The Spurs lost in Phoenix.

The Bulls have the best record in the league.

And homecourt advantage in every possible playoff series.

They did it by winning 21 of their last 23 games. That stretch began with back-to-back road wins in Orlando and Miami. It included wins over playoff teams like Atlanta (twice), New Orleans, New York and Memphis. It included a total of 11 road victories. It included a big-time statement game against the Celtics in Chicago.

And, finally, it included a regular season finale in which coach Tom Thibodeau finally pulled his foot off the accelerator a bit. It wasn’t a full stop. But Joakim Noah played only 23 minutes. Carlos Boozer played 25. Derrick Rose played 30. And, naturally, Luol Deng logged a team-high 31.

The Bench Mob came through by winning the fourth quarter 29-24 and closing the game out down the stretch. Chicago’s bench outscored their counterparts 50-26. Check the box scoreand pay close attention to the plus-minus stats. The second unit was the best unit last night. Of course, it didn’t seem like the starters were going full tilt, and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out Thibs told them to go out and play good basketball but not to do anything crazy (i.e., don’t get hurt). What I’m saying is: Boozer, Deng, Noah and Rose didn’t play with their usual edge.

The Bench Mob did, though, and you can tell this group takes real pride in their role.

And so the Bulls are the regular season win-loss champions.

It’s astounding.

I’ve mentioned this before: It was a blow to the organization and the fans when management whiffed on last summer’s biggest free agents. When LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to take their talents to South Beach and play alongside Dwyane Wade, it felt like years of cap management and planning had been flushed down a particularly filthy toilet.

Carlos Boozer? Undersized and injury prone. C.J. Watson, Keith Bogans, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer? Castoffs and second-tier roleplayers. Omer Asik? A pencil-thin rookie who might be years from contributing at the NBA level. Kurt Thomas? More ancient than the Dead Sea Scrolls.

That’s what it felt like. I figured this team’s ceiling was finishing with 50-ish wins and winning the Central Division. And that was before Carlos Boozer tripped over his athletic bag.

Nobody ever could have realized that Rasual Butler would hit a go-ahead three in the final minute of the season’s final game to help the Bulls wrap up the league’s best record. Or that the final and most satisfying win would be secured by a blocked shot by Big Sexy.

Said Rose: “I’m happy, I’m definitely happy. I wouldn’t like to be on a losing team, but what’s the point of celebrating now when you can get knocked out in the playoffs?”

I wouldn’t say Derrick is a wet blanket exactly. But his words are a reminder that one dream-like journey has come to an end and another one is going to begin on Saturday against the Indiana Pacers.

One last note: For the season, the Bulls finished first in both John Hollinger’s Defensive Efficiency (97.3) and Basketball-Reference’s Defensive Rating (100.3). The finished 12th in Hollinger’s Offensive Efficiency (105.5) and 11th in BBR’s Offensive Rating (108.3).

Their improvement on offense should be noted. The Bulls spent most of the season in the 15-20 range in those offensive categories. They made a huge jump once both Boozer and Noah were playing.

What’s more, if you check out Hollinger’s Team Statistics page, you’ll notice the Orlando Magic finished 10th in Offensive Efficiency at 105.7. So the Bulls were two-tenths of a point from finishing in the top 10. I’m just saying: Many pundits keep citing an “average” offense as a reason why the Bulls will likely fail in the playoffs. Well, go back to 2007-2008, when the Celtics finished first in Defensive Efficiency and 12th in Offensive Efficiency…and won the NBA title.

I’m not trying to make any wild predictions just yet. All I’m saying is that rumors of Chicago’s average to below-average offense has been greatly overstated. There’s every reason to believe that the Bulls would have been in the top 10 in Offensive Efficiency and Offensive Rating had Boozer and Noah remained healthy.

Guess what? They’re both reasonably healthy now.

Let the playoffs begin.

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

The post We’re Number One: Bulls 97, Nets 92 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.

