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. 81 Recap, Bulls-Magic: Magic Cures What Ails You

Chicago Bulls 102, Orlando Magic 84

The Bulls entered tonight having squandered any momentum that win against New York could have possibly generated; since then, the Bulls have lost two straight, putting them a game behind Atlanta with two games to go. A Chicago loss and an Atlanta win tomorrow night would seal the Bulls' playoff seed at the 6 spot, meaning a tough first round opponent in the Indiana Pacers.

As such, a game like tonight's, against a quite frankly horrid Orlando Magic squad, was one that a team with even a modicum of hope for any sort of playoff run should win. Jacque Vaughn's Magic team entered tonight with a 20-60 record, second to last in the Eastern Conference and the second worst mark in the entire league (they're only one game better than last place Charlotte).

Fortunately for the Bulls, both Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson made their return, albeit from the bench and under a minutes cap.

Orlando jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead, but a Hinrich trey from the straight away and a beautiful backdoor dish from Carlos Boozer to Jimmy Butler allowed the Bulls to pull within two; on the next possession, Boozer faced up and hit his patented jumper to tie it at 9 four and a half minutes in.

The Bulls' defense was far from lockdown in the opening quarter, but the Bulls were able to capitalize on some easy buckets in transition situations and off of turnovers. Chicago entered the game tied for second to last in the league in points per game (93.1), but the Magic weren't far ahead, ranked 24th with 94.3 ppg. Of course, this is the NBA, where games aren't won or lost in the first quarter, or even the second or third.

Nonetheless, the Magic finished the first quarter with a shooting percentage of 47.6%; to the Bulls' credit, however, that number was hovering around 55% with just a few minutes left in the first quarter, so the defense tightened up a little bit. Chicago took a two point deficit into the second quarter, but, on the bright side, Noah and Gibson entered the game late in the second, logging their first minutes in some time.

Unfortunately, Noah picked up three quick fouls in just 4-5 minutes of play, with his third coming just over two minutes into the second quarter. A couple of minutes later, Rip Hamilton also picked up his third, putting the Bulls in an awkward situation very early in the game.

Upon an Orlando 24-second violation, Neil Funk mused that sometimes "you just have to wonder what Orlando is doing." An appropriate comment given that particular possession, and yet, the Bulls were still down four.

The offense was much harder to come by early in the second, as both teams combined for just nine points in the second frame's first five minutes. A 5-0 Bulls run gave them a 29-28 lead just past the halfway point in the second.

The Bulls offense start to hum down the stretch in the second, with four buckets from Boozer and Luol Deng from within 10 feet (three of them layups) and two more treys from Hinrich. Deng added another three for good measure, and a foul on a Jimmy Butler alley-oop dunk attempt sent the Bulls into the break up 49-37. Despite a shaky first 18 minutes or so, strong halves from Boozer (12 pts), Deng (14 pts) and Hinrich (3-for-3 from three) gave the Bulls a sizable cushion as the first half drew to a close.

Game No. 70 Recap, Bulls-Heat: Rasputin Strikes Back

Bulls 101, Heat 97

The Bulls came out firing, jumping out to an 11-2 start in the game's opening minutes, causing an Erik Spoelstra timeout at just the 9:02 mark of the opening quarter. Obviously, the rest of the game would not continue this way, but it was encouraging to see the Bulls come out strong, hitting some shots and getting to loose balls. 

Carlos Boozer was in on the early hot start, helping to extend the lead to 13-2 with an offensive rebound and a solid conversion from about 10-12 feet. Unfortunately, a quick pair of LeBron threes cut the lead down to 13-9. 

However, with some more hard work on the offensive glass, Boozer forced Udonis Haslem into his third foul of the game, just 5:15 into the contest. 

The Bulls were putting on a beautiful display of spacing and ball movement early on in the game, supplemented by some opportunistic defense at the other end. Chicago was shooting very well early and cleaning up some of its misses; although the glass half empty thought would be "this won't continue," again, at least it happened at all.

Deng nailed another trey near the 4:00 minute mark, and the game was starting to remind me of the Bulls' two trips to Madison Square Garden this season. 

