LVP (Least Valuable Player): Carlos Boozer finally showed up and got himself out of the LVP spot. But it was quickly overtaken by Nazr Mohammed. And I mean quickly. Nazr got himself tossed after playing just 2:31 in Game 3. He committed an odd foul on LeBron at mid-court, and then when LeBron was about to get a technical, Nazr decided it would be best to push James down. Nazr got tossed and it did the Bulls no good.

X factor: Going into the series, the Bulls’ biggest worries were Bosh, James and Wade. Well, add Norris Cole to that list because he hasn’t missed from three yet. Cole is averaging 14.3 points per game and is shooting 80 percent from the field. When you’re over-compensating for LeBron James, someone is going to be open and it shouldn’t be Ray Allen. But if Cole keeps knocking down shots, the Bulls’ will have to make an adjustment.

X factor 2: The Bulls held Miami to 52.4 percent at the rim, which is 7.5 percent worse than the league average (and the Heat have a guy named LeBron James). That is a huge win for the Bulls and the focus of their defense. However, Miami hit 50 percent (13-26) from midrange, nearly 10 percent better than the league average. The Bulls executed their defensive scheme, but Miami, led by Bosh, was hitting the shots they were given. If a team is connecting at that rate from midrange, it’s going to be tough to beat them. When that team is the Miami Heat, it’s even tougher.

That was … better: Heading into the fourth quarter, the game was tied. But Chicago got outscored by ten in the final frame, which has to do, at least partly, with rest. Following Game 2’s blowout loss, the Bulls responded well and even though they didn’t get it done, they stuck right with the defending champs. If Miami hadn’t been hitting so well from midrange, the Bulls could be the ones with a 2-1 series lead.

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Stats from Basketball-Reference

Miami Injury Report:
Shane Battier: missed Friday’s game (rest)
Udonis Haslem: missed Friday’s game (ankle)

Overview:
Following a predictable, but still bad, loss the Bulls dropped to sixth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game back of the Hawks. Chicago and Atlanta are tied in the loss column, while Atlanta has one more win than the Bulls. Chicago does own the tiebreaker, so if they win out, they would get the fifth spot in the playoffs. If the Bulls finish fifth, they would play the Nets in round one. If they finish sixth they would play the Pacers. The real difference is in round two, where everyone would like to avoid the Heat. The winner of the fourth seed vs. fifth seed series will advance to take on Miami. So falling to the sixth spot wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing.

But the Bulls aren’t losing these games to the Raptors on purpose—although that would help me sleep at night. Anyway, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Bulls have three games left, and positioning itself to avoid Miami would be weird, considering the Bulls are far from a guarantee to get past the first round.

Chicago has the chance to once against defeat that possible second round juggernaut when they meet the Heat. The last time these two squads met, the Bulls shocked everybody but themselves when they snapped Miami’s 27-game win streak in front of a very excited United Center crowd. If I had to guess, LeBron and company would like to squash the Bulls in this game and get a little bit of payback for the March 27 loss. But the Heat already have the best record in the league locked up, so maybe Chicago will luck out a little bit. Miami’s goal is to repeat and win a championship. Does beating the Bulls in a late regular season really help them get to that goal?

Everybody played for the Heat in its last contest, a 109-101 win over Boston; although the big three didn’t play full minutes. LeBron James (20 points, 9 assists) recorded 29 minutes, Chris Bosh (17 points, 7 rebounds) logged 25 minutes and Dwyane Wade (11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) totaled 34 minutes.

With what happened to Kobe Bryant, the Heat may rethink playing their top guys. Bryant and the Lakers were fighting for a playoff spot, and Kobe probably wouldn’t have gone out even if Mike D’Antoni tried. But Miami isn’t fighting for anything.

In all honesty, who knows which team the Bulls will play better against. As Chicago has displayed perfectly just this last week, they play down to lesser opponents and get up for better challenges. Two losses to the Raptors and a win over the streaking Knicks is the best summary of this Bulls’ season, and it happened in five days. So would the Bulls come out and play a stinker if they knew the big three were sitting out?