New Jersey Injury Report:
Sundiata Gaines: fractured right hip (out for the season)
Kris Humphries: sprained right ankle/bruised heel (out for the season)
Damion James: sore right foot (out indefinitely)
Anthony Morrow: left knee tendinitis (out for the season)
Mario West: separated left shoulder (out for the season)
Deron Williams: right wrist surgery (out for the season)

Overview:
It’s hard to believe the season has only one night left, and the Bulls play their last game of the regular season tonight. It seems like just yesterday that the Bulls were a new team trying to mesh, Carlos Boozer was tripping over a gym bag, and fans were hoping Keith Bogans could hit open threes.

Boozington has healed since then, and then gotten injured, and then healed again. And Bogans has hit some shots…not many, but some.

Boozer’s injuries may not be too surprising, but the season the Bulls have put together is surprising. Chicago is in first place in the East, tied with San Antonio for the best record in the NBA, has an MVP candidate and a coach of the year candidate. If both the Spurs and the Bulls win, or both lose, home court advantage between them will be decided by random drawing (shouldn’t it be decided by rocks-paper-scissors? Wouldn’t that be a lot more exciting). It’s been a great year either way, and it’s almost playoff time.

But first the Bulls look to close out the season with their ninth straight win. New Jersey hasn’t had a great season, and they are probably happy to see it end. They have as many players injured as the Toon Squad near the end of Space Jam. I mean look at that injury list, it’s as long as Eddy Curry’s grocery list.

Chicago has taken two of three against the Nets this season. The Bulls defense has been stout, allowing just 83.3 points per game in the three match-ups. And while the Bulls are hot, the Nets are slumping with their injured roster. New Jersey has lost 14 of their last 16 games and has dropped four straight. They lost their last game to the Bobcats on a D.J. Augustin jumper with just a second left. Brook Lopez scored well in the game though, dropping 31 points of 12-23 shooting. In his last five games, Lopez has averaged 32.4 points and seven rebounds.

But he still doesn’t rebound well, grabbing only three in the game against Charlotte. Who were the other New Jersey players who grabbed that many boards, you ask? Well, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, Travis Outlaw and this guy, I believe.

In three games against Chicago this season, Lopez has averaged 18.3 points on 44.7 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds. This season he’s averaging 20.4 points on 49.2 percent shooting.

The big decision for the Bulls, and Coach Thibodeau, is how long to play the starters. Last night, Joakim Noah seemed to reinjure his ankle and Boozington can go down any second. The hard part is; Chicago’s bench is so important as well (although it will become less important as the starters will get more minutes in the playoffs), and Ronnie Brewer already went down with an injury on a great hustle play.

Andrew Bynum went down for the Lakers in a similar decision to play their starters. Phil Jackson said Bynum could miss a few games. The Bulls are used to playing shorthanded, but no one wants to go into the playoffs with injuries.

Some numbers from Stats LLC:
The Nets, who are allowing an average of 108.1 points on 51.8 percent shooting during a 1-10 stretch, have been outscored by an average of 10.7 points during a six-game road losing streak. New Jersey has also been outscored by 13.6 points per game during its last seven trips to Chicago, losing six. Chicago is looking for its first nine game win streak since 2005.

Playoff Game 1:
The Bulls will play at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday in the opening game of the playoffs. Their first round opponent is the Indiana Pacers.

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

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.”

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

The post A total team win: Bulls 84, Nets 73 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

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.

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

Sure, the Bulls had been winning — five in a row and 14 of their last 16 games — but there have been reasons for concern ever since Joakim Noah went down with a thumb injury. There was that loss to the Clippers in Noah’s first game on the shelf. Then there were narrow wins against sub-.500 teams (Washington, Detroit, New Jersey and Cleveland) in which the Bulls played poorly but still managed to eke out the victory.

Yes, it’s nice to win an ugly game here or there, but the Bulls were playing with fire. And when a team continues to give inferior opposition chances, that team is going to get burned.

That’s what happened last night. It’s tempting to shrug off this loss as a case of Sasha Vujacic being at the right place at the right time. But it’s not fair to say the Bulls lost on a fluke play in the final seconds.

