two games this season between the Nets and Bulls were both close. Chicago won the first matchup in December by one point, while the Nets took game two by a four-point margin. Both Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer sat out that Chicago loss, while Kirk Hinrich didn’t play in either and Rip Hamilton sat out the Bulls’ win. Draw whatever conclusions from those facts that you want to.

In the game Noah did play, he only had a double-double—what a down night. Marco Belinelli led the Bulls in scoring with 19, while Noah tallied 12 points, ten rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Chicago outscored Brooklyn in fast break points by a total of 19-4. The Bulls also shot 44.0 percent from the field while the Nets finished at 38.7 percent.

Noah’s defense was clearly missing in game two, and the Nets took advantage of Chicago’s small lineup inside. Brooklyn scored 56 points in the paint without Noah on the floor, after scoring 30 points in the paint in the first contest. The Nets finished at 52.0 percent from the field, led by Brook Lopez’s 20 points on 9-16 shooting.

In that second game, with Noah missing and the Bulls going small because Nazr Mohammed’s basketball skills have disappeared faster than a sandwich in his presence, the Nets shot 74 percent at the rim (17-23). In the first contest, with Noah patrolling the paint, Brooklyn finished at 40 percent at the rim (8-20).

Some scary numbers for the Bulls, even with Noah on the floor, were Brooklyn’s offensive rebounding numbers. In the game without Jo, the Nets recorded a 37.9 offensive rebound rate. Even with Noah, Brooklyn posted a 35.0 offensive rebound rate. The Bulls can’t allow the Nets to grab more than 35 percent of the available offensive rebounds and expect to win this one, especially when they recorded rates of 20.6 and 27.5 (27.5 came without Noah). Brooklyn is fourth in the league in offensive rebounding percentage (30.2), while the Bulls are third (30.4).

It’s obvious that Joakim Noah has been the Bulls’ most important player this season while they try to stay afloat, waiting to see if Derrick Rose will return this season. The Noah show was on full display in his historic game with Philadelphia.

Chicago’s win against the Sixers wasn’t too impressive. After all, it was an eleven-point victory over a team that had lost six straight entering that night. But considering where the Bulls were, any victory was welcome. And while the win wasn’t head-turning by itself, Joakim Noah was. It was the first time in the history of ever (in the NBA) that a player recorded at least 20 points, 20 rebounds, ten blocks and shot better than 65-percent from the field in a game. That has a lot of qualifiers, but a triple-double is always impressive, and any time you can join the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon, it’s a good day at the office.

Brooklyn fell to Dallas last night, as Deron Williams turned it over seven times. Williams had 24 points and just two assists with those turnovers, but he wasn’t the only Nets having trouble keeping possession. Joe Johnson, who tallied eleven points and six assists, coughed it up four times to add to the 20 turnovers for the Nets. Brooklyn out-rebounded Dallas 44-31, but let the Mavericks shoot 50 percent from the field. Gerald Wallace scored seven points, while Lopez dropped 19 points and grabbed nine boards. The Nets are 7-7 this season on the second night of back-to-backs.

The post Nets-Bulls Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Brooklyn Injury Report:
Tornike Shengelia: out (concussion-like symptoms)

Overview:
It’s now February and the Bulls have a 28-17 record, which is third in the Eastern Conference. They’ve won eight of their last ten, but enter an extremely tough portion of their schedule. Chicago’s next five games come on the road against playoff teams. After that they play the Heat and Spurs at home sprinkled between more road games.

The good news is the Bulls are probably playing their best basketball of the season, especially the bench. Over the last five games, Nate Robinson is shooting 55.2 percent from the field and tallying 18.2 points and 4.6 assists per contest. That is the very definition of “Good Nate.” Robinson scored 24 points (9-11 from the field) last time out against the Bucks, picking up a slow start for the Bulls. Nate’s always been a spark of energy, but if he continues to shoot well, he should really be playing more than Kirk Hinrich.

“I’m going back to being the old Nate,” Robinson told the Bulls’ official website. “Having fun and bringing energy and playing as hard as I can and not worrying about making mistakes and looking over my shoulder, playing as hard as I can and for as long as I can no matter if it’s 30 minutes or 30 seconds.” That could be bad, with Nate “not worrying about mistakes,” but for now it’s paying off for the Bulls.

