Eastern Conference Semifinals Game Four, Bulls-Heat: Running on Empty, Not a Station For Miles

Chicago Bulls 65, Miami Heat 88--Heat lead series 3-1

On the heels of another dramatic contest ultimately ending in a loss--albeit much closer than the disaster that was Game Two--the Bulls limped into Game Four needing a win; otherwise, Game Five would likely be nothing more than a prolonged death knell for this 2012-13 season. 

Unfortunately for the Bulls, Miami jumped out to an early 13-4 lead, as the Bulls started off ice cold, going 2-for-13 from the field. Luol Deng was deemed "active" for the game, the latest stretch of what it means for one to be "active." If Deng could be described as "active," in spite of all the news of his post-spinal tap complications, then those of us who are otherwise healthy are superheroes, according to the relativistic continuum of NBA player health designations. 

And yet, despite a first quarter in which the Bulls shot 27% and the Heat shot 59%, they somehow managed to enter the second frame down just 21-15. As we have come to know very well this season, the Bulls have turned the execution of the "awful quarter that ends with being down by only that much" into an art form, insofar as such a thing can be considered art. 

Marco Belinelli was called for his third foul early in the second, meaning that Rip Hamilton would enter the game for the first time since his three-minute showing in Game Six against Brooklyn. Whether he was in the "dog house" or not, it has gotten to the point that Hamilton entering the game is just one more sign of the dire times for the Bulls, personnel-wise. 

Following a nice extra pass from Nate Robinson on the wing, Hamilton hit an open trey from up top, and on the following possession, Taj Gibson went up strong at the basket, completing a traditional three-point play. In short order, the Bulls had cut the lead, which had ballooned to 13, to seven, and the United Center crowd exhibited its first sign of life. 

This ephemeral momentum was quickly snuffed out, as LeBron returned from a brief trip to the bench to send home a theatrical thunderdunk after a Bulls turnover. 

Luckily, the Heat were not particularly careful with the ball, committing eight turnovers with several minutes still remaining in the first half. On the other hand, the Bulls were not able to capitalize, and continued to remain down by 7-12 points. Excluding their 6-for-6 mark from the line, the Bulls had produced just 21 points through 21 minutes of play. A point a minute is good if you're Fielding Yost, but isn't necessarily a sustainable basketball strategy (unless you happen to play in the Big Ten). 

It was not a well-played half for either team, but a poorly played half for the Bulls is a far different concept than the same from the Heat. As such, the Bulls took an 11-point deficit into the second half. Chicago shot just 27%, scoring at a clip of just 0.79 points per possession. 

Eastern Conference Semifinals Game One, Bulls-Heat: Welcome to Miami

Obligatory 

Chicago Bulls 93, Miami Heat 86--Bulls leads series 1-0 (!)

After improbably pulling off a Game Seven victory in Brooklyn Saturday night, the Bulls enter the Eastern Conference Semifinal round playing with house money. With Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng both out again, in addition to Derrick Rose's continued absence, expectations are not exactly what they were the last time these two teams squared off in the playoffs. 

Nonetheless, the Bulls have played the Heat close, even without Derrick Rose, having split four regular season meetings this season. Of course, the playoffs are a different animal, especially with the Heat being well-rested after easily dispatching the Milwaukee Bucks in four, and the Bulls grinding their way through seven trying games against Brooklyn. With this in mind, an enveloping fog of unease pervaded upon the lead-up to Game One, and rightfully so; there are no moral victories in sports, but if the Bulls managed to keep the first game of this series close, then maybe the vague notion of a competitive series could become a reality. 

The Bulls gained possession on the opening tip, but neither squad was able to get on the scoreboard in their respective opening trips on the offensive end, starting a combined 0-for-5 from the field. A nice move to the rim from Noah put the Bulls on the board first, however, at the 10:15 mark. Jimmy Butler extended the lead to 4-0 from the line after drawing a blocking call just outside of the restricted area. 

Neither team was exceptionally sharp in the opening minutes, but given each team's opening round, this was perhaps not unexpected. The Heat continued to misfire from the field, starting the game 0-for-7 from the field as the Bulls built an early 8-2 lead. 

Despite the auspicious start, Nate Robinson began this one 0-for-4 from the field with some questionable feeds to Chicago's big men; this would have to change if the Bulls were going to make this any sort of game. On the bright side, it was a quiet, low usage quarter for Lebron James, who was 1-for-2 from the field for two points well into the first frame. James seemed content to facilitate in the early stages, but Jimmy Butler was also doing his part in forcing that decision-making. 

Norris Cole countered a quintessentially Nate spin move into a banked jumper with a buzzer-beating floater of his own, and the Bulls took a 21-15 lead into the second quarter. 

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 6, Bulls-Nets: I Have A Bad Feeling About This

Chicago Bulls 92, Brooklyn Nets 95

I wasn't able to take notes during the first half of this one, so I'll just go ahead and skip right to the second half (this is the NBA after all, so that's probably a fair thing to do every time). 

Nonetheless, the Bulls, again with Kirk Hinrich, have up a whopping 60 first half points, with Deron Williams scoring 14 on 5-for-9 from the field. For all of the criticism Hinrich took throughout the system--some warranted, but most of it not--it's pretty well obvious by this point that the Bulls were going to have a rough go of it without him on the defensive end. Every defensive set begins with on-the-ball defense, and when you don't have your most effective player executing that role, the rest of the defense will struggle. 

The Bulls took a 60-54 deficit into the second half, which reminded me of the Michigan-Kansas game for the simple fact that it felt as if the Brooklyn lead could and probably should have been much greater than it was. 

To make matters worse, the Bulls were also without the services of Luol Deng, so it was encouraging to see them drop 54 in the first half. Still, the second half would be a struggle to keep up and continue to find enough production to stay with the Nets. 

Nate Robinson buried a trey to open the second half, cutting the lead to three, but the Nets quickly built it back up to eight in the ensuing minutes. 

Later in transition, Robinson attacked the rim and dished to an open Marco Belinelli in the corner, who nailed the three to cut the Nets lead to 69-68. Luckily for the Bulls, it wasn't an exceptionally well-played quarter for either team, but Chicago made enough plays on the defensive end to keep the game from getting away from them before the final frame. 

Bulls-Nets, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game No. 3: Hold On

Chicago Bulls 79, Brooklyn Nets 76--Bulls lead 2-1

The Bulls and Nets entered the United Center tonight tied at a game apiece on the heels of a pair of vastly different games in Brooklyn. In Game One, the Bulls were simply overwhelmed, but Game Two was a 2012-13 Chicago classic, a symphony of raw exertion and grit. 

In this one, the early going resembled Game One, as the Bulls turned it over three times in less than two minutes of play and found themselves down 13-2 by the 7:37 mark. The turnover total for Chicago ballooned to five before the halfway point of the first. Meanwhile, the Bulls couldn't throw it into Lake Michigan, starting the game 2-for-8 from the field. 

Unfortunately for the Bulls, Deron Williams had eight points (5/5 from the FT line) through just over six minutes of play after scoring eight all game on Tuesday. Luckily, Williams cooled down and the Bulls rattled off an 14-0 run, taking a two point surplus into the second after having been down 12. All in all, it was a tremendously ugly first quarter, as the Bulls didn't start hitting until the last few minutes and the Nets stuck with the outside shot even as it didn't fall (Brooklyn didn't score a basket in the first quarter's final 6:25). Then again, it's not as if "that was an ugly quarter" will be an infrequent saying during this series. 

The Nets continued to lob airball after airball, which negated the fact that the Bulls weren't lighting it up either. However, Taj Gibson absolutely posterized Kris Humphries off of a pick and roll to the put the Bulls up 26-20, a dunk that was basically a way scaled down version of MJ's throw dunk from the end of Space Jam. 

Things were getting so bad that I wondered if the Nets might have more luck blindfolding themselves and using the Force when rising to shoot. The Nets were an unbelievably awful 6-for-32 from the field through 18 minutes of play, good for 19%. 