No. The Bulls played poorly and deserved to lose. There are numbers to back this up. As I mentioned in my game preview, the Nets are one of the worst offensive teams in the league. They came into the game ranked 27th in Offensive Rating (101.2) and 28th in Effective Field Goal Percentage (46.7). Against the Bulls — who began the night ranked second in Defensive Rating — New Jersey compiled an O-Rating of 108.7 and an eFG% of 52.6.

What’s more, Chicago gave up 50 points in the paint and got outscored 21-5 on the fast break. And I’ve already discussed how important fast break points are to the team’s success.

It also didn’t help that the Bulls missed 10 of their 30 free throw attempts. Worst of all were the two freebies that Luol Deng bricked with 33.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter that could have tied the game. Again, we should have seen this coming. After all, a dirty little secret about the Bulls is that they rank 28th in the league in Free Throw Percentage (70.8). And Deng’s FT% is at a career-low 68.8.

Said Deng: “I expect myself to make those free throws. I’ve been struggling with my free throw shooting this year. But it’s something, I got to get on it. I can’t be in that position and miss those free throws.”

And while we’re discussing Chicago’s inadequacies against the Nets, we might as well bring up the fact that New Jersey played with more intensity and urgency. Take Kris Humphries. Here’s a guy who averages 8.1 PPG but burned the Bulls for 20 points on 10-for-15 shooting of the Nets bench. He also finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, including five offensive boards. Humpries was 3-for-3 on layups and 3-for-3 on dunks.

Watching Humphries fight and scrap around the rim made me really miss Noah. After all, Joakim is Chicago’s energy guy. The Bulls could have used his spark last night. Not to mention his interior defense, considering the Nets converted nearly 80 percent of their shots around the rim.

Bad defense. No fast break points. Poor free throw shooting. Lack of intensity. That’s a pretty solid formula for a loss to one of the league’s worst teams. And I haven’t even mentioned how Carlos Boozer was benched for the entire fourth quarter. What was up with that?

Said Boozer: “You got to talk to Thibs about that. That was a coaching decision.”

Replied coach Tom Thibodeau: “The big thing was we were behind big and they were zoning. And so the group that went in, playing Luol [Deng] at the 4, gave us another perimeter player. So it was more effective for us against the zone. So that’s why we did it. And when that group cut the lead down and now we were in position, they tied the game up so we just were going to finish with the group that was going well.”

Far be it from me to question Thibs. Still…can you imagine the uproar if Vinny Del Negro had benched Boozer in a loss to the Nets? Or played Deng 40 minutes on consecutive nights, especially when the first of those two nights was a blowout in Chicago’s favor.

Oh well. I guess Thibodeau has earned a little benefit of the doubt.

Still, if Thibs doesn’t addess the ongoing problems, and if the Bulls don’t stop playing down to the level of their opponents, all the good vibes that have been building up this season could go south in a hurry.

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

The post Game 34 Recap: Nets 96, Bulls 94 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.

Nets Injury Report:
Anthony Morrow: Out with a strained right hamstring
Damion Jones: Out due to right foot surgery
Jordan Farmar: Questionable with a bone bruise in right knee
Troy Murphy: Questionable with flue-like symptoms

Overview:
The Nets have the fourth-worst record in the league and the third-worst point differential (-5.9) in the Eastern Conference. They’ve lost 14 of their last 17 games, a stretch that included an eight-game losing streak and their current five-game losing streak. During their current five-game skid, the Nets have been outscored by 75 points.

The Bulls contributed to New Jersey’s recent misery with a poorly-played 90-81 win on New Year’s Eve. It was an ugly game in which Chicago shot 39 percent and got outrebounded. Fortunately for the Bulls, the Nets also shot 39 percent (including 3-for-13 from downtown) and committed 16 turnovers.

Still, Chicago will have to play better tonight than they did on the final day of 2010 if they want to win on the road on the second night of back-to-back games.

The Bulls may be the league’s hottest team not located in Miami, having won five straight and 14 of 6 overall. But now I have to hit  you with an ugly fact: Chicago has lost 18 of their last 20 games in New Jersey.

Plus, for whatever reason, the Nets play the Bulls tough. Last season, during which the Nets won 12 games and took their place among the league’s all-time worst teams…yet they beat the Bulls twice.