The thing that should be most important with three games left in the season is health. The Bulls already have a ton of guys that are injured, and those that are healthy are playing lots of minutes. Tired legs played a factor in the Raptors game, and the game against Miami is the first of a back-to-back that ends in Orlando. Five seed or six seed, if the Bulls can get through the final bit of the season without anyone else getting injured, and then have some of those players that are already injured return in the playoffs, they have a chance in round one.

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

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Miami Injury Report:
Chris Andersen: left Wednesday’s game (sprained foot)
Mike Miller: missed Wednesday’s game (flu-like symptoms)

Overview:
After staying quiet through the trade deadline, Chicago moves ahead with the team they put together this summer, and remain eager for Derrick Rose’s return. That won’t be for a while, maybe not even this season, but playing with Rose is nothing new for Chicago. The Bulls looked good in their first game after the All-Star break, taking care of the Hornets, but now they get a real test: the hottest team in the league with the hottest player.

Miami comes into the game having won eight straight as LeBron James has found a new level of dominance. Over his last ten games, of which the Heat are 9-1, LeBron is averaging 30.0 points, on 64.5 percent shooting from the field and 51.4 percent from deep. He’s also adding 7.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals over that stretch.

On their eight game win streak, Miami is averaging 107.6 points per contest. The last time the Bulls scored 107 points in a game was a mid-January overtime win over the Raptors. Getting into a shoot-out with the Heat wouldn’t work for almost any team, but the Bulls know they need to win these games on the defensive end.

The Bulls get up for games against the Heat. They showed it last year in games that Rose missed with minor injuries and showed it once again when they met Miami in January. The Bulls have taken six of the last eight regular season games against Miami, holding the Heat to 91.0 points per contest.

Chicago gave up just 89 points to Miami in their first meeting this season, shutting down everybody except James (30 points) and Dwyane Wade (22 points). LeBron got to the line 16 times in that contest, hitting 13 of those freebies.

The clear match-up to watch is whoever is guarding LeBron at the moment. It will be Luol Deng for most of the game, and Jimmy Butler may get some time on him as well.

There is some good news for the Bulls. First of all, they get Miami on the road, where the Heat are just 14-11 on the year (compared to 23-3 at home). The second is that Miami is playing on the second night of a back-to-back. It’s not a big advantage, as Miami is 6-1 playing on no rest, but a somewhat tired Heat team is better than a rested one.

LeBron played 40 minutes last night in the win over Atlanta, scoring 24 points to go with eleven assists and four steals. That was his lowest output of the month and just the second time he has scored fewer than 30 points in February. Wade added 20 points in 35 minutes of action and Shane Battier and Ray Allen combined for 32 off the bench. Chris Bosh struggled, going just 2-10 from the floor in his first game since starting the All-Star game.

Kirk Hinrich is once again a game-time decision because of his elbow injury. Hinrich went 2-7 from the field for five points, but dished ten assists as the offense looked much better with him leading it. Nate Robinson came off the bench to score 13 points in the first match-up with Miami. Hinrich went 3-8 for ten points in that game.

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

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Heat Injury Report:
LeBron James: probable (knee)

Overview:
Neither the Heat nor the Bulls have been playing their best basketball lately. The Bulls because they are missing Derrick Rose and apparently decided to take off the last week and a half of 2012 and the Heat because they know they can turn it on whenever they feel like.

That’s why the Bulls have a chance to beat Miami. Chicago beat the Heat last year behind 24 points from John Lucas III in one match-up. So whatever happens tonight, crazier things happened last season.

If the Bulls want to win they’re going to have to try and slow down the best basketball player in the world, who is also the most consistent scorer right now. LeBron James has scored 20 or more points in all 30 of his games this season. He is the first player to do that in more than 40 years (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in 1970-71 when he was still Lew Alcindor). Overall, he’s on a streak of 51 straight games hitting the 20 point mark that includes last season’s championship run in the playoffs.

But Miami isn’t at their peak right now. In their last four games, they are 2-2, with losses to Detroit and Milwaukee and overtime wins against Orlando and Dallas. The Heat are beatable when they are cruising through the regular season waiting to turn it on.

James was just one assist shy of a triple-double in Miami’s overtime win over the Mavericks. He finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Dwyane Wade recorded 27 points and ten rebounds, while Bosh scored 17.