The Bulls did very well to recover, generally outworking the Nets and taking shots much closer to the basket. At the same time, the Nets' incompetence was just amazingly comprehensive. A Jimmy Butler interception in the back court led to a wide open layup for Kirk Hinrich, who happened to still be under the basket, a play that capably summarizes the state of affairs for the Nets in the first half. 

The Bulls took a 41-34 lead into the break after Gerald Wallace hit a trey at the buzzer. The Nets finished the half just 9-for-40 from the field, or 22.5%. The Bulls weren't exactly covering themselves in glory either, having shot just 41% (1-for-6 from three).

Bulls-Nets, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game Two: The Importance of Being Gritty

Chicago Bulls 90, Brooklyn Nets 82--Series tied, 1-1

Luckily, I didn't get around to writing anything about Game One of this series, which is a good thing given the  fairly disappointing outcome. The Bulls aren't 100 percent --Joakim Noah only managed to grit out 13 minutes-- but you would have liked to see a closer game given the Bulls' nice regular season mark against the Nets. 

Noah said he would give it a go again tonight for Game Two, but it was unclear how much a factor he could possibly be, particularly given the pesky nature of a plantar fasciitis injury. I'm writing these first couple of paragraphs before the game has started, but the unfortunate reality seems to be that the Bulls are going to have to win this series largely without significant contributions from Noah. This is a shame given the season he's had, but it's not exactly unexpected when a player is forced to play the minutes that Noah has. So it goes. 

In any case, the Bulls came into tonight with the opportunity to even the series before heading back to Chicago for Game Three on Thursday. It wasn't pretty early on, but through just over three minutes of play the game was tied at 2-2: progress! Noah got the start and was playing hard, as usual, but you could pretty obviously tell that he was not 100 percent. He started his evening with a miss in the paint on a relatively challenging running layup and also failed to connect on a mid-range jumper from just past the free throw line extended. 

The next few minutes continued to resemble a poorly played, out of control JV game, but the Bulls somehow found themselves up 10-6 heading into the first timeout. The Nets were blocking Bulls shots, crossing them over and throwing down monstrous dunks, but the Bulls held on to 20-17 lead heading into the second, a huge improvement over the 25-14 deficit they took into the second frame of Game One. 

Marco Belinelli pitched in some strong minutes in the second, hitting a 23-footer and then back-to-back strong finishes at the rim for six points in the second quarter's first half. Unfortunately, Brook Lopez caught fire, scoring eight second quarter points. Old friend C.J. Watson buried a buzzer-beating trey to send the Bulls into the half with a 47-46 lead. It was not the prettiest half of basketball, but it was exactly the sort of game the Bulls needed to play. 

Game No. 78 Recap, Bulls-Knicks: Clean Sweep

Chicago Bulls 118, New York Knicks 111

Luol Deng came out and hit an elbow jumper to start the game, but the Knicks were quickly able to jump out to an 8-2 lead less than two minutes in. How, you ask? Of course, via the dreaded three-point shot. As I mentioned earlier in the preview post, the Knicks shot a disgusting 20-for-36 from three on Tuesday, and they started this one with two from the left side, one from Shumpert and Felton each. 

Unlike the matchups in MSG, it was the Knicks who jumped out to a big early lead, 11-2 by the 9:10 mark, forcing a Thibodeau timeout. It was not an auspicious start for the Bulls. 

Out of the timeout, starting "center" Chris Copeland nailed another trey, extending the lead to 14-2. Meanwhile, the Bulls had missed their next five shots after the aforementioned Deng make. 

The Knicks finally missed their first shot of the game at the 7:37 mark, but the Bulls offense could not keep up at the other end. A trey from Pablo Prigioni at the 5:58 mark --forcing another Bulls timeout-- gave the Knicks their 23rd point six minutes in. Small sample size and all, but through just over six minutes of play, the Knicks were scoring at a clip of 1.94 points per possession. 

Luckily, a quick 10-0 Bulls run brought Chicago a step away from the precipice of First Quarter Blowout City. After going down 23-6 halfway through the first, the Bulls held the Knicks to just seven points the rest of the way. Entering the second quarter down 30-23 was just about as close to "winning" a quarter as a team can get while being down seven. 

On the not so bright side, the Knicks continued their sharpshooting ways early in the second, with a long two and a trey on consecutive possessions from Raymond Felton, and another trey from Copeland a couple of minutes later. Although it was only 15 minutes into the game, the Knicks were outshooting their three-point shooting percentage from Tuesday, having shot 7-for-11 from beyond the arc (64%). No matter how many times the Bulls would rally back, there is no way the Bulls could win this one with the Knicks shooting so many relatively uncontested threes. 

A few minutes into the second, Mike Woodson was forced to roll with a four guard lineup, with Copeland as the only big. This is where you start pining for a healthy Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson. Done pining? Okay, let's move to the next graf. 

After a 3-for-3 start from the field, Carmelo Anthony went on to miss 11 straight, which probably had somewhat to do with the Bulls' ability to get back into the game relatively quickly. Also, the Bulls got some solid bench production, with six points from Rip Hamilton (yes, he still exists) and seven from Nate Robinson. 

The Bulls cut the deficit to two at one point, but a 7-1 run by the Knicks --that included technical fouls on both Anthony and Robinson-- brought the lead back up to eight. I'm not sure what was said, but the Nate tech took the wind out of the Bulls' sails for a moment, especially on the heels of the Melo tech. 

Despite a disastrous first six minutes, the Bulls went into the half down just 59-54, powered by a 57% mark from two and 25 combined second quarter points from Robinson and Hamilton. The Bulls' D was not good in any respect, but I'll take 54 points in a half from an undermanned Bulls squad any day of the week and twice on Sunday. 

Game No. 46 Recap, Bulls-Nets: Gravy, No Gravy

SOURCE: karlnorling

It's been a while since I wrote something here. I wish I had more time to do so, but oh well. 

Bulls 89 (28-18), Nets 93 (28-19)

Anyway, since my last post, a lot of things have happened. The Bulls went 8-3 after that last win on Jan.11 against the Knicks. Luol Deng and Marco Belinelli hit tremendous game-winners against Toronto and Boston, respectively. Jimmy Butler started a bunch of games (plus tonight's) and basically turned into Michael Jordan. I never exaggerate. Thibs's Bulls have also been playing some stifling defense, holding opponents to under 90 in their last seven outings. 

Now that you're all caught up, let's talk about tonight. The Bulls were without the services of Kirk Hinrich, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah due to various injury issues. This necessiated a starting lineup of: Nate-Rip--Gibson-Deng-Mohammed. Although the Nets had cooled off of late, it was a bit much to ask for a win with such a de-clawed (de-horned, I suppose) lineup. 

The Bulls had a rough go of it early on, struggling to get much of anything done on the offensive end. Nazr Mohammed contributed four points during his first shift, i.e. more than quadruple season average. Chicago went down 18-8 at the 3:40 mark of the first quarter, but a Deng layup and a pair of Deng free throws (after yet another masterful rebound plus pass from Jimmy Butler) cut the lead to six. 

The Bulls were clearly trying to gain their bearings offensively; on D, they were doing just fine until the last two minutes. A Gerald Wallace layup late in the first, where he turned the corner on a pick with Deng unable to impede his progress and a couple nice plays from MarShon Brooks extended the lead back to 12. 

Otherwise, it was your standard, lukewarm NBA first quarter. This being the NBA, it was back to a two-point game by the 5:00 mark of the second, with the Bulls down just 31-33 after a Gibson thunderdunk.

Neither team was shooting particularly well at all, but 9-9 from the line for the Bulls --compared to 2-6 for Brooklyn-- helped mitigate that a little bit. It was shaping up to be a game with a final score resembling the matchup on Dec. 15: low-scoring and kind of ugly.

The Bulls took the lead after some classic NBA "ball movement" around the perimeter, concluding with a Deng corner three. Additionally, Deron Williams limped off the floor after landing funny on Brooklyn's previous offensive possession.

Despite not covering themselves in glory early, the Bulls rallied back and competed, as they always do on the road.