Chicago’s bench really came through against the Raptors last night — 52 points, 26 rebounds, 11 assists — which allowed Derrick Rose (29 minutes) and Carlos Boozer (24 minutes) to rest during the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Luol Deng still logged 40 minutes, so I’m not sure how fresh he’ll be.

The Nets are rested and they’re at home. This makes them dangerous. But the Bulls are 18-1 against sub-.500 teams and have really been taking care of business this season. Hopefully, they’ll be able to do that tonight.

Random: During his career, Derrick Rose has played eight games against the Nets, averaging 18.1 PPG, 7.9 APG and 4.8 RPG. Carlos Boozer has faced the Nets 14 times, averaging 16.7 PPG (on 58 percent shooting) and 9.3 RPG.

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

Derrick Rose was praying for a call. His prayers went unanswered.

The 2009-10 New Jersey Nets are one of the worst teams in NBA history. They have 12 wins and 67 losses.

The 2009-10 Chicago Bulls — who, rumor has it, are fighting for a playoff spot — have given them two of those wins. In fact, the Nets won the season series against the Bulls 2-1.

If Chicago ends up missing the playoffs by one or two games, those two losses to New Jersey are going to haunt the Bulls players all summer. At least, I hope so. As a fan, they’re going to haunt me.

At any rate, here are some thoughts on last night’s game:

Defense:
Chicago’s D wasn’t good. The Bulls couldn’t handle Brook Lopez (26 points, 14 rebounds), Devin Harris (19 points, 7-for-12) or rookie Terrence Williams (27 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists). They left Yi Jianlian and Coutney Lee open for critical shots late in the game. There was entirely too much looking around and letting opposing players sprint by with no resistance, and not nearly enough fighting through screens.

And yes, I’m looking at you, Derrick Rose and Luol Deng.

The Nets also came away with 13 offensive boards, including the biggest of the game. More on that below.

Brad Miller:
If the Bulls had pulled this one out, I was going to title this post “Brad Miller is my hero.” The former Boilermaker had a season-high 27 points and helped bring Chicago back from the brink. Not bad, considering that watching him drive to the hoop is like watchng a still-life painting. Of a statue.

Yi had just knocked down back-to-back jumpers to put New Jersey up by double digits with about four and a half minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Miller responded by hitting back-to-back threes to give the Bullies a little hope. While the Nets were missing free throws — Harris went 0-for-2 and then Jianlian went 1-for-2 — Chicago was getting layups from Rose (one) and Miller (two) to get back to within a point.

By the way, the second of Miller’s layups happened when he trapped a pick-and-roll with Deng, which helped force Williams into a turnover, and then sprinted downcourt to receive the pass from Deng for a layup. Just a great, savvy, veteran play.

The Bulls took a one-point lead off a tip-in by Joakim Noah and Miller padded that lead by hitting a couple clutch free throws with nine seconds left. Frankly, that should have been the game.

Unfortunately, Harris hit a tough running jumper over Kirk Hinrich with four seconds left. The Nets were forced to foul Rose who — gak! — knocked down only hit one of two. Now the Bulls were up only two points. After a timeout, Courtney Lee forced up an ugly shot over Miller, who had slid over to help on defense. Unfortunately, Miller only watched the shot go up instead of putting a body on anybody, which allowed Brook Lopez to tie the game with an uncontested putback slam (more on that below).

Now, admittedly, when a player helps on defense, another player must rotate to his man. So it wasn’t all Brad’s fault. That said, Miller has been in the league a long, long time. He got caught watching the ball…and it might have cost his team the game.

Officiating:
The officiating stunk. It did. There’s no denying it. Which isn’t really all that surprising, considering earlier this week the NBA had to admit a botched call at the end of a high-profile game between the Jazz and Thunder.

Look, I hate laying blame on the officials after a tough loss. It comes off like sour grapes. But in this case, I feel like it’s justified. Not all the blame, mind you. But some of it, at the very least.