The Heat only turned the ball over ten times—James and Udonis Haslem combined for seven turnovers between them—and Dallas scored just 13 points off of them. Miami got 23 points off 14 Maverick turnovers.

This will be the first of four times this year the Bulls and Heat meet. Chicago went 2-2 against Miami last season. They were without Rose for two games, one being a four-point win, the other an eleven-point loss. They won another game which Rose was there physically, but not statistically. The point guard went a dismal 1-13 from the floor and recorded a negative-27 plus/minus. The bench stepped up massively in that game, helping Chicago pull out an overtime win. Rose’s best performance, a 34 point, six assist, six rebound game, ended as a four-point Chicago loss.

What that means is that the Bulls can beat the Heat without Rose. They didn’t depend on Rose for wins, getting a win without him and one when he was awful. And they lost in his best game. That should give them some confidence going into tonight.

That was last year though, and the Bulls had a much different bench at that point, that was consistently good and a lot better than Miami’s reserves, which were an after though. Now the Heat have Ray Allen coming off their bench. The former Celtic is averaging 11.6 points per game and hitting 45.6 percent of his threes. He’s daring people to double one of the Big Three.

The Bulls also need to rebound if they want to win this game, something they haven’t been doing well for a few games. But Miami is 29^th in offensive rebounding percentage and middle of the pack (16^th) in defensive rebounding percentage. If the Bulls can get second chance points and defend their glass, they will have a chance to knock off the Heat.

A big boost to their rebounding will be if Joakim Noah can play. Jo had no energy in the Bulls loss to the Bobcats, finishing with just two points and four rebounds, before sitting out the first game of 2013 with the flu. Jo has said he will play tonight. A game against the Heat isn’t the type of game Noah would want to miss. The Bulls could use Noah’s defense as well, as the Heat are the best in the league when it comes to effective field goal percentage (.547) and are third in offensive rating (111.3)

But if he can’t go, Taj Gibson filled in his role well, recording a season-high 21 points to go with eleven rebounds in the two-point win over the Magic. Carlos Boozer also stepped up, scoring 31 points, a season-high as well, on 13-22 shooting and adding eleven boards. Luol Deng pitched in 23, but that’s where the good news ends. The rest of the team scored just 21 points and shot 7-27 or 25.9 percent.

Kirk Hinrich, Rip Hamilton and Marco Belinelli are all going to have to pitch in double digit points if the Bulls are going to have a solid chance to win this game. Oh yeah, and they’ll need to try and slow down LeBron James. That’s the tough one.

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

After getting outscored 31-19 in the fourth quarter and falling to the Thunder, the Bulls once again bounced back. They turned a three point lead to start the fourth into a seven point win. Not a huge victory, especially considering Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio were both out, but the Bulls will take any win they can get without their superstar.

Tonight it looks like the Bulls are going to be down to their third point guard. If Kirk Hinrich (hip) doesn’t play, and it appears he won’t, it’ll be a long night for Nate Robinson. Robinson isn’t known for his defense, but Rajon Rondo is known for being a terror to defenders (while also being kind of a jerk). Rondo is averaging 13 assists per game in the early going, plus 14.7 points.

The Celtics haven’t been as good as they have been in recent years. They rank just 19^th in offensive efficiency (101.1) and 22^nd in defensive efficiency (104.1). For a team that is usually near the top in all defensive categories, that is a scary early season number that could come back to bite them. And really they haven’t played any offensive powerhouses other than the Heat. They allowed 120 to Miami, but since then they played the Bucks twice, Wizards twice and the Sixers. None of those teams scream “high scoring.”

The Bulls are currently second in defensive rating (96.1).

And to compare the offenses, the Bulls are 13^th in offensive efficiency, with a 102.4 ranking. As Bulls fans, you have seen how bad Chicago’s offense can be at times (like down the stretch against the Thunder).

Boston let Ray Allen walk to Miami this summer, and replaced him with airplane-loving shooter Jason Terry. JET is playing well thus far, averaging 11.7 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc. Terry is a scorer and those point totals are about all he is putting up in his 25 minutes per game (2.0 assists as well).