Halftime Stats (Bulls 42, Nets 41) 

Bulls PPP:  0.94

• Deng: 4-11, 13 pts, 3 rebounds
• Gibson: 4-9, 8 pts, 2 blocks
• Belinelli: 2-3, 9 pts, 4 assists

Nets: PPP:  0.99

• Lopez: 5-10, 11 pts 
• Evans: 4-5, 5 rebounds, 8 pts 
• Williams: 3-7, 7 pts 

Game 27 Recap, Bulls-Rockets: The Wet Bandits

Bulls (15-12) 120, Rockets 97 (15-12)

On Christmas Day, the Rockets came into the United Center, knocked everything off the shelves and mantle and left the water running on their way out. 

Early on, the matchup of the shooting guards, James Harden and Marco Belinelli, was the dominant storyline of the first quarter. As expected, Belinelli couldn't do much to stifle Harden's offensive game; Belinelli was pulled about 7 minutes into the game for Jimmy Butler. Harden was 2-for-3 from the field (4-for-4 from the line) for 8 points by the 2:55 mark. 

Luckily, despite looking a little worn down Saturday night in Atlanta, Luol Deng was on his game early, with 8 points on 4-for-6 shooting in the first period. It was a swift first quarter, featuring exactly zero turnovers. The Bulls took a 5-point deficit (27-22) into the second despite shooting 0% from beyond the arc (0-for-5), featuring one pretty macabre airball from Kirk Hinrich. 

However, with Noah on the bench in the second, Omer Asik was able to pick up some baskets at the rim. The Bulls offense also slowed down with the reserves in the game, allowing the Rockets to build a sizable 49-32 lead almost eight minutes into the second. 

This isn't exactly news, but without Deng and Noah doing their typical iron man act, the Bulls have trouble both scoring and, to a lesser extent, defending. People will continue to complain about the minutes Thibodeau gives these two, but I'm not too sure that an alternative exists.

Jeremy Lin drove by everyone en route to a layup that extended the Houston lead to 21, forcing a Chicago timeout. At this point, Lin was 6-for-8 from the field with 12 points; unlike the last meeting, Lin was not being shut down this time around. 

Simply put, when you lose the transition battle (Houston-16 pts, Chicago-4 pts) and allow the opponent to shoot 60% from the field, you probably won't be in the game. The 58 first half points the Bulls allowed in this one tied for the highest total thus far this season (the first being the 58 given up to Boston on Nov. 12).

Halftime Stats (Rockets 58, Bulls 41)

Bulls: 0.89 PPP

• Deng: 4-11, 10 pts
• Noah: 3-3, 6 pts, 6 rebounds
• Gibson: 3-4, 8 pts

Rockets: 1.31 PPP

• Lin: 6-8, 12 pts, 5 assists
• Harden: 3-5, 13 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
• Asik: 4-6, 9 pts, 10 rebounds

Game 25 Recap, Bulls-Knicks: The Second City Misnomers

Chicago Bulls (15-10) 110, New York Knicks 106 (19-7)

Despite my pregame fears, the Bulls were clearly ready to play tonight, jumping out to a 14-2 lead in the game's opening minutes, silencing what has the potential to be a raucous MSG crowd.

In the first half, everything was turning up Milhouse for the Bulls. Outside shots fell with regularity (even Kirk Hinrich was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc) and the defense clamped down on Carmelo Anthony early while Felton bricked shot after shot, continuing his shooting struggles.

But, as they say, "remember remember the 26th of November." I know they don't say that, but they should. Large leads will always feel like fleeting, ephemeral things for this team after that defeat, but the Bulls showed no signs of this being the case in the first half. The Bulls went into the locker room up 54-39, taking advantage of a Knicks defense that has steadily gotten worse since the first couple of weeks of the season while also harassing Carmelo with a combo of Deng and Butler.

Once again, a hat tip has to go to Jimmy Butler, who played some solid D on Carmelo Anthony once again. I'm not sure why or how, but Butler seems to have Melo figured out.

The Knicks weren't really getting much offense in the half court, unless isolation dribbling counts as "offense," which I suppose it does. Regardless, the Bulls kept the potent Knicks offense in check, just like the did during the first matchup in Chicago.

Halftime Stats

-Bulls PPP: 1.14

• Deng: 6-12, 14 pts, 8 rebounds
• Noah: 4-9, 11 pts, 6 rebounds
• Hinrich: 3-3, 8 pts, 7 rebounds, 5 assists

-Knicks PPP: 0.82

• Anthony: 6-15, 13 pts
• Smith: 5-12, 13 pts, 7 rebounds
• Felton: 3-9, 7 pts, 3 turnovers, 0 assists

Game 24 Recap, Bulls-Celtics: Strange Things Happening

Bulls 100 (14-10), Celtics 89 (12-12)

Last night's performance in Memphis was one that makes players and fans alike eager for the playing of the next game. Fortunately, that next game was just 24 hours away. The Celtics, not exactly at their championship form of four years ago, visited the United Center for the second time this season; things went a little differently this time.

Play in the first quarter did not feature the most imposing defense, which in a way was a nice change of pace after last night's abomination of a game. The Bulls managed 6 layups through 7 or 8 minutes of play. Belinelli even passed up an open three to take it to the rim, where his shot was goaltended. The Celtics weren't exactly playing vigilant defense, but it was encouraging to see the Bulls picking up some easy buckets in the early stages of the game.

The later stages of the first eventually turned into a Luol Deng free throw-palooza; Deng attempted --and made-- 8 free throws in the first quarter alone. That is certainly one way to get your offense.

After scoring 71 against Memphis, the Bulls dropped 28 in the first quarter alone, albeit largely on the back of free throws and layups. There was still room for serious concern about what would happen once the Bulls had to start hitting jump shots. 

In an M. Night Shyamalan-esque twist of a coaching maneuver, Thibodeau opted to start the second quarter with both Nate Robinson and Marquis Teague out on the floor. During this 4-minute stint, Teague pitched in 2 assists and a block (0-for-1 from the field, though). I'll take that. While this analogy doesn't work since the Bulls don't have a Trey Burke at the point, but if Teague can be the Bulls' Spike Albrecht, I'd be just fine with that. 

The Bulls went into a Boston timeout with a 40-29 lead almost halfway through the second quarter.It almost felt as if the Bulls had decided to save all of their offense for the back end of the back-to-back. Well, guys, I'm not sure that's how this works. 

Nonetheless, it was a tremendous half of basketball. The Bulls went into the break up 55-48; if you're keeping track, that means they had more points at the half than they did through three quarters in Memphis. Okay, that's enough "remember how bad the Memphis game was?" points. 

Halftime Stats (Bulls 55, Celtics 48)

-Bulls: 1.31 PPP

• Deng: 4-for-7, 16 pts (8-for-8 from the line)
• Boozer: 6-for-10, 12 pts
• Noah:3-for-5, 7 pts, 7 rebounds

-Celtics: 1.14 PPP

• Rondo: 5-for-8, 13 pts, 5 assists
• Pierce:  5-for-7, 11 pts, 4 assists
• Garnett: 5-for-5*, 10 pts, 7 rebounds

*Q: Kevin Garnett...is he a cyborg? A: Probably.

Game 23 Recap, Bulls-Grizzlies: Sound and Fury

(HT: @CowhideGlobe)

Bulls 71 (13-10), Grizzlies 80 (16-6)

The Bulls took a trip down south for the front end of a back-to-back (they play Boston tomorrow night at the UC) against one of the league's best teams. I'm not much for moral victories, but a close result, even in a losing effort, would have constituted a decent performance given the Bulls ongoing Rose-less-ness and the fact that the Grizzlies are pretty good. 

I remember watching the Jordan Bulls dominate the then Vancouver Grizzlies as a good, who then had the 7 foot tall Bryant "Big Country" Reeves. Now, the Grizzlies traded British Columbia for West Tennessee but now boast two very good frontcourt threats in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol (three if you include SF Rudy Gay). 