Take the Lopez putback that sent the game to overtime. That ball was touching the rim when he slammed it down. In 50 out of 50 states, that’s called “goaltending.” Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro pleaded with the officials to review the play, but apparently it wasn’t reviewable.

Fast forward to the end of the first overtime. The Bulls were up 112-108 with just under a minute to play. The officials decided it was okay for Courtney Lee to body bump and handcheck Rose all over the backcourt, which resulted in Derrick losing the ball out of bounds. Why the refs suddenly decided to choke down their whistles is anybody’s guess.

Harris pulled the Nets to within 112-110 with a quick layup. On the other end, Rose blew past Lee, who did the only thing he could do…he reached. Lee reached from behind and grabbed Derrick’s left arm, after which the ball flew out of bounds. Replays showed conclusively that this was the case. Rose could not have been fouled more blatantly without blood being involved.

The officials paused to review the play to determine who sent the ball out of bounds. Technically speaking, the ball went off Rose. But, as I said, the film made it pretty evident Rose was fouled. Here’s the problem: It’s not within an official’s power to rule a foul via video reply. Therefore, they awarded the ball to the Nets, who tied the game on a couple free throws by Lopez.

The Bulls — who were clearly fatigued, thanks in part to the previous night’s home game versus the Cavaliers — promptly fell to pieces in the second overtime.

Honestly, what’s the point in allowing video review if the officials aren’t allowed to make the right call? Why can’t an official review goaltending or a non-call? I mean, the Bulls could literally end up missing the playoffs in part because the video review system doesn’t make total sense.

Beyond that, why oh why isn’t Derrick Rose getting the benefit of the whistle? He’s not a rookie anymore. He’s an All-Star for pity’s sake. I’m not suggesting the refs should give him preferential treatment. Not by a long shot. But if Rose gets fouled, it should be called. Last night, Derrick was treated like a rookie nobody on a few plays, and that treatment proved critical.

Derrick Rose:
A few observations:

First, Derrick finished with 7 turnovers. Two of those weren’t entirely his fault, but 5 is still an awful lot.

Second, he had only 6 assists, but he might have had 10 or 12 if his teammates could hit open jump shots. Honestly, Rose’s drives are so deadly that teams collapse on him with extreme prejudice. And, more often than not, Derrick makes the right play by passing the ball out to an open teammate. Unfortunately, he’s on a team full of lousy shooters.

Rose has taken some criticism with regards to his floor game, and no, his isn’t as good as Steve Nash’s or Chris Paul’s. But I’m telling you, if Chicago management can bring in another All-Star and surround Rose with some capable shooters, his assist numbers are going to go up. No question.

Conclusion:
The Raptors lost to the Atlanta Hawks last night, which means Toronto and Chicago are still tied for the final playoff spot in the East, which should hereafter be referred to “Cleveland’s first round hors d’oeuvres.”

The Bulls play the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday. Considering that the Raptors have the tiebreaker, that game is…well, it’s as important as the games Chicago lost to the Bucks and Nets this week. So take that for whatever it’s worth. I’m not quite sure at this point.

It’s become quite evident that, as presently constructed, the Bulls are not a good team, healthy or otherwise. They have no inside game, no outside game, and they rely on contested two-point jumpers. This season has always been all about waiting for next season…and of course this summer’s free agent market.

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

The post A foul loss: Nets 127, Bulls 116 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Jannero Pargo had a game-high 27. But what does it mean?

Well…huh.

Look, I’m happy the Bulls won. I’m also glad they didn’t mess around and just dropped the hammer on a bad team (well, minus New Jersey’s brief third quarter comeback courtesy of Jarvis Hayes’ three-point bombing). And I’m downright relieved they didn’t lose a second home game this season to one of the worst teams in NBA history.

But I’m not sure what this win means.

Let’s face it, the Bulls are a a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. This season has been so schizophrenic. Between Derrick Rose’s early season ankle woes, Kirk Hinrich’s busted finger, Tyrus Thomas’ broken forearm followed by his malcontent, John Salmons’ career-worst slump, the subsequent trading away of Ty and the Fish Man, Joakim Noah’s plantar fasciitis, Luol Deng’s recent calf strain that might have ended his season, and the fact that Chicago management approached this campaign as a throw away so they could preserve cap space for this summer’s free agent market…

…and I didn’t even mention that nobody outside of the Bulls’ front office has any idea about whether coach Vinny Del Negro is going to be around next season.