Ray Allen is averaging 13.3 points per game, while shooting 56.7 percent (!) from downtown in his new role with the Heat. Terry might not be as much of a threat on the wing as Allen, but who really is?

The Bulls took three of four from Boston last season, the loss coming when the Bulls were without Rose and Rip Hamilton. In that defeat, Luol Deng shot 3-12 and recorded a 79 offensive rating…yeesh.

Rondo preyed on CJ Watson in the defeat, recording a triple-double. He scored 32 points (11-22 from the field, 10-13 from the line) to go with 10 rebounds and 15 assists. John Lucas probably didn’t slow Rondo down much either. So good luck to Nate tonight who will have his hands full. Rondo is just a 61.8 percent free throw shooter for his career and is hitting just 55 percent from the line this season. So if it comes down to it, resort to the Kurt Thomas method and use all of the fouls you have.

Bounce back: Carlos Boozer has to bounce back from his 2 point effort against the Timberwolves. Boozington did his best Omer Asik impression Saturday day night, when went 0-5 from the field in his 27 minutes, while grabbing nine rebounds and committing four fouls.

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

No, seriously…are you kidding me?! I don’t even know where to begin. Really. I have no freaking idea.

Remember that scene in The Princess Bride when Inigo Montoya said: “Let me ‘splain. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup is marry’ Humperdinck in a little less than half an hour. So all we have to do is get in, break up the wedding, steal the princess, and make our escape…after I kill Count Rugen.”? Yeah. There was no time for Inigo to tell the whole story and almost no way for his audience to make sense of the condensed version. Although, in Westley’s defense, he had been mostly dead all day.

And I’ve gotta tell you, after Chicago’s super-epic 128-127 triple overtime victory over the Boston Celtics, I feel mostly dead. The game lasted nearly four hours. By the end, poor Doug Collins (who was calling the game for TNT) sounded like he had lost control of several vital motor functions, and maybe a few cognitive ones as well. I can totally relate. I feel like poor Mark Wahlberg at the end of The Perfect Storm, treading water in the middle of the ocean during a hurricane and thinking, “How the [bleep] did I end up here…?”

At some point, I just stopped trying to keep track of every remarkable twist and turn in this almost-neverending story. It was impossible. It would have been easier to roller skate to the moon or invent a car that runs on Smurfs. But, here are all the highlights I have the strength of will to remember:

Rajon Rondo’s belated flagrant:  By now you probably have the story of Rondo’s “non-flagrant” foul on Brad Miller memorized. Well, call it fate, call it luck, call it karma, but with 28 seconds left in the first quarter, Rajon finally got his flagrant. He earned it for grabbing Kirk Hinrich by the arm and swinging him into the scorer’s table. It was an obvious and rather thuggish maneuver, and the first thing I thought was, “You know, if I had been the perpetrator of the most controversial mugging in this year’s playoffs, that last thing I’d want to do is draw attention to myself by almost getting into a fight with the one player on the opposing team that my teammates had talked to the press about stopping.”

It seemed like an idiot move at the time, but now I’m not so sure. I mean, Rondo had to figure there was going to be some kind of payback for that play, either in the form of a really hard foul from one of the Bulls (like, say, Miller himself) or by means of a make-up call. And by going crazy early, Rajon was able to get that out of the way — and out of everybody’s mind — very early on, leaving him to concentrate on the game. And it’s hard to argue with the results; even though he finished with only 8 points on miserable shooting (4-for-17), he finished with 9 rebounds and 19 assists…which tied Bob Cousy’s Celtics playoff record. Yes, that’s right: The Cooz.

Ray Allen: Okay…wow? That dude couldn’t have been any more on fire if Doc Rivers had soaked him in napalm, hosed him down with a flamethrower and launched him into the sun. Allen carried the Celtics in the first half with 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting and ended up with a playoff career-high 51 points. That’s more than even the great Larry Bird ever scored in the postseason, and it tied for the second-highest total in Celtics playoff history behind the franchise-record 54 points John Havlicek scored in 1973.