However, the Grizz looked nothing like the top four team in the Western Conference that they are in the first quarter. It was a disjointed, strange period of 12 minutes, in which Grizzlies players jacked up horrible shots and threw the ball out of bounds to no one in particular. Gasol and Randolph started the game 0/9 from the field, and the Grizz were 3-for-16 as a team through about 10 minutes of play. 

It was a lively first quarter for the Bulls, who appeared to be riding high after a big win Saturday night. Most importantly, despite cynically expecting an appearance from Evil Boozer in the preview, Good Boozer showed up in the first. Boozer dropped 8 points on 4-for-5 shooting, beating Gasol in the process. Meanwhile, Randolph was a complete non-factor early, with zero points in the opening period. 

The Bulls went into the second up 20-11 seemingly in spite of Kirk Hinrich, who return from injury seemed to produce no immediately perceptible positive effect. He was 0-for-2 in only six first quarter minutes. 

Unfortunately, the Bulls' lead was perhaps not as sizable as it could have been. The Bulls were up just 22-19 despite Memphis shooting just 28% from the field and having racked up 8 turnovers as of the 8:45 mark in the second. How did the Grizz do this? Of course, by the great equalizer that is the three, in addition to some less than solid defense from Belinelli. Memphis started the game 5-for-7 from three, and former Tar Heel Wayne Ellington was particularly bothersome to the Bulls (3-for-3 from three, on three straight possessions...ALL THE THREES). 

The first half of the second quarter was all Memphis, with the Grizz outscoring the Bulls 20-8 through 6:25 of play. The Bulls offense lost the swaggering verve it seemed to have earlier (if an offense can lay claim to such a thing in lieu of a 20-point quarter) as jumpers from Boozer, Noah and others started not to fall. 

The Bulls went into the half down five despite the Grizzlies' frontcourt trio of Gay-Gasol-Randolph contributing just a combined six points. As has been the case many times before, the Bulls got a bit of their own medicine thrown back their away; after spending the last couple of seasons winning games with its bench, the Bulls are the ones coming out on the negative side of the proceedings once the reserves come in. 

Halftime Stats (Bulls 34, Grizzlies 39)

-Bulls: 0.76 PPP

• Boozer: 5-9, 12 pts, 8 rebounds
• Noah: 2-5, 4 pts, 5 rebounds
• Belinelli: 2-6, 6 pts, 3 turnovers

-Grizzlies: 0.88 PPP

• Randolph: 1-5, 2 pts, 6 rebounds
• Gay: 0-6, 0 pts, 1 rebound
• Ellington: 4-5 (3-3 from 3), 11 pts

Game 17 Recap: Buon Lavoro*

(HT: Erik Daniel Drost)

Bulls (9-8) 95, Cavaliers (4-15) 85

The Bulls traveled to face the Irving- and Waiters-less 4-14 Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time this season, the first time coming in an early season 115-86 blowout. Coming off of a brutal loss against divisional rival Indiana, this was another game that the Bulls could not afford to lose (not that any team can "afford" to lose, ever). 

Luckily, the Bulls quickly jumped out to a 10-4 lead. If Anderson Varejao pivots were awarded a point per move, the game would have been tied, but, alas, that is not how basketball works. 

Kirk Hinrich even hit a three to start the game for the Bulls, which seems like finding the golden ticket this season except not really, as Hinrich has apparently hit a trey in each of the last six games. 

Also of note: the Bulls assisted each of their fix six baskets. Also per Jeff Mangurten (a veritable fountain of statistical knowledge): the Cavs are not so good at preventing teams from manufacturing offense. 

Marco Belinelli executed his best MJ impression, posting up the mouse in the house formerly known as Daniel Gibson for a breezy fadeaway jumper. On the next possession, Hinrich got all the way to the heart of the lane in transition and spun the ball around his back while still in motion. Of course, he fumbled it as the ball circled back around to his left hand, but the fact that he even attempted it let you know that this was going to be another game that can't even be synonymously dubbed a "contest" or "tilt," because those words imply some level of resistance from the opposition. 

Other than Anderson Varejao, who has been having an excellent season thus far, the Cavs offered absolutely nothing of note in the first quarter that would indicate this would be a game for very long. By the end of the first quarter, the Bulls had amassed a 27-11 lead, assisting 11 of their 12 baskets and forcing 7 Cleveland turnovers. 

From the very beginning, this game had all of the atmospheric accoutrements of a March Madness game pitting a 2- and a 15-seed against each other. One team is completely overmatched, and there is an impending sense that this moderately sizable lead will balloon rapidly, paving the way for the sad, slow final walk to the bench for the fallen team's seniors. 

Wait, right, I'm talking about the Bulls. When Marco Belinelli is shooting 5-for-7 for 12 points against you, and it's not even halftime, you can go ahead and cue the Rooster Cogburn "I can't do nothin' for you son" line.

With all of that said, the Bulls somehow only entered the half up 45-35. After shooting around 67% in the first quarter, they were at a still good but not transcendent 49% heading into the break. I guess this is my punishment for thinking of analogies to capture how bad Cleveland is at the game of basketball.

Halftime Stats

Cavaliers: Team PPP--0.77

• Varejao: 2-6, 9 rebounds, 5 points
  
• Jeremy Pargo: 0-5, 0 points
  
• Donald Sloan:3-6, 10 points

Bulls: Team PPP--0.99

• Belinelli: 5-9, 12 points
  
• Noah: 2-4, 8 rebounds (3 ORB), 4 points
• Boozer:3-7, 5 rebounds, 6 points

*Thank you, google. 

Game 14 Recap, Bulls-Mavs: Absolution

The airspace of mediocrity was far more kind this time around

Bulls 101 (7-7), Mavericks 78 (7-9)

Naturally, after mentioning that Shawn Marion has been averaging less than half of his career average in point thus far this season in my preview, he put up a quick six points within the first three minutes of the game. The Mavs started quicker, but the Bulls showed that they were up to the task early on, jumping out to an early 10-8 lead only to see it evaporate on the heels of a 6-0 Mavs run. The up tempo Mavs capitalized on some sloppiness from the Bulls, who committed four turnovers in less than six minutes of first quarter play. 

The Mavs were similarly sloppy, however, also as detailed in the preview: both teams accrued five turnovers earch in about eight minutes. However, the Mavs were able to weather the storm of of their own brand of sloppiness; a Troy Murphy trey later in the period gave the Mavs a 19-11 lead, extending the already blazing 6-0 run to an 11-1 avalanche.

Despite having been ground to a fine powder by Thibodeau's decision to turn Noah and Deng into Mike Martin/Ryan Van Bergen circa the 2012 Sugar Bowl, Noah was playing well through the first quarter and a half. He amassed seven points on 3-6 shooting, in addition to six rebounds and a block. Similarly, the Bulls' other iron man, Luol Deng, tallied a quick 12 points on 4-7 shooting. His jumper was falling and he didn't seem to be suffering from the effects of accumulated fatigue. 

In a rare stroke, Thibodeau put the entire bench on the floor a few minutes into the second quarter. Yes, even Nazr Mohammed. With the Bench Mob -2.0's kind offerings, the Bulls went up 41-28 at the 6:47 mark. This would be something to get excited about if not for what happened the other night against Milwaukee.

Gibson, Butler, Belinelli and Robinson combined for 25 points during what has to have been one of the bench's most successful (and extensive) shifts this season. Just like the other team that plays in the United Center (or used to before the the minions of herp and derp took hold of the NHL's CBA negotiations), the Bulls cannot survive without any secondary scoring. Unfortunately for the Bulls, their "core" guys aren't quite at the level of Toews, Sharp, Kane and Hossa.

If you're looking for encouraging things in what has been a season mired in mediocrity and incrementally revelatory --in a bad way-- about the Bulls' prospects in a Rose-less world, this is one thing you can point to and say "hey, that's something." 

Even more encouraging, the bench came back onto the floor after a timeout just past the six minute mark. This is progress. Once again, the Bulls found themselves with a sizable surplus; they entered the intermission with a 58-42 lead. Please let that sink in for a moment. The Bulls scored 58 points, in a single half. Okay, the Mavs are truly terrible defensively, and water is wet.