Simply put, the Bulls have never been able to develop a sense of identity this season. They have ranged from very bad, to merely bad, to mediocre, to sort of good, to pretty good, all the way back to very bad again. I don’t think there’s been a single time all season in which we could say: This is who and what the Bulls are.

And we still don’t know.

Technically speaking, Chicago is only 1 1/2 games behind the Toronto Raptors for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Now, the Raptors have lost eight of their last 11 games, with two of their three wins coming against the league-worst Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves. Chris Bosh has been questioning his teammates’ desire while the local media has been questioning Bosh’s desire.

And now tonight, the Bulls get a crack at the cellar-dwelling Detroit Pistons while the Raptors have to play the Heat in Miami. All these facts point to the distinct possibility that Chicago could be right back into the playoff race only days after a loss so crushing it felt like they had been mathematically eliminated for the next two or three seasons.

But we still don’t know.

Last night, Jannero Pargo led the team by scoring a game-high 27 points on 10-for-19 shooting. Pargo’s previous high in points this season had been 20 in the infamous Kirk Hinrich Meltdown Game. The last time Jannero scored 27 or better was for the New Orleans Hornets in a first round playoff loss to the Dallas Mavericks on April 25, 2008. The last time before that was when Pargo put up 34 off the bench during his first stint with the Bulls on March 26, 2004. That’s it. That’s the entire list of Jannero’s 27-plus point games.

So what does it tell us?

What does it tell us that Derrick Rose had a Rajon Rondo-like game: a game-high 9 assists to go with 7 points, 5 rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot? Or, for that matter, Taj Gibson’s dominance (22 points, 7-for-9, 8-for-10 from the line, 13 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) over Yi Jianlian (7 points, 3-for-9, 8 boards)?

Nothing? Everything?

I’m not sure anymore. I’m not sure the entire season means anything. Bulls management is treating it like an afterthought and maybe it is. Maybe all that really matters is which big name free agent — if any — comes to Chi-town for 2010-11.

But that doesn’t mean the players are giving up.

Said Rose: “We just got to keep this going. We got a good feeling. We came back from a terrible loss [on Thursday night]. I’m glad to see us play like this. We need to continue to play like this.”

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

The post At least they beat New Jersey: Bulls 106, Nets 83 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

I moved to Chicago back in the summer of 1998, so I didn’t become a hard core Bulls fan until the Michael Jordan era was coming to its storybook ending. It was a case of unlucky timing on my part, because the Bulls were about to go from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the trash heap.

This meant that, as a fan, I had to live through some very dark times.

I’m talking about the Tim Floyd era. I’m talking about a three-season stretch in which the Bulls won a total of 45 games. I’m talking about 47-point losses to the Orlando Magic. In short, I’m talking about real wrath of God type stuff: fire and brimstone coming down from the skies, rivers and seas boiling, forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from the grave, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!

Yeah. Dark times indeed. I’ll tell you this much: I learned to appreciate what Clippers fans have gone through for, well, ever. But I can honestly say I’ve never felt as demoralized as I did when the Bulls lost to the New Jersey Nets last night.

I really thought that 110-78 homecourt loss to the Toronto Raptors was going to be the low point of the season for the Bulls. I was sure of it. I simply could not envision a more painful loss. Then the Nets strolled into town with a 1-19 record and nothing to lose. I have to admit, I was looking past them to the game against the Hawks in Atlanta tomorrow night. I don’t know if the Bulls were looking ahead too, but I sure was.

Well, my bad. And Chicago’s bad, too. Very bad.

What makes the whole dreary situation even more galling is that there were actually some really positive signs in the game. Taj Gibson scored a career-high 20 points (8-for-12) off the bench. Luol Deng scored 27 points (10-for-17) on a variety of jumpers, post moves and even three-pointers (two of them!). But best of all, there was Derrick Rose, who had his best game of the season (27 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, a steal and a block).