In 59 minutes, Ray-Ray shot 18-for-32 and hit an NBA playoff record-tying 9 three-pointers (in 18 attempts). No matter how you slice and dice it, it was one of the greatest — if not the greatest — shooting displays in the Association’s postseason history.

And make no mistake, it wasn’t just about making the shots, it was also about the circumstances in which he hit them. With 20 seconds left in the second overtime, he knocked down a long two-pointer (his tippy-toes were on the arc) over the outstretched hand of Joakim Noah (who seems destined to get dotted over and over in this series) to pull Boston to within two, and then he drilled a triple with seven seconds left to send the game into a third overtime. All I can say is the authorities need to check  Allen’s crawl space for dead bodies, because that man is a straight-up cold-blooded killer.

The Fourth Quarter of Doom: Doc Rivers was forced to go to his bench in the fourth, and the Bulls promptly charged out to a 12-point lead (88-76) on a Tyrus Thomas slamma jamma with 10:15 to go in the quarter. It honestly felt like Chicago was about to pull away for good…but the Celtics went on a 23-3 run (which included an 18-0 spurt) to go ahead 99-91 with 3:38. Now it felt like the Bulls were finished, even after Rose converted a layup to cut Boston’s lead to six with 2:47 to go. But then John Salmons drove in and put in a little six-footer, drew the foul and kicked in a free throw to pull Chicago to within three (99-96). I’m telling you, that play renewed the team’s hope. It really did. But they still would have been sunk without…

The redemption of Brad Miller: The Other Guy in The Controversial Play of the 2009 NBA Playoffs. Miller shanked two key free throws at the end of Game 5. It was understandable, considering he was woozy from pain and the chemical fumes from whatever the Bulls trainers had used to stop his mouth from bleeding. But whatever the circumstances, those misses (the second of which was intentional and desperate) cost Chicago the game. (Or, at least, it was part of why the Bulls lost.) But Miller came back like a living spirit of vengeance in this game. He would finish with 23 points on 8-for-9 shooting (and that one miss was a forced hook shot to beat the shot clock buzzer), 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots off the Chicago bench. Oh, he also had BY FAR the best plus-minus score of the game (+26).

But you know what? Those are just numbers. As with Allen’s 51 points, the stats only tell part of the story. Brad was 2-for-2 from downtown, including a ginormous three-spot off a designed play with 1:06 left in regulation. That big-balls bucket got Chicago to within two (101-99). Then, with 29 seconds left, Miller shambled to the hoop — all the way from the top of the key! — and tied with game with a layup. Neither team would score again, and it was on to the first overtime.

But wait, there’s more. Glen Davis was forced to foul Brad with 16 seconds left in the second OT, and Miller walked to the line and calmly sunk both foul shots to give the Bulls a three-point lead (118-115). I immediately texted “Brad Miller’s redemption!” to Henry Abbott. Henry replied: “Just wrote that same line.” That could have been the game, but freaking Ray Allen hit another impossible three…and it was onto the third overtime.

Oddly enough, Brad was fouled by Big Baby again with 28 ticks left in the third overtime, and Miller again connected on both freebies to give the Bulls another three-point lead (128-125). But the game STILL wasn’t over.

Derrick Rose: This kid, this rookie, had one of the quietest big games I have ever seen. At times, Derrick seemed almost invisible, which is bizarre considering he ended up with 28 points (12-for-25), 8 rebounds and 7 assists. But his biggest contribution of the game — and I almost can’t believe I’m saying this — was on the defensive end. Rose finally figured out how to stay in front of Rajon Rondo, who struggled to score all night and went (as I mentioned above) 4-for-17 from the field. And Derrick saved his best defensive play for last. With his team down by one (128-127) and time running out (seven seconds left), Rondo forced up a 12-footer that Derrick roseup (get it?) and blocked! Not only that, but Derrick also managed to snare the rebound and was fouled by Brian Scalabrine. The effort must have taken something out of him, because Rose bonked both free throws, but with only three seconds left and no timeouts remaining, the best Boston could do was a 42-foot desperation heave from Rondo that never had a hope. Game over. Bulls win! Bulls win!!