Halftime Stats (Bulls 58, Mavs 42)

Bulls:
Team PPP (points per possession)--1.34 (WOO)

• Deng: 5-9, 14 pts, 3 rebounds
• Noah: 4-7, 9 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
•  Robinson: 3-4, 10 pts, 5 assists, 2 steals

Mavs:
PPP--0.94

• Marion: 5-7, 12 pts
• Mayo: 1-5, 2 pts, 4 assists
• Carter: 2-7 (0-5 from 2), 8 pts

Game 13 Recap: Collapse

Bulls (6-7) 92, Bucks 93 (7-5)

The Bulls got off to a bit of a slow start tonight, allowing the Bucks to grab an early 9-4 lead. Insert "this is the NBA and leads don't matter" verbiage here, but when the first quarter ended the Bulls were up 26-19. Powered by 16 combined points from Hinrich and Hamilton, the Bulls were able to jump out to a lead despite shooting poorly. The Bulls grabbed 6 ORB in the first quarter and into the early stages of the second--one from each of the starters save Hinrich and a pair from Butler-- to mitigate the relatively cold start from the field. 

However, on the not so bright side the Bucks were doing work on the offensive glass themselves; 15 minutes into the game, they had 7 ORB.They came in averaging just over 11 offensive boards per game. 

 As the second quarter went along, the Bulls D began to tighten quite a bit. The Bucks had a hard time getting through on the dribble, resulting in some bad shots and turnovers that the Bulls converted into points (e.g. the kickout to Rip off the Milwaukee turnover for an easy breakaway layup).

As expected, Boozer didn't come out with the same shooting touch he had on Saturday, starting 3/9 from the field through almost two quarters of play. He was able to contribute in other ways, with 3 boards, an assist and a steal. 

Monta Ellis in particular was pressured and harried on the perimeter throughout the first half, and Brandon Jennings didn't fare much better. Combined, the tandem shot 5-13 in the first half, good for just 11 of Milwaukee's 40 first half points. 

Halftime Stats (Bulls 50, Bucks 40)

Bucks:
Team PPP (points per possession)--0.86

• Ellis: 3-7, 7 points, 2 assists
• Jennings: 2-6, 3 assists, 4 points
• Henson: 5-8, 11 points

Bulls:
Team PPP--0.94

• Hamilton: 7-10, 17 points
• Hinrich: 2-5 (6-7 FTM-A), 10 points, 3 assists
• Boozer: 3-9, 7 points, 5 rebounds

Game 8 Recap: Houston, We Have A Problem

You didn't have to cutttt me offf leavveeee in restricted free agencyyyyy

 (HT: chicagobullsphoto)

Bulls 89 (5-6), Rockets 93 (5-7)

Sidenote: for those interested, I am on Twitter, where I say things and post links and such when I write things here (or read neat things elsewhere). So, there you go. Follow if you want to or don't WHATEVER.

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After notching a win in Phoenix, the first stop on the circus trip, the Bulls have been reeling of late, getting destroyed in the Staples Center against the Clippers and then failing down the stretch at the Rose Garden in Portland. In order to avoid falling below .500 for the first time this season, the Bulls needed to get a win in Houston, something that should ostensibly be a difficult thing to do if you ignore Houston's record for a moment. On a note topical to Big Ten fans, Kelvin Sampson was the head coach for the Rockets this game, filling in for Kevin McHale (absent for family reasons).

As Bulls fans know, the Rockets also acquired former Bull Omer Asik after the Bulls decided to let him walk in restricted free agency.  Of course, after his time in Chicago where his lack of offensive ability was a liability, he's averaged 10.0 ppg thus far this season in Houston. Naturally.

 Even so, the Rockets entered the game at just 4-7 after grabbing a pair of wins to start the season. Still, the Rockets came into this one 10th in the league in points per game, always a disconcerting stat to see coming into the game, especially for a Bulls offense for which scoring points is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone at times.

After starting the season near the top of the PER rankings, Harden has cooled down quite a bit (he entered this game at #50). After scoring 37 and 45 against the Pistons and Hawks to start the season, Harden has only score 30 or more once since then (he scored exactly 30 against New Orleans last Wednesday). The Rockets have some other nice options --namely the second-year player out of Florida, Chandler Parsons-- but without Harden having a big game, the Rockets' chances of winning go down by a not insignificant percentage (as demonstrated by their slide since games uno y dos). 

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With Deng checking Harden early, the latter had a bit of a difficult time getting his offensive game going. Unfortunately, Rip Hamilton was no match for Chandler Parsons, who was running all over the place undeterred. Parsons started off the game going 3-5 for 7 points within the first five or six minutes. Of course, you can imagine what would happen if Rip was forced to switched onto Harden if he couldn't even handle Parsons; actually, we saw just that, as Harden drove to the basket for an easy score later in the quarter, just as if Rip wasn't even there.

On the other end, Deng and Hinrich started the game a combined 4-4, which they needed to as Rip was mired in a horrific 1-6 start from the field.

Otherwise, it was not a notable quarter in any way except for one meeting at the basket between Mssrs. Noah and Asik, resulting in an Asik block of Noah's dunk attempt (aw hamburgers). I guess Hinrich notching five assists in the first quarter also somewhat notable. Anyway, the Bulls went in to the second quarter up 22-20, i.e. on a pace for holding the Rockets to well under their season average in points. If only they could just stop the games at this junctures where people are inclined to mention things that are "on pace" to be good. 

Alas, things fall apart. The Bulls' 2-point lead turned into a 7-point deficit in less than two minutes of 2nd quarter play. Of course, as we all know, this is the NBA, where any lead is not safe at basically any point in the game, let alone the 2nd quarter. Still, it's disheartening to see the Bulls go on those rough stretches with the reserves in the game after years past, when the bench often carried the Bulls to victory when the starters weren't on. 

However, the Bulls battled back, with two straight basket from Gibson giving the Bulls a 33-30 lead. It was an encouraging series for Taj, who has for whatever reason not been the same player the he was last year. The Bulls will continue to need points from the hard work of guys like Gibson, as they continue to languish away as one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league; the Bulls were 0-5 from beyond the arc in about 1.5 quarters of play.

Luckily for the Bulls, Jeremy Lin wasn't on either. He was 1-5 from the field as of the 6-minute mark of the 2nd quarter. After missing a three and then a put back attempt, he also managed to get beat on a nice backdoor pass from Noah to Robinson on the ensuing possession. Robinson beat him off the dribble on the next possession to set himself up to hit a 15-footer from the left side. This isn't exactly news, but guards with any sort of quickness to their game can have great success against Lin on the offensive end of the floor. In fact, the story of the 2nd quarter was essentially Robinson taking it to Lin, on both ends of the floor (Robinson even managed a block on a Lin attempt at the basket in transition).

For the second time in the game, Noah was able to initiate the ol' finger guns, hitting a jumper from the top after Asik failed to challenge him. The Bulls were up 39-31, only about five minutes after being down seven. 

The Bulls managed to keep the lead going into the half, but a couple nothing-you-can-do-about-that plays from Harden cut the Bulls lead down to 46-42 heading into the intermission.

Game 7 Recap: Hot and Cold

United Center

Is a place I should visit

I need file photos

Bulls 95 (4-3), Celtics 101 (4-3)

Apologies for no preview/recap for Saturday's thrilling game against the Timberwolves; I decided not to do them because college football. 

Anyway, the Bulls took on the Celtics at the United Center, the last home contest before the Bulls embark on a 5-game road trip. The Celtics jumped out to an early lead; a 10-2 run put them up 19-10 a little over halfway through the first quarter. Rajon Rondo made the Bulls (i.e. Nate Robinson) look silly on the break a couple times early, which is obviously your primary concern when facing this Celtics team. Of course, this is the NBA, where 10-point leads are the equivalent of being down only one or two scores in the college game. 

Luckily, Carlos Boozer came alive early after four straight games of frankly terrible performances from the field. He made five of his first six shots, scoring 10 in the first quarter despite being checked by Kevin Garnett. Boozer converted a nice shot off the glass falling away, and when Garnett went out he successfully made a move and attacked Chris Wilcox for a nice bucket. 