Thanks to a pair of absurd Nate Robinson floaters near the end of the quarter, the Bulls entered the second up 32-22 despite 13 first quarter points for LeBron. Then again, the Heat aren't necessarily new to being down early in games as of late, so the Bulls could not afford to ease off even a tiny bit.

Fortunately, they didn't in the second, keeping their double digit lead for most of the quarter. Nate did his decidely Nate thing, and various other Bulls pitched in on the offensive end. Boozer had some trouble finishing around the basket in the first half on a couple of different occasions, but he otherwise had himself a nice half, going 5/10 from the field for 10 points. 

The Bulls outworked and outplayed the Heat in the first half, dishing out 15 assists to Miami's five. A staunch defensive effort on a Chris Bosh shot attempt in the closing seconds of the half sent the two teams into the break, the Bulls up 55-46. Something something end the streak something something. 

In the third, the Heat drew closer, this time down just five, 57-52, less than three minutes in. It felt very close to gut check time for the Bulls, who could have begun to fold once Miami threatened to tie it up.

Nazr Mohammed should come in for praise here, as he hit the Bull's first jumper of the half in addition to picking up an offensive board and a defensive one that drew Haslem's fourth foul. No, starting a 35-year-old Nazr Mohammed will never be ideal, but he has been sneakily effective at times. Like Kurt Thomas of the Knicks, sometimes that old man game is better than you think. 

Despite a highlight reel alley oop from Deng to Butler, dunking over a hapless Bosh, the Bulls went into the final frame up just 69-68.  On the bright side, after 13 points in the first quarter, the Bulls held LeBron to just 11 in the second and third combined. Progress! Also, despite a 1/10 start from the field in the third, it is nice that the Bulls were not only still in the game but up one, no less.

The Bulls would need to continue being physical in the paint and not allowing Miami any easy buckets, whether in transition or the half court. Regardless, entering the fourth in the upper 60s is a win for the Bulls, who simply cannot keep up given the state of the active lineup. 

A 6-0 run by the Bulls, capped by Birdman derping an open dunk and Butler finishing over him at the other end, gave Chicago some breathing room. Still, it was difficult not to hope for the lead to grow a decent bit before the final four of five minutes, as we've seen the Bulls collapse down the stretch due to a lack of playmakers vis-a-vis the opponent.

An aggressive take by Hinrich in transition gave the Bulls a 80-73 lead with six minutes or so to go, a make sandwiched by two Deng treys. It was a somewhat lethargic third quarter, but the Bulls' outside shooting was coming to life at the right time. Now, it was all about getting stops.

LeBron baited Hinrich into driving past him on three consecutive (I believe) possessions, leading to three straight blocks and a lot of consternation. STOP DRIVING KIRK AHHHH. Well, with just over two minutes to go, Kirk drove, found on the wrap around pass at the baseline, who then swished it to give Chicago a 94-85 lead with 2:18 to go.  

A pair of Miami buckets cut the lead to just five with over a minute to go, which might as well not have been a lead at all with LeBron looking to go into heroball mode after the flagrant foul situation with Boozer several minutes earlier.

Big buckets from Boozer and Robinson essentially sealed up the win for the Bulls, sending the Heat into foul mode. 

The Heat entered the United Center and lost tonight for the first time since Feb. 1. It seemed unlikely after the Heat tied it up in the third, but the Bulls continued to fight and scratch and do all the things people scoff at because of irony and Internet sarcasm. 

The Bulls have notched some solid wins against some solid teams this season, but this one, without the service of Noah, Belinelli, Rose and Hamilton, easily comes in as the best victory of the year. Obviously, a Bulls team with all those guys is a completely different squad, and it's difficult to extrapolate based on this game how they'd do at full strength, but...either way, it's hard not to get excited after wins like this.

An excellent performance from Deng, Butler, and, yes, Boozer, powered the Bulls to victory while short-handed against a team on an insanely prolific streak. Who knows how the rest of the season will unfold, but tonight was one of a select few regular season games that will be remembered for years to come.

Game No. 28 Preview, Bulls-Pacers: Take Me There

Chicago Bulls (15-12) @ Indiana Pacers (16-12)

The Opponent 

I don't remember the reason, but I didn't actually get to watch the first Bulls-Pacers matchup back on Dec. 4. It's probably better that I didn't, because it was uglier than Ronnie Brewer's jumper.