It wasn’t just the gaudy statistics, though. Rose asserted himself — I mean, really asserted himself — down the stretch for the first time this season. He scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, two of which came on a running, one-handed jumper with 19 seconds left. That shot gave the Bulls a 100-99 lead…but it didn’t last.

After a New Jersey timeout, it took Devin Harris all of five seconds to answer Rose’s shot with a running one-hander of his own. Said Harris: “I saw an opening and I knew what to do. It was the same play they ran, we ran on the other end. Pretty much an isolation. It was my shot to take. It just happened that we both ended up hitting runners, going right.”

Now the Bulls were down 101-100 with 14 seconds left, and it was Vinny Del Negro’s turn to write up a clutch play.

I don’t know what play the Bulls were supposed to run. What I do know is that John Salmons (12 points, 4-for-12) caught the inbounds pass, dribbled to the top of the arc and jacked up a 25-footer with seven seconds still on the clock. It didn’t go in, Harris pulled down the rebound and the game was pretty much over.

And that, my friends, is how the Nets got their second win of the season.

Pain in the paint:
Oh yes. Chicago’s interior defense was once again the goat in yet another brutal loss. Brook Lopez (25 points, 9-for-14, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots) became the latest in a looooong line of big men who have had their way with the Bulls (both this season and last), and the Nets racked up a whopping 54 points in the paint. In all, they got 16 layups and five dunks. And when they weren’t scoring outright, they either earned free throws (28 of them) or created open looks.

In all seriousness, the Bulls’ inability to protect the basket is their biggest weakness. Bigger than any of the many things going wrong for them on offense. Although, speaking of which…

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers:
With the way the Bulls handled the ball last night, I can only assume they’ve been taking passing lessons from Jay Cutler. By game’s end, they had given up 20 points off 19 turnovers. By contrast, the Nets gave up only 11 points off 14 turnovers.

Other little problems:
The Bulls missed eight free throws. Sure, the final miss was intentionally bricked by Rose because Chicago had to try and get the ball back for a last-second, game-tying two-pointer. But still, Rose and Gibson went 0-for-4 on back-to-back possessions near the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Both teams looked great when they got out on the fast break. Unfortunately, the Nets did more running, which is why they outscored the Bulls 20-10 in fast break points. You know, the Bulls are such a lousy shooting/scoring team that they really need to run, run, run and then run some more. Why not take advantage of Derrick’s speed?

Derrick Rose:
Like I said, Rose stepped up and became a go-to guy down the stretch. That was awesome. What was decidedly less awesome was Rose’s defense. He simply could not stay in front of his man. Even Rafer Alston (15 points in only 17 minutes) was burning Rose alive. It boggles my mind that someone as speedy and athletically gifted as Rose can’t stay in front of, well, anybody. Honestly, my gast is flabbered.

Coaching:
Vinny’s big adjustment was starting Brad Miller. ‘Nuff said.

Here’s what he had to say about the three by Salmons that killed any chance the Bulls had of pulling this one out: “The play was designed for Derrick to come and get the ball. … Derrick was unable to get open and we went to John Salmons. We did not attack on that and pulled back for the jumper.”

Quote of the night:
Said Joakim Noah: “It never feels good to lose to the team with the worst record in the NBA. It hurts.”

Not-so-fun facts:
New Jersey entered last night’s game on an 18-game road losing streak stretching back into last season. Furthermore, the Nets came into the game scoring a league-worst 87.6 PPG. They surpassed that average by over 15 points against the Chicago defense.

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

The post Epic Failure: Nets 103, Bulls 101 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Well, now. That was more exciting than it should have been.

And by “exciting” I mean “nerve-wracking, aggravating and potentially crippling to Chicago’s late-season playoff run.” They say that any landing you can walk away from is a good one, so I’m going to take today’s 103-94 win over the New Jersey Nets and just keep on walking. But still…

When you consider the quality of the opponent along with the fact that Vince Carter (4 points on 2-for-10 shooting) was hobbled by a sore left Achilles tendon and Devin Harris — who absolutely killed the Bulls in New Jersey earlier this season — was merely “okay” (14 points, 4-for-9, 5 assists, 4 turnovers), shouldn’t this have been a blowout in the home team’s favor? I mean, the Bulls have beaten better teams than the Nets much more handily than this in recent weeks.