Defensively, the Bulls gave up 33 in the first quarter, something which probably didn't make Coach Thibodeau too happy. The Bulls had more than a few breakdowns, in both transition and the half court. As expected, Garnett, Pierce and Rondo carried the day for Boston early, scoring a combined 23 points in the first quarter. 

With the second quarter underway, the Bulls were forced to play the rookie Marquis Teague, who would lead the second unit (what with Kirk Hinrich out of commission). He launched a long two on his first possession and missed. I was admittedly pretty excited about him when the Bulls were able to grab in the the draft, but it's pretty obvious that he'll need quite a bit of time before he's truly ready for the show. 

However, Teague did slip a nice pass in to Deng for an assist (and technically got credit for an "assist" on a Belinelli 27-foot three). Otherwise, he didn't do much, good or bad. He was clearly hesitant to do much of anything with the ball, which is kind of amazing if you watched him play at Kentucky last season. On one possession with the shot clock ticking down, he had the opportunity to either launch a perimeter shot or take his defender off the dribble. Instead, he shimmied, dribbled to the free throw line, and dished to Belinelli with about 2.5 seconds on the clock. Oh Derrick Rose, how we miss you so. 

After three straight buckets from Leandro Barbosa (who hurt the Bulls a bit in the second quarter), Brandon Bass and Pierce, the Bulls were down 47-38 with just under four minutes to go. Boozer then got his shot blocked by Bass, who then finished the play on the other end for two. To make matters worse, Nate Robinson turned the ball over trying to split a double team, which lead to a pair of free throws for Bass. It was a disastrous sequence for the Bulls, now down 38-51. 

The Celtics' 58 first half points was the most given up in a first half all year by the Bulls (the most since the Atlanta game in January, per Stacey King). Needless to say, allowing an opponent to shoot 60% from the field generally doesn't result in nice things. 

Halftime stats

Celtics: PPP (points per possession)-->1.26 

• Pierce: 4/7, 10 points, 5 rebounds
• Rondo: 5/6, 10 points, 5 assists
• Garnett: 3/8, 9 points 

Bulls: PPP-->0.99

• Boozer: 6/9, 12 points, 4 rebounds
• Robinson: 1/3, 4 points, 5 assists
• Deng: 5/12, 11 points

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The game just sort of dragged along, with the Bulls down by 10-14 points throughout most of it. The Celtics continued to shoot it well and the Bulls continued to mostly live and die by the outside shot, which resulted in all sorts of air balls, shots off the side of the glass (ahem, Boozer), etc. The Bulls really never get the transition game going, where Noah held an advantage on Garnett vis a vis general mobility. Alas, Noah was only 2/6 with 6 points well into the third quarter. 

Naturally, there was a sense that Boozer's 5/6 start from the field was an ephemeral thing, and it was; he went 2/8 from the end of that 5/6 start until the end of his third quarter floor time. Boozer gonna Booze(r). 

The third quarter was a purgatorial time of the Bulls being down 10-14 points, the Celtics seemingly not interested in putting the game away and the Bulls too incompetent to get any closer. The Bulls finally pulled within nine with under a minute to go, but former Buckeye Jared Sullinger knocked in a trey with 0.7 seconds to go in the third quarter. 

So, the third quarter was essentially like watching a hamster running in his wheel for 12 minutes. However, the Bulls showed life early in the third. As if on cue, Noah put in a quick five points, and Deng then posted up Barbosa and flipped one up from the elbow (he then converted at the line for the 3-point play). With Rondo on the bench, the Bulls went on a 7-0 run (Boozer was also on the bench during this time, in case you were wondering). 

After Noah hit a pair of FTs, the Bulls were down only three for the first time in seemingly forever. The Bulls defense seemed to pick up the intensity, forcing Garnett to pull the trigger on an outside shot that he airballed. 

Marquis Teague made an aggressive move off the dribble from the top of the key but fended Garnett off with his arm while in the air, spoiling what would have been a very nice play otherwise. On the other hand, the Celtics had fallen completely cold, having shot 2/10 through the first half of the 4th quarter. The C's were shooting "only" 50% now from the field. 

A Deng layup with under a minute to go brought the Bulls to within 2, but Garnett slammed an alley oop home on the other end to bring the deficit back to 4. Just like the Thunder game last week, the Bulls just couldn't come through when they needed to on the offensive end. Gibson missed a pair of free throws and Rondo dropped his 10th assist on the night, resulting in a Bass dunk. Game blouses. 

BULLets, Sponsored by "I See What You Did There, Inc."

• Marquis Teague. I won't belabor the point re: not being ready, but he seems to be his own worst enemy at this point. This isn't saying much, but he is easily one of only a couple Bulls' who can occasionally break a defender down. Teague was very tentative, particularly late in the shot clock. On two separate occasions, he dished it to Belinelli with very little time left on the clock. Especially with Hinrich out, Teague needs to trust his best asset--his ability to break people down--and just play ball. 

• Adventures in Carlos Boozer shooting. He did start off hot, having a good stretch of shooting for the first time since the Cleveland game. However, all good things must come to an end, especially when it comes to Carlos Boozer's outside shooting. I don't need to tell you that he wasn't on the floor when the Bulls made their big 4th quarter push. 

• Captain Kirk. Hinrich is hurt all the time these days, which is kind of annoying, but it's clear that he is more valuable than we might realize. He plays good D and has led the charge in the transition game more than capably through the Bulls' first 6 games. 

• Sometimes I get a bad feeling. The Bulls enter their 5-game circus trip with a 4-3 record and a palpable sense that the Bulls underperformed against NOLA and let one get away against OKC. In any case, the Bulls start their road tour in Phoenix Wednesday night and continue with LAC, Portland, Houston and Milwaukee. If they can go 3-2 or better there, gold stars for everyone. 

• The 100+ point rule strikes again. Just saying, it is ironclad. The Bulls give up 100+, they lose. 

Game 5 Recap: Melts Into The Sea, Eventually

Thanks, banner. 

Bulls 91, Thunder 97

The Bulls stared a 2-2 Harden-less Thunder team looking to avoid a sub-.500 record. Everything in the early stages went according to the ironclad plan detailed in the game preview; the Thunder were cold from outside, missing long 2 after long 2, and that allowed the Bulls to get out in transition. Partially on the back of a hot start from Rip Hamilton, the Bulls jumped out to a 12-4 lead while the Thunder shot 2/12 from the field. 

Things began to fall apart a bit as the first quarter ended and the second began. Kirk Hinrich did his best Mobb Deep impression, looking like quite the Shook One after a crossover from Westbrook led to an easy layup. Ibaka hit a corner three, which is a pretty scary concept if he can hit that with even semi-regularity. The Bulls got beat on their second backdoor cut of the opening quarter, this time with Collison hitting Durant for the dunk. 

A turnover on the Bulls' final possession of the quarter lead to a Durant dunk in the open floor with 0.7 seconds left. The two teams entered the second tied at 24. 

Things continued to trend in the negative direction in the early stages of the second. After the Bulls had started 10/15 from the field, they then rattled off a stretch of 1/8. The Bulls were also somewhat careless with the ball, turning it over multiple times in the opening minutes of the period. Kevin Martin also continued to show the scoring prowess he has shown in the first four games of his Thunder career, completing an and 1 opportunity after a nice drive past Jimmy Butler for a nice 14-footer. 

The Bulls found themselves down 26-33 after having been up by eight earlier in the game. Fortunately, the Bulls picked it up in the second half of the second quarter by, you guessed it, converting in transition and on second chance opportunities. Kirk Hinrich continues to be, to my surprise at least, kind of a magician on the break, knowing exactly when to hit guys on the wings or in the lane. He even hit a three after Boozer sneakily picked up an offensive board that made its way to the 3-point line before the nearby Thunder player could grab it. At that point, it was 40 all and the Bulls were back in business. 

Hinrich then delivered a beautiful pass to a charging Luol Deng on the break, who maneuvered his way in the air to finish and convert an and 1 opportunity at the line. 