The Pacers edged the Bulls 80-76 in a defensive struggle worthy of Big Ten basketball lore. Despite the solid defensive effort from the Bulls, Paul George dropped 34 points on 14-25 shooting. Meanwhile, Luol Deng scored 17 on 5-15 shooting and Boozer pitched in 14 on 7-13 from the field.

Needless to say, the Bulls cannot allow another similarly heroic effort from George if they hope to snag a win on the road (which would be nice, as the Pacers are a half game ahead of the Bulls in the Central division).

The same dramatis personae will take the floor for the Pacers. Roy Hibbert mans the middle, averaging 9.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg and 2.86 blocks per game. No, Hibbert is not the flashiest or most athletic big man, but he is a serious shot blocking force and can hit the glass with impunity (5th in the league in offensive rebounds).

David West leads the way for Indiana in points, averaging 17.4 per from the power forward spot, also pitching in 8.1 boards per game. The aforementioned Paul George pitches in 16.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg; Kirk Hinrich has gotten torn up by Jeff Teague and Jeremy Lin in back-to-back games, so he'll need to play a solid defensive game this time around if the Bulls are to have a chance.

Rounding out the rest of the rotation, the Pacers also feature such frontcourt pieces as SF Gerald Green, PF Tyler Hansbrough, SF Sam Young and C Ian Mahinmi. The Pacers are obviously a frontcourt-oriented team, with only George, 3-point shooter Lance Stephenson and backup PG D.J. Augustin the only Pacer guards getting meaningful minutes.

If you like low-scoring frontcourt battles, this is the game for you. Here's the player comparison for Noah and Hibbert based on the 2011-12 season numbers:

Again, these comparisons are far from perfect without the context of each individual game situation in mind, but it does provide a general sketch of what went on when both Noah and Hibbert were on the floor at the same time last season.

Points of Concern 

Simply put, fatigue is a concern. The Bulls are of course short-handed, what with the absences of Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton, and when I watch the Bulls there is always a morbid, pervading sense that this is a team that is hanging by a thread at all times, an awkward Noah ankle twist or a hard knock to a Deng shoulder away from oblivion (i.e. major minutes for RADMAN).

Other points (isn't Bulls basketball one giant monolithic concern anyway?):

• Can the Bulls stop Paul George from experiencing an offensive supernova redux?
• Bulls guards (and bigs) finishing at the basket in the face of Hibbert's shot-blocking presence
• With the Pacers' rebounding prowess essentially neutralizing the Bulls' biggest asset, can Nate Robinson, Kirk Hinrich and Marco Belinelli give the Bulls a semblance of consistent scoring? Was the game in Madison Square Garden a mere outlier for Kirk Hinrich? 
• Can Nate Robinson score in parts of games that actually matter?

What Needs To Happen 

• Strong first. The Bulls can't afford to fall behind early like they did last night against Houston. If you're looking for a college football equivalent, the Bulls are a triple option team: good with the lead (if you ignore the Milwaukee game), not good at playing from behind. 
• Guard play. Just like the Memphis game, this is one that will probably be determined by guard play. Kirk Hinrich absolutely needs to bounce back and find some sort of confidence in his shot. 
• Turnovers. In a game like this, each possession is precious. On average, the Bulls and Pacers are just about equally careless, with the two teams averaging 15.5 and 15.4 turnovers per game, respectively. This won't be a speedy game with lots of transition opportunities, so the Bulls can't afford to pointlessly throw it into the stands too often.
  

Useless Prediction Time 

• Neither team hits 90. 
• Carlos Boozer gets at least three shots blocked and produces the audible sounds to prove it (i.e. AYYYYYY).
• Double-doubles for both Hibbert and Noah. 
• Bulls 82, Pacers 87.

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 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 #13 Preview, Bulls-Bucks: You Again

Chicago Bulls (6-6) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (6-5)

The Opponent 

After beating the Bucks Saturday in Milwaukee (a game I had to miss because I was at the Michigan-Cornell hockey game at MSG), breaking up a 3-game Bucks winning streak, the two teams face off again tonight at the United Center. The Bucks enter the game a half game better than the Bulls at 6-5. 