Kirk Hinrich: Okay, seriously, Kirk chipped in 11 points and 7 assists in reserve, and he played some wicked defense on whomever Vinny Del Negro asked him to cover. BUT…he blew an easy layup with 21 seconds left in the third overtime. Had he hit it, the Bulls would have gone up by three points. Had he simply held onto the ball (as he should have), the Celtics would have been forced to foul him. It was a terrible decision, and it gave Boston a chance to take the last shot and win outright with a simple two-point shot. Sure, Rondo, who scampered up to defend the play, sure as heck seemed to commit a goaltend — he might have touched the ball and he definitely hit the backboard while the ball was in the cylinder — but Kirk should NOT have taken that shot. Rose saved the day when he stuffed Rondo…and Kirk should carry Derrick’s bags pretty much forever for that. Because had the Celtics won, Captain Kirk might have gotten beamed right out of the Windy City.

Joakim Noah: Okay, I have to admit this right now: I have a man-crush on Joakim. Opposing teams and their fans may hate him, but I love the guy. His energy, his hustle, his everything. He battled on the boards and finished with a game-high 15 rebounds (including 6 that were swiped off of the offensive glass). But his grandest play of the night came with 38 seconds left in the third overtime when he swiped the ball from Paul Pierce, sprinted all the way down court — the big man has handles! — and threw down a viscious dunk whild also drawing a foul on Pierce. And that was Paul’s sixth. Jo knocked down the ‘throw to transform a tie game into a three-point Bulls lead. “Huge” doesn’t begin to cover it.

John Salmons: I kind of hate to put this guy last, particularly since he finally broke out of his offensive slump to score a team-high 35 points (13-for-22, 5-for-9 from beyond the arc) in a game-high 60 minutes. And all the while he played solid defense. Except for one forced three-pointer near the end of regulation, he played great basketball all night. He repeatedly made big plays, if not the biggest, and he was the foundation of Chicago’s early-game offense. And could Paul Pierce handle John off the dribble? Not even close.

A place in history: Think about it. And I mean think about it really hard. I can say with something like 100 percent certainty that you can’t remember a closer, more competitive playoff series. In fact, by all objective measures, there hasn’t been one. It now has featured a mind-scrambling SEVEN overtime sessions. And yes, that’s easily a NBA playoff record. (Celtics-Hawks and Celtics-Nationals are second with four each…and they took place in 1957 and 1953, respectively.) In fact, it’s more than any team in NBA history has ever played in an entire postseason. I’m going to have to track down the official numbers later, but there have been more than 100 lead changes and over 60 ties through six games, and I’m pretty sure that has to be a record too. Again, I’ll try to research the final word on those stats. But man oh man oh man, this matchup has been nothing short of legen — WAIT FOR IT — dary! Let’s just say that if NASA suddenly revealed that it’s sending a space shuttle to Mars using a new kind of super-fuel made up entirely of the awesomeness produced by this series, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. And Game 7 is on the way.

Glen Davis: Big Baby finished with 23 points (10-for-18) and 7 boards. He hit some BIG shots and set some even BIGGER picks, including one moving screen that set up one of Allen’s overtime three-bombs. He also created some serious matchup problems when the Bulls went small. He has played some damn fine basketball in this series, especially when you consider he was a second-round draft pick.

Vinny Del Negro: You’ll notice he trapped and double-teamed Paul Pierce in key possessions this time. I’m telling you, Vinny is finally learning from his mistakes. Or so it seems. (I will now whistle and pretend that none of his other defensive screwups ever happened…)

Ben Gordon: BG had one of his “Ground Gordon” games: 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting. And about 13 of those shots were of the “ugly and forced” variety. Plus he fouled out in only 31 minutes…and, to compound matters, he got so pissy after his fifth foul that he got tagged with a well-earned technical for kicking a cooler. And he almost continued on his rampage after the tech. Hey, Ben, remember. Contract year.

Doug Collins: Okay, I just had to add this. Remember how about twenty paragraphs ago I said he was losing his mind by the end of the game? Well, at one point in the third overtime, Kirk Hinrich stole the ball from Paul Pierce and Doug said, “Kirk used the ‘Hinrich Maneuver!” That’s when I knew for sure he had collapsed into complete and utter slap-happiness.