It was a sloppy quarter at times for the Bulls, and not a particularly good one for Boozer, who turned it over at least once and took a bad shot on the last possession. Unfortunately, the Thunder rattled off a 6-0 run to end the half, taking a 48-47 lead into the intermission. 

Halftime stats: 

Thunder: 

• Durant: 5/9, 10 points
• Westbrook: 2/10, 8 assists (!), 4 points
• Serge Ibaka: 6/11, 15 points
• Team: 50% from the field, 10 turnovers, 5 offensive boards

Bulls: 

• Boozer: 2/8, 7 points, 2 turnovers
• Deng: 6/11, 13 points 
• Hamilton: 3/5, 8 points, 3 turnovers
• Team: 44% from the field, 10 turnovers, 8 offensive boards 

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The Bulls managed a 9-0 run early in the third to make the score 59-55. Durant and Westbrook pitched in the first three buckets of the half for the Thunder, however, resulting in a bit of concern as to whether or not they would attempt to break the game open on their own in the third period. On the bright side, the Thunder then went scoreless for the next four minutes, allowing the Bulls to creep back into the game and acquire a small lead.

Russell Westbrook took Hinrich on again at the top of the key, completing a spectacular play in the lane for an and 1 opportunity to bring the Thunder within one.

Otherwise, it was once again a sloppy quarter for both teams. The Bulls coughed it up seven times, the Thunder six times in this quarter alone. However, paced by 7 points from Hinrich and 8 from Hamilton, the Bulls entered the fourth with a 72-66 lead off of an 11-5 run.

The Bulls jumped out to a 5-point lead but an 7-0 run coming from the Thunder put the Bulls down 73-75. That's when it became the Luol Deng Show. After a trey, and and 1 off of a 16-footer and a layup, the Bulls were within two with five and a half minutes to go.

With the score then at 85 all, Deng and Hinrich missed two very good looks from downtown on back-to-back possessions, which, as a fan, was a "what could have been" pair of moments.

Westbrook slashed through the lane and finished as the game approached the 2-minute mark. The Bulls then turned it over, but Durant missed badly on the ensuing possession. Hamilton couldn't connect on a solid medium range look. There was less than a minute to go.

Of course, despite not having a transcendent night, the Thunder called Durant's number. He swished a baseline jumper to give the Thunder a 4-point lead. The Bulls would need to score on their next possession.

Luckily, they did, as Hinrich maneuvered around the perimeter before dishing to Gibson, who swished a 15-footer. However, once again, Durant knocked home a Nowitzki-esque jumper over Deng's head to bring the Bulls deficit back to 4.

From the elbow, Gibson found a cutting Noah, who slammed it home with literally nobody anywhere near him. The Bulls then called a timeout to gather themselves/figure out who to foul, what with 15 seconds left in the game.

The Thunder managed to get it in to Durant, who went on to knock both free throws. After a missed Radmonovic trey, it was game over for the Bulls, with only 3.7 seconds to go.

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It was a sloppy game (42 total turnovers between the two teams) marked by intermittent bursts of brilliant showmanship from Luol Deng, Rip Hamilton, Russell Westbrook and, of course, Kevin Durant. Both teams built up solid leads at various points only to see them collapse like sand castles melting into the sea.

Despite lapses along the way, the Bulls managed to battle back to make it a game until the very end. Deng and Hamilton had exceptional nights, and Hinrich was pretty solid as well. Boozer struggled for the third game in a row, and the Bulls only managed 14 bench points (with a 6-man rotation, if you include Radmonovic's brief cameo). For comparison, the Thunder only played 4 subs, who scored a combined 29 points.

That will be something that the Bulls will continue to have to live with post-Bench Mob. With Boozer continuing to struggle and Gibson et al failing to be regular offensive contributors (not that I'm expecting Gibson to be 10+ ppg guy right now like Ibaka), the pressure will continue to fall on the shoulders of guys like Hamilton and Deng to be on from outside.

On the bright side, I will say this: even though the Bulls are "only" 3-2, this was another laudable effort from a squad missing the guy the makes it all go. At some point I'm going to need to stop mentioning this fact, but Rose's absence cannot be understated. Picture a Bulls squad with Hinrich running the transition against the opponent's bench, and this is a team that looks pretty, pretty, pretty good.


The Bulls have another home contest Saturday against an, as of now, 3-1 Minnesota squad. With a game against Boston after that before a 5-game road tour, we'll learn a lot about this team in the coming weeks.

Game 4 Recap: Back on Track

Bulls (3-1) 99, Magic (2-1) 93

Due to a prior engagement, I had to miss quarter 2-4 live yesterday, so today's recap will primarily be a lightning round/box score set of observations as I attempt to slog through the game on my DVR. The Magic took their first loss this season, but still continue to impress despite a young, injured, Dwight Howard-less roster and a new head coach. I'm not sure that we can count them as a "gimme" win going forward.

BULLets, Sponsored by "I See What You Did There, Inc.": 

• The century mark. Hey, look, the Bulls held a team under 100 and won. Let's just go ahead and discard the NOLA game and make this an ironclad Rule of Chicago Basketball in 2012-13. 

• I don't need no stinkin' surgery. Luol Deng pitched in 23 points on 9/16 shooting and was a crucial part in the Bulls' 15-2 second half run. 

• Other shocker: shooting well generally translates to a win. Once again, the Bulls didn't shoot too many threes (2/6 on the night, with Kirk finally hitting one...he actually even hit another, going 2/2 on the night) and they didn't even have an exceptional day on the offensive glass (the Bulls only rebound 20% of their misses). However, the Bulls did keep the Magic off the offensive boards, as Vaughn's young squad was only able to reel in 22% of its misses on the offensive end. 

• Minuses. FWIW, as I'm still making my way through the game, but Hinrich, Mohammed and Belinelli were a combined -18 in their combined total of 41 minutes of play (Hinrich accounts for 26 of those minutes). 

• Manufacturing. The Bulls managed a combined 56 points off of turnovers, fast breaks and points in the paint. As one would expect, the Bulls will need to continue to make hay here as long as Rose is out, because half court offense will continue to be a dicey proposition. 

• D up. Again, need to make my way through the tape but 28 points for Arron Afflalo means that something went terribly, terribly wrong. On the bright side, Afflalo was -4 on the night, somehow, so clearly he probably didn't have a great night on the defensive end, either (at least, that is one explanation one can infer from a box score alone). 

• Boozer shooting tracker. As I've said numerous times already in this short season, the Bulls' fate on a given night will often, sadly, rest on the shooting performance of one Carlos Boozer. Boozer went 6/18 on the night, taking his four-game shooting percentage to 44%. This would be pretty bad for a typical big man, but for a jump shooter like Boozer I suppose we can simply call this mediocre or below average. 

• SHOOTER: FOUND. The Bulls kept their opponent's primary 3-point gunner in check again (after holding Ryan Anderson to a horrid shooting night on Saturday). Redick went 2/6 from beyond the arc on Tuesday night. 

• Glen Davis. After tearing up the opposition to date, the Bulls held Davis to 16 points on 7/22 shooting, i.e. the most misses he's ever had in a single game in his career. Job: done. 

Game 3 Recap: Undefeated Dreams, Dashed

I had this picture all ready to go so that I could make a "can we stop the season and declare this team NBA champions?" joke. Oh well. 

Bulls 82, Hornets 89

After starting Friday's game with a 7-0 run, the Bulls got a bit of a taste of their own medicine on Saturday night. The Bulls struggled to score in the early goings, and the Hornets rattled off a 8-2 run to start the game. Greivis Vasquez got the Hornets out in transition and distributed well, as he has shown the ability to do early on in this season. 

Al-Farouq Aminu pitched in six points in the opening period, all dunks. Ryan Anderson and Roger Mason also pitched in from outside, the latter pitching in two (including one that was contested by Gibson about as well as you could ask for). 