Despite averaging just under 100 points per game heading into tonight, the Bulls D appears to be stiffen up again, holding the Bucks to just 86 points at 17.6% from beyond the arc (3-17). 

The Bucks continue to rely on combo guard Brandon Jennings for a significant chunk of their scoring; he scored 23 on 10-20 shooting Saturday night (although he was only 1-5 from 3). Although I didn't get a chance to watch the game, Kirk Hinrich et al will need to do a better job on Jennings. The fourth-year guard also tallied 7 assists and 5 steals (!).

Of course, the Bucks jettisoned Andrew Bogut in an offseason trade that yielded them another combo guard scoring type in Monta Ellis. Ellis scored 17 on 7-17 shooting Saturday, with only a pair of assists to his name. 

Overall, the Bucks assisted 17 baskets and turned it over 16 times, compared with a Bulls assist:turnover ration of a little over 2:1 (20 assists, 9 turnovers). So, if the Bulls can stop Jennings and Ellis in isolation sets and in transition, holding the Bucks to a sub-90 output shouldn't be exceedingly difficult, especially at home. 

Otherwise, the Bucks have a fairly unimposing cast of characters filling out the rest of the lineup. Small forwards Tobias Harris and Ersan Ilyasova are averaging 8.4 and 6.4 ppg, respectively, with Ilyasova maintaining a horrible PER of 6.6. 

Veteran SF Mike Dunleavy will come off of the bench and chip in some scoring (12.3 ppg), especially from beyond the arc, where he is shooting a sterling 44%. C Samuel Dalembert will come off the bench to be large and whatnot, and rookie Tar Heel John Henson hasn't made a significant impact just yet; he played only 1 minute on Saturday. 

In short, this is a guard-heavy team dependent upon Ellis and Jennings to carry the day. The Bulls should, for the most part, dominate with its front court matchups.

Points of Concern 

Despite not having some big name front court guys, the Bucks are a respectable 11th in rebounding, but only 2oth in offensive rebounding percentage. With the athleticism of the Bucks' guard tandem, the Bulls cannot afford to let the Bucks out-athlete the Bulls on second chance opportunities when the play breaks down. 

Otherwise, it's all about containing Ellis and Jennings, whose athleticism should scare Bulls fan. It's painfully obvious that the Bulls have one of the least athletic starting fives in the league, and players like Ellis and Jennings can do some damage against them. However, they combined for 40 points and still lost on Saturday, so evidently the Bulls got it done elsewhere on the floor.

What Needs To Happen 

• FIND. THE. SHOOTER. In this case, it's Dunleavy. Fairly self-explanatory. He was only 1-4 on Saturday, and can hit if you leave him open, just like any other NBA shooter. There's no reason to let a guy like Dunleavy beat you, so it all starts with good offensive sets and shots on the other end and vigilant transition D when those long rebounds do set Ellis/Jennings off to the races.

• Force 'em to settle. Ellis and particularly Jennings are far less dangerous when they're launching shots from outside. Hinrich et al simply need to keep the tandem in front and perimeter help needs to be vigilant or the pair will score more than 40 combined this time around. The Bulls cannot afford to let the Bucks' average front court guys to get going with easy buckets off of penetration dishes from Ellis/Jennings. The Bucks are 13th in the league in 3-point attempts per game but are shooting only 30%, good for 26th in the league. Let them eat cake shoot threes! Well, they can have cake too if they want it but they'll need to wait 30 minutes until entering the game again. I'm looking at you, Milwaukee front court. Safety first.

• Hit the glass. The Bulls rebounded 40% of their 50 misses (20 ORB) on Saturday. Assuming that, say, Boozer doesn't go 10-15 again from the field --probably a safe assumption given his season thus far-- the Bulls might need that sort of tenacious effort on the glass one more time.

Useless Prediction Time 

• Boozer does not go 10-15 this time against Milwaukee; the 2012-13 adventure in Boozer shooting swings back to the Evil Boozer side of the pendulum. 
• The Bulls rebound at least 40% of their misses once again. 
• With Deng and Noah playings 42 minutes and Boozer playing 36 on Saturday, I'm looking for a relatively well-rested Taj Gibson to have one of the better games of his at times somewhat underwhelming 12-13 season.
• Bulls 96, Bucks 91.