Update! TrueHoop Network: Zach Lowe of Celtics Hub: “I am beginning to feel about this series like a drug addict must feel when he’s ready to enter serious rehab. It started out as innocent fun, we experienced some unthinkable highs, but now I’m coming down and I’m ready for it to be over. My friends and loved ones would like to see me at some point. For god’s sake, the Houston-Portland game was in the third quarter by the time this game ended. I have to start blocking out four hours just to watch these games.”

Update! More TrueHoop Network: Henry Abbot of TrueHoop: “When people play like Joakim Noah — with constant energy, but not all that much polish — the idea is that the constant effort pays off. Boy did it ever. He works a thousand straight plays trying to create havoc however he can, and comes up with not just a huge steal, but then outraces Paul Pierce to the hoop (the Celtics need an athleticism injection) for a key basket and the ensuing foul, after fouling Paul Pierce out of the game. The free throw was no small feat, either — that point ended up changing the whole close of the game, and Noah’s sometimes a wobbly foul shooter.”

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

The post Game 6: Are you kidding me?! appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Holy crap! You wanted playoff drama, you got playoff drama. This game had everything: Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…

Okay, okay. That was actually The Princess Bride. But this game sure had its share of fairytale-like elements. A proud but ailing champion. A fierce and determined underdog. Mortal combat. A duel for the ages. And, of course, a thrilling last-second victory. Unfortunately, the Bulls were not the recipient of tonight’s happy ending…the Celtics won 118-115 to even this best-of-seven series at one game apiece.

But what a wild ride it was. I literally cannot summarize this game. It was way too epic, far too full of twists and turns, a million little momentum shifts and heroic deeds. (I’m pretty sure the live broadcast saved a burning orphanage and walked several little old ladies across the street…maybe even rescued a kitten from a tree.) But I’ll try to break down some of the key components of what went down:

Derrick Rose: Rose, the unquestioned superhero of Game 1, got tagged with two early fouls and never totally got back into the flow of the game. (Credit the Celtics’ defensive game plan, which clearly had a “Rose Rules” element added in, as explained at Celtics Hub.) He finished with 10 points (5-for-11), 6 rebounds and a team-high 7 assists — good numbers, but certainly not great — and he was thoroughly outplayed by his Boston counterpart.

Rajon Rondo: Real scary moment for the Celtics when Rondo suffered a minor right ankle sprain in the second quarter. He missed the final five minutes of the first half but returned in the third quarter and finished with a triple-double (19 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists). He also had a game-high 5 steals. Rondo was aggressive and forced the action all night. Plus, he hit a clutch 20-footer with a minute left to put Boston up 112-111, then he snagged a critical offensive rebound with 30 seconds to go and hit Ray Allen for a threeball that put Boston up 115-113. He also assisted on Allen’s last-second game winner (more on that below). If it wasn’t for Derrick’s nuclear-powered Game 1, Rajon would be the MVP of the series so far.

The Battle of the Boards: The Celtics won this one, big time, 50-36, including a 21-8 edge on the offensive glass. That rebounding dominance allowed Boston to score 32 second-chance points (to Chicago’s 12). That is the single-biggest reason the Bulls lost this game. If you repeatedly give a great team extra shots at the basket, they’re going to start hitting them. As coach Vinny said: “I loved the grit and toughness of our team, but you can’t expect to win when you get outrebounded like that.” Update! Nate pointed out in the comments that the Bulls’ “little men” were partly responsible for the rebounding deficiency. And, indeed, Ben Gordon and John Salmons combined for 2 defensive boards, while Rondo had 7 offenisve rebounds.

Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins: Boston’s big men put the hurt on us, no doubt about it. Big Baby is sort of a “Kevin Garnett lite” — or, actually, based on his hefty girth, maybe he’s more of a “Kevin Garnett heavy” — but he did virtually everything KG would have done. (Well, except for on the defensive end.) Davis shot 12-for-21, snared 9 rebounds (4 offensive) and finished with 26 points (second-best on his team, behind Ray Allen). Moreover, Baby worked the Bulls over with his constant hustle and intensity, which may be why he finished with best plus-minus score of the game (+20). Perkins, meanwhile, muscled his way to 16 points (7-for-9), 12 boards (7 offensive) and 2 blocks.