The Bulls offense was sluggish and unable to gain its bearings early on. Boozer was not able to connect on his jumper, starting the game 0/4 from the field. Luckily for the Bulls, Luol Deng and Marco Belinelli--yes, you read that correctly--were able to carry the Bulls through this tough stretch. For all the criticism Deng has received regarding his decision to play in London and to opt out of surgery, he continues to soldier on and deliver tough baskets on determined drives and put backs. Deng almost had a double double halfway through the second quarter (10 points, 7 rebounds). 

Belinelli had easily his best stretch of play early on in this one, pitching in eight points in short order, including a dunk (!) on the break, resulting in Stacey King asking for the hot sauce, and a trey. As King made sure to note, Belinelli is "not just a shooter." It's still too early to make any grand declarations regarding Belinelli's game, but he clearly has a more diverse skillset than Korver did. Of course, that does not mean he is a better player overall, as Korver's elite shooting made him an important piece of a team with legitimate title aspirations. However, Belinelli's play in this one was encouraging, whether or not you believe it is a reproducible effort. 

He also pitched in a couple nifty assists, helping the Bulls double up on the Hornets in the assist department (a Hornets team that ranked 6th in the league in assists per coming into this game). 

It was a shaky start, but the Bulls erased their early 10-point deficit with relative ease. After his early dunkfest, Aminu went scoreless the rest of the half, and the Hornets' transition game that had hurt the Bulls earlier was held in check the rest of the first half. However, after two straight treys from Vasquez to end the half--FIND THE SHOOTER--the Bulls entered the half down 44-46. 

The Hornets started the second half with the slowest developing post move to hook shot ever from Lopez over Boozer, a Lopez dunk, and another Aminu dunk. Through a little over five minutes of play, the Hornets lead was once again back to 10. 

Unfortunately, this game made it painfully obvious that nothing will come easy for this Bulls team on the offensive end. The transition game can only account for so many points, and when Boozer isn't hitting, the Bulls don't really have anybody to break the defense down (miss you, Derrick). Per Jeff Mangurten, the trio of Hinrich, Boozer and Hamilton were 2/18 through about 2.5 quarters of play. As you all know, the Bench Mob was able to mitigate such things last year, but the Bench Mob is not a thing that exists anymore. 

The Bulls had some trouble finishing at the cup on the break, otherwise they would have had a small lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

The Bulls entered the 4th down 60-66. The two teams traded buckets for most of the quarter until the Bulls pulled to within 4 with a little over a minute to go. A huge call went to the Bulls way, with the refs reversing a call that was originally called Hornets ball. After replay, the ball clearly appeared to go off Jason Smith's hand without touching a Bull on its way out of bounds. 

The Bulls had a chance to narrow the deficit to 2 or 1 on their next possession. The Bulls called Belinelli's number, who had a pretty good look on a corner three. He missed. After starting off hot earlier in the game, Belinelli finished 4/10 (2/6 from 3). Gibson was called for a foul on his rebounding attempt over Smith. Smith hit both of his free throws at the other end to put the Bulls down six with 53 seconds left. The rest was a formality, as the Bulls fell for the first time in this young season against a Davis-less Hornets team. 

BULLets, Sponsored by "I See What You Did There, Inc.": 

• Evil Boozer. Evil Boozer reared his head tonight. He went a horrific 1/8 from the field, and it's not like he was getting terrible looks. He just missed. Unfortunately, that is just the game you play when you have Boozer on the floor. He's like Kyle Korver, but bigger, which is sadly not the worst thing that has ever been said about Carlos Boozer. 

• Transition defense. The Bulls have shown the propensity to lose shooters in transition, which hurt them occasionally in this one. However, Anderson was actually pretty terrible, going 1/7 from beyond the arc. Moreso than transition D vis-a-vis the 3-point line--which is tough to defend for any team, really--the Bulls allowed far too many easy buckets, particularly to Aminu. 

• A positive! Noah notched a double-double on the night, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 boards. So that's nice. 

• Memes, broken. Unfortunately, this sort of throws a wrench into the whole "The Bulls will beat bad teams by virtue of defense and rebounding no matter what" thing. However, it's entirely possible that the Hornets aren't that bad (at least not in the realm of terrible as Cleveland). Still, that doesn't make this loss, at home, any less palatable. 

• The story: Boozer, Hamilton, and Hinrich shot a combined 4/26 from the field, good for 15%. That+the lack of a Bench Mob=loss almost every time. That's all, folks. 

Game 2 Recap: Running of the Bulls

(HT: Erik Daniel Drost)

Bulls 115, Cavs 86

The Bulls went into Cleveland and came away with about as good of a performance as one could possibly ask for. The Bulls were up 60-35 at the half, scoring about as many points in the paint as the Cavs had points, period. 

The pace was frenetic early on, with Cleveland turnovers and long rebounds turning the Bulls into the Nash era Suns. Hinrich, for all the sarcastic comments that the Internet will lob his way, is actually pretty good at running the break. The Bulls rode this early wave of transition basketball, which yielded two Boozer dunks, to a comfortable lead that they never relinquished. 

The Bulls were active defensively, as usual, and the Cavs were left to throwing up horrible shots from outside, often leading to long rebounds and the running of the Bulls. The Bulls jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, and although the Cavs kept it sort of close for a little while after hitting some shots early on, the game was a blowout for most of the first half. 

Boozer was once again in top form, although this is something we've all seen before re: Boozer's performances against bad teams. With that said, the Bulls have played two games, and Boozer has performed admirably in both. 

Most importantly, with Kirk Hinrich playing un-ironically tough, gritty defense on Kyrie Irving, the Cavs offense was about as effective as Michigan's is when Denard can't find daylight. I was a bit skeptical, but Kirk had a stellar game on D, as Irving was forced to pound the rock far more often he would ordinarily need to on his way to a decent shot. A gold star for Mr. Hinrich. 

In perhaps the most amusing developments of the game, Luke Walton was matched up on Taj Gibson for a period of time, and it was truly like watching a big brother toy with a little brother in a game of driveway basketball. Walton had no way of getting around Gibson to front and when Gibson went on the move, Walton simply could not keep up. This lead to easy buckets and trips to the FT line for the newly extended Gibson. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that Walton is still in the league, let alone logging non-garbage time minutes. But, then again, I'm just a guy. 

It was 60-35 at the half. The Bulls were simply dominant on both ends through two quarters, and the goal of the second half was simply to not pull a Grizzlies during their DERPocalyptic Game 1 performance against the Clippers in April. 

However, after letting up a bit near the end of their game against Sacramento on Wednesday, seeing the Bulls completely and utterly crush an opponent from start to finish was an encouraging sight. With another contest against a bad team coming tomorrow night at the United Center against New Orleans, the Bulls should be looking at a nice and tidy 3-0 start to this Rose-less campaign. 

BULLets, Sponsored by "I See What You Did There, Inc.": 

• Another humorous moment: an attempted alley oop from Boozer to Nate Robinson, who sort of just bumped into Tristan Thompson and then proceeded to look outraged when he didn't get the foul call. Alley oop. Nate Robinson. That happened. 

• The Masked Man. Rip Hamilton was deservedly maligned last season after being a splashy free agent signing (well, for the Bulls, that is) and spending much of the season injured or on the bench in key situations, when Thibodeau seemed to favor Kyle Korver. However, Hamilton has been stellar thus far. He caught fire late in the third quarter, which I'm pretty sure correlated directly with several minutes of technical difficulty from CSN. 

• Just to drive the point home further...the Bulls were up 83-56 through three quarters, and they accomplished that with only 5 offensive boards (i.e. rebounding 25% of their misses). That really goes to show you how dominating of a performance this was: they didn't even really need second chance points. Another remarkable thing? It's a few minutes into the fourth quarter as I write this and the Bulls have only attempted six treys. 

• The Cavs, they are bad. This Cavs team beat the Wizards by 10, so...if this were the EPL, Washington would so be Queens Park Rangers. 

• Complaints, I guess. If I have to say anything negative it will be extremely quibbling, but: 1) Belinelli displayed a laughable olé defense against Gee in the first half that led to a wide open layup 2) the Bulls seem to struggle at post entry and 3) okay I can't even think of one that isn't "Kirk Hinrich is not Derrick Rose."