I suppose this was simply one of those games that serves as yet another reminder that, despite the improvements brought about by the acquisitions of John Salmons, Brad Miller and Tim Thomas, the Bulls remain a team that lives and dies by the jump shot. They were cold all day, hitting only 15 of their 41 outside shot attempts, “led” by Ben Gordon’s 3-for-14 brick-a-palooza. Of course, they didn’t fair much better inside the painted rectangle, missing 16 of 30 layups and a dunk. Gak.

Of course, it looked like the Bulls were going to run away with the game early when they built a 16-point lead in the second quarter. Unfortunately, Chicago’s misguided shooting — not to mention some killer off-the-bench performances by Jarvis Hayes (14 points, 4-for-7 from downtown) and Chris Douglas-Roberts (9 points on 4-for-6 from the field) kept New Jersey in the game, and eventually the Nets came all the way back to take a one-point lead (94-93) on a hook shot by Brook Lopez with just under three minutes to go in the fourth. And I’ve gotta tell you that Brad Miller’s inability to contain Lopez down the stretch — and Vinny Del Negro’s inability to, you know, notice that fact — almost cost the Bulls the game.

Lopez — who finished with a game-high 20 points (7-for-10) to go along with a co-game-high 10 boards and 3 blocked shots — had an immense two-and-a-half minute explosion late in the final quarter. At the 5:16 mark, he got free for a dunk. With just under four minutes remaining, he posted Miller up, made a nifty move, drew the foul and then hit one of two free throws. With 3:21 left, he slid past Brad for a layup, got the “And-1!” and nailed the ensuing foul shot. Finally, at the 2:49 mark, he once again beat Miller for that hook shot that gave New Jersey the lead.

After that, Vinny finally switched Joakim Noah onto Lopez, who didn’t score again. In fact, none of the Nets did. Chicago went on a game-ending 10-to-nothing run thanks to a mini-implosion by New Jersey. Hayes fouled Miller while trying to fight through a pick, which gave Brad two free throws, and he hit them both. On the Nets’ next possession, Salmons poked the ball away from Devin Harris, who then committed a (somewhat iffy) flagrant foul on Salmons as the Bulls were running the other way. John hit one of the flagrant freebies and then Ben Gordon drilled a triple to put Chicago up 99-94 with 58 ticks on the clock. The Nets weren’t able to get anything going, and the Bulls closed out the game with foul shots by BG and Tyrus Thomas.

Like I said, any landing you can walk away from…

Playoff update: Thanks to the win over the Nets and Detroit’s 95-90 loss to the Sixers in Philly, the Bulls have taken over the seventh spot by a half game over the Pistons. Chicago is also 2 1/2 games up on the ninth-place Bobcats. Oh, and in case you were worried about New Jersey, you don’t have to be anymore. The Bulls won the season series 3-1 and therefore own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Nets.

Player notes: Derrick Rose shot 7-for-12 and had a rather routine 15-point, 5-assist performance. Salmons overcame his sore groin to net 17 points (7-for-16). Gordon, despite the craptacular shooting, still ended up with a team-high 18 on the strength of his accuracy from the charity stripe (10-for-12). Noah had a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and 4 steals. Miller (13 points, 4-for-7, 7 boards) and Tim Thomas (12 points, 2-for-2 on threes) were strong off the bench. Tyrus had a rough shooting day — 1-4 on layups, 1-for-3 from outside and 0-for-1 on dunks — and got outrebounded 8-5 by New Jersey’s point guard.

Free taco excitement update: Little Ben’s free throws with 25 seconds left put the Bulls over the century mark, thereby earning the fans in attendance free greaseburgers from McDonald’s. And the crowd went wild. Said Gordon: “I planned that tonight. I wanted to make it exciting. I wanted to get the Big Mac for the fans. It was a little part of my master plan.”

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

The post Knocking off the Nets appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.