Block party: Chicago’s interior defense was wicked-aggressive, as the team finished with 14 blocked shots (to Boston’s 4). Tyrus Thomas had 6 of those blocks, and Joakim Noah had 4 of them. Here’s the “but” though: The Celtics retained possession after several of those stuffs, and they managed to score several times after getting the ball back. Ty and Jo really need to work on controlling the rebound off their blocks or tapping it to a teammate.

Brad Miller: Whatever was wrong with him in Game 1 — during which he shot 2-for-11 — had been fixed by the time he checked into Game 2. Brad shot 4-for-8 from the field (including 1-for-1 from downtown) and 7-for-8 from the line for his 16 points, plus he grabbed a team-high 8 defensive rebounds (3 more than Joakim and double what Tyrus had). And in case you’re wondering why Miller played 36 minutes to Ty’s 20, it might be worth checking out the plus-minus column in the box score. The Bulls were outscored by 21 points when Tyrus was in the game, but they were +19 when Miller was on the floor. Only two other Chicago players had positive plus-minus marks: Lindsey Hunter was +2 and Rose was +1. If advanced stats mean anything at all, then they’re a sign that, for one night at least, the Bulls were a much better team with Brad on the floor.

One BIG knock on Miller, though: Those 4 turnovers. Ouch.

The transition game: Despite the fact that Boston came out running early, the Bulls still finished with a 21-10 advantage in fast break points.

Ray Allen versus Ben Gordon: In 1988, it was Larry versus Dominique. In 2008, it was The Truth versus King James. This season, it was Jesus Shuttlesworth versus Air Gordon. And no, I’m not overstating things: This playoff shootout was right up there with the best of them. In fact, if it had been, say, Kobe Bryant and LeBron going at each other the way Ray and BG did, your children’s children’s children would be hearing about it.

Gordon scored a playoff career-high 42 points (14-for-24, 6-for-11 from downtown), including Chicago’s final 12. He was so hot that the Boston defenders probably ended up with second and third degree burns from just standing near him. Seriously, Gordon was hitting every possible shot from every conceivable angle. Even video games aren’t that ridiculous. Said Little Ben: “I was in a zone. I really don’t remember what happened. I was in a zone. Every time I got the basketball, I tried to get a good shot and a good look at the basket.” (Gordon also finished with zero assists and zero turnovers. So, you know, he was definitely thinking “shoot first.” But hey, I’m not complaining…)

Unfortunately, Ray Allen had the same kind of second-half sizzle, scoring 28 of his 30 points in the final 24 minutes, including the game-winning three — over Noah’s desperately outstretched hand — with two seconds left. Allen finished 9-for-18 and matched Gordon’s six triples. Plus, Ray-Ray said that he and Ben were exchanging more than just clutch jumpers: “We were exchanging jabs there, and I don’t mean shots. I mean he caught me with an elbow, I got him right back with an elbow. It was…competitive.”

Clock (mis)management: Just like in Game 1, the Bulls were out of timeouts in the final seconds, so when Allen nailed the go-ahead three-pointer, the best Chicago could do was a running 46-footer from Tyrus Thomas as time expired. Memo to Vinny: Could you please, please, pretty-please save a timeout next time? The way things are going in this series, it looks like you’re going to need one or two down the stretch.

No fear: Okay, quick question: Where in the world did the Bulls’ poise come from? They nearly came away from a two-game stint in very hostile territory against the defending champions with a 2-0 series lead. They never looked nervous, scared or overwhelmed…how is that possible?

Looking ahead: So, after two tight games in Boston, the Bulls have to be feeling pretty good about Games 3 and 4 at the United Center, where they’ve been killing people for the last couple months. Said Tyrus: “To do what we did (Monday night) and know we’re headed back to the United Center is a good feeling for us.” No doubt.

But…it’ll be interesting to see how the team responds to playing at home. They were able to play pretty free and loose in Beantown. After all, they weren’t supposed to win there, right? That sometimes eases the pressure. However, a team absolutely must win its home games in the playoffs, and that can make players a little tight and tentative.

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

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