Over that same five game period, Jimmy Butler is averaging 16.0 points and 7.8 rebounds, while shooting 56.6 percent (he did start some of those games). He’s giving Thibodeau the chance to rest Luol Deng and can play shooting guard and small forward, adding versatility to a team that needs to help at the shooting guard spot, because Rip Hamilton isn’t getting it done.

But while Butler and Robinson are playing their best ball, Marco Belinelli has been struggling. He’s averaging just 5.2 points on 32.1 percent shooting. In the month of January, he averaged only 8.0 points while shooting 36.8 percent. Marco had his best stretch as a starter, but hasn’t done much since then. He scored in double figures five times in January compared to eleven in December. He was a starter in December and got more minutes, but since he hasn’t been knocking down shots in January, Thibs has no reason to give him those minutes.

The Bulls improved to 13-6 on the road with a win over the Bucks. In addition to the bench guys named above, Joakim Noah (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Luol Deng (12 points, 13 rebounds) quietly recorded double-doubles. Taj Gibson, starting in place of the injured Carlos Boozer, established himself early in the post and finished with 14 points and nine boards.

Boozer is a game-time decision again tonight because of his hamstring injury. Honestly, Boozer matches up extremely well with the Nets, because Reggie Evans cannot play any offense. Boozer’s defensive issues wouldn’t be a problem and he could just focus on offense. But alas, since Boozington is listed as a game-time decision, it probably means that he will be out. Taj Gibson will do just fine against Evans, who hasn’t scored in his last two games. Taj will have the opportunity to roam more, helping out on other players.

Evans also unwisely awoke LeBron James before their matchup, downplaying the Heat’s title (because it came in a lockout shortened season) and LeBron’s talents. James scored 24 points and the Heat blew out the Nets, as Evans posted zero points and six boards. Brook Lopez had a solid game, tallying 21 points and seven boards. Joe Johnson scored 16 points, but went 4-15 from the field. Lopez and Johnson were the only starters to score in double figures for Brooklyn.

Brook Lopez has averaged 17.4 points and 8.4 rebounds in his ten matchups against Joakim Noah. Lopez has gotten the better of the stats, as Jo has averaged 9.2 points and 8.6 boards, but Noah is 7-3 against Lopez and the Nets.

The Nets started 12-2 under P.J. Carlesimo, but dropped three of four to end January. The loss to Miami was the first home loss under their new coach and snapped an eight-game winning streak in the Barclays Center. The Bulls went 6-1 on the road in January and still hold the NBA’s best record away from home (13-6).

The post Bulls-Nets Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Nets Injury Report:
Jerry Stackhouse: missed Friday’s game vs. Detroit (sore right knee)
Brook Lopez: played Friday vs. Detroit (foot)

Overview:
After having off since their Wednesday night win in Philadelphia, the Bulls will square off against Brooklyn, who will be playing on their second night of a back-to-back after going to double overtime with Detroit on Friday night.

For once, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng may not be the most tired guys on the court.

Gerald Wallace played 50 minutes, Joe Johnson played 52 and Deron Williams played 43, which is actually a normal night for Deng or Jo. Brook Lopez was limited last night (24 minutes) and probably won’t play tonight because of a foot injury.

In Joe Johnson’s 52nd minute of playing time, he hit a buzzer beating, long two-pointer to top the Pistons 107-105. Johnson led all scorers with 28 points (12-22 from the field) while teammate Gerald Wallace recorded a double-double of 25 points and ten rebounds. Reggie Evans failed to score in 34 minutes before fouling out, but grabbed ten boards and got two steals. Andray Blatche continued his surprisingly competent season as he dropped 16 points, while shooting 7-12.

The Nets turned it over just eleven times in the entire game. The Bulls have had just three games all season in which they turned it over eleven or fewer times. One of those was their most recent game, against the Sixers. Another was December 7th against the same Pistons team, in which they turned it over eight times. The Pistons are 28th in opponent turnover percentage.

Although the Nets held onto the ball well (so did the Pistons, who turned it over 13 times) they let Detroit run all over them. The Pistons racked up 25 fast break points. They averaged 14.1 coming into Friday’s game. Brooklyn also got outrebounded 54-43 overall, including 18-10 on the offensive glass. The Nets overcame this by shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from deep.

The Bulls will probably also be without a starter as Kirk Hinrich, who is dealing with a bruised knee, could miss the game. Being the type of coach that always informs the media, Tom Thibodeau gave tons of information on Friday on Kirk’s status. “He could (play Saturday),” Thibodeau said. “He’s a lot better today.” Either way the Bulls will surely have “more than enough to win with.”

While the Nets look to build on their last-second win over Detroit, the Bulls can continue their longest winning streak of the season tonight. Chicago topped Philadelphia on Wednesday night behind another big night from Joakim Noah (21 points, seven rebounds, five assists). Deng tallied a double-double (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Marco Belinelli (16) and Nate Robinson (14) both scored in double figures. The only starter not to reach double digits was Carlos Boozer, who finished with just five points on 1-6 shooting.

Philly shot better than the Bulls (45.1 percent to 43.6), outrebounded the Bulls (44-39) and dominated the paint (44-32), but Thibodeau’s squad still found a way to win. That way was the free throw line. They hit 24-26 from the charity stripe, while Philly hit just five of eleven. That’s 19 more points from the line for Chicago. Those 26 free throws are a good sign that the Bulls were attacking the basket, rather than settling for jumpers, which is their usual modus operandi.

The post Nets-Bulls Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

One bit of very good news is that the Bulls won’t be tempted to overpay for Joe Johnson in a “Plan B, C, or D” scenario. The Hawks have made sure of that: “The Atlanta Hawks have offered free agent Joe Johnson a maximum six-year contract worth $119 million, and sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard that Johnson is all but sure to accept.”

I give it, oh, about a year before the Hawks start bitterly regretting that move. Maybe less. Okay, probably less.

Meanwhile, a five-year, $80 million deal will apparently keep Rudy Gay in Memphis. Another terrible deal in which an overrated player will be criminally overpaid…as perfectly explained by Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie.

But better Gay is overpaid by the Grizzlies than the Bulls, right?

In other “making it rain” news, Amir Johnson is getting $34 million from the Toronto Raptors, Channing Frye is getting $30 million from the Phoenix Suns, and Darko Milicic is getting $20 million from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That wasn’t a typo: $20 million for Darko Milicic. It’s like a free agent feeding frenzy out there.

As for the Bulls…

Meeting with Dwyane Wade? Check.

Meeting with Carlos Boozer? Also check.

Meeting with Chris Bosh? It’s happening today. (In addition to a meeting with David Lee, for what it’s worth.)

Meeting with LeBron James? It’s supposed to happen on Saturday…and LeBron expects to make his decision by Monday.

Meeting with Amar’e Stoudemire? It’s going to happen on Tuesday — if necessary — according to a tweet from Phoenix radio host John Gambadoro.

The big namers are doing what they have to do: They aren’t showing their hands. There’s no indication whatsoever what LeBron, D-Wade or Bosh are going to do. Ditto for Boozer and Stoudemire (although their names aren’t quite as big as the first three). They say no news is good news. But no news is making a lot of Chicago fans nervous.

Why the nerves? Maybe that’s best explained by a rant from By The Horns reader AK Dave (although he made this comment on Basketbawful):

But jeez, I mean, the Bulls have had some excuse or another every year ever since MJ left.

“The team is rebuilding in the wake of Jordan leaving- give them a few years!”

“The team is young but Kirk/Deng/Nocioni are going to be All-Stars — give them a little time!”

“The team is injured — wait till next year!”

“The team is adjusting to its newly acquired free agents and hasn’t fully integrated them yet — but wait until next year!”

“The coach sucks and players aren’t living up to expectations and the injury bug has bitten and the GM has punched the coach in the face and everyone is playing out-of-position and the Cavs have LeBron… but JUST WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!”

I’m just saying. I am a Bulls fan, but the excuses are getting old. And these are issues that EVERY team in the NBA deals with on some level. But its been 12 years since MJ left, and its really time for the Bulls to put up or shut up.

It’s true. Bulls fans have been “waiting until next year” ever since Jordan entered his second retirement. That mantra may be chicken soup for the Cubs fan’s soul, but the souls of Bulls fans everywhere is starting to starve out.

Which is making this wait really difficult.

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