Game #4 Preview, Bulls-Magic: Rebound

I should probably go to a game and acquire some better file photos (i.e. ones other than this one). 

Chicago Bulls (2-1) vs. Orlando Magic (2-0)

Good times. 

The Opponent 

After the Dwight Howard saga mercifully came to an end, which saw him getting dealt to Los Angeles in a 3-team deal that got Orlando Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and future picks, the outlook for the 2012-13 season seemed grim to say the least. Where the hopes and dreams of the surely innumerable legions of Magic fans once stood became home to a dusty landscape filled with tumbleweeds and store fronts with signs reading "Be Back NEVER Going to Miami." 

However, the Magic have defied all odds en route to a 2-0 start, beating a good Denver team and Phoenix, both at home. Glen Davis has done his best to make everyone forget that Dwight Howard existed, scoring 29 and 22 points against Denver and Phoenix, respectively. 

Unfortunately for Orlando, they did lose Hedo Turkoglu after he suffered a broken hand in the opener against Denver. Also, Jameer Nelson didn't play Sunday due to a groin injury (FUN) and also didn't practice Monday (per Rotowire); former Purdue guard E'Twaun Moore took his place at the PG spot Sunday. Moore actually performed quite well after a non-descript run in Boston to start his NBA career. Against Phoenix, he put up 15 points on 6/11 shooting (3/3 from beyond the arc) and 6 assists to three turnovers. 

Aside from the whole "two starters already being banged up after two games" thing, things have gone just about as well as the Magic could have possibly hoped for. Davis is filling it up, Moore has performed admirably in Nelson's stead, and J.J. Redick is shooting 75% from 3, which is a good thing for him because he's probably getting traded (that trade value just isn't going to up itself). 

It's hard to get a read on a team like this so early in the season, but I feel confident in saying that they're not as good as they have shown. Davis' top 5 PER of 29.6 is in no way sustainable, but I suppose that doesn't matter in the scope of this game in and of itself. In three games against the Bulls last year, Davis averaged a meager 7 ppg, although with Dwight still around then he wasn't getting starter's minutes. 

The Magic cracked the 100-point mark in each of their first two games, although that is a debatably impressive accomplishment against those teams. However, in light of Howard's departure and the injuries to Turkoglu and Nelson (as well as the ongoing absence of Al Harrington and Gustavo Ayon), the Magic have gotten some surprisingly balanced scoring, allowing new coach Jacque Vaughn to begin his head coaching career with a pair of wins. As Saturday night showed, the Bulls cannot afford to sleep on any team as long as Derrick Rose is out. 

Points of Concern

Many will argue that 3-point defense is "random," and shouldn't necessarily be a cornerstone of an assessment of a team's overall defense. Regardless, the Bulls are about middle of the pack when it comes to 3-point D thus far. The Bulls have allowed some open looks on occasion, usually in transition; luckily for the Bulls, Ryan Anderson had an awful night on Saturday, otherwise the game wouldn't have been close.

As such, the Bulls will need to keep an eye on Redick in transition and coming off of screens in the half court (he's 6/8 from beyond the arc so far). Otherwise, there isn't much about this Magic team on paper that should really scare the Bulls; then again, I thought the same thing leading up to the Hornets game. 

What Needs To Happen 

• FIND THE SHOOTER. Just like I said in the last preview re: Ryan Anderson, the Bulls cannot afford to gift Redick any open looks. However, it should be noted that Redick is not just a 3-point shooter. He has developed a solid game over the years that extends outside of his ability to knock them 'em from outside. He is shooting 59% on 2-pointers. 

• Immovable object, irresistible force. The Bulls are 2nd in the league in points allowed per game (87.3), whereas the Magic are 1st in points scored. A general rule of thumb: if the opponent scores over 100, this Bulls team as it is currently constituted probably won't win that game. The Bulls only scored over 100 once during the preseason (exactly 100, a game which I was at) and once in its first three games (the blowout in Cleveland). So, something's got to give here. 

• Boozer/Hinrich/Hamilton: COME ON PLEASE. Let's add another point to the "Ironclad List of Things That Will Make This Rose-less Bulls Team Lose": if the aforementioned trio combine to shoot 4/26 in a given game, the Bulls are probably not going to win that game. I know, this is shocking, but this is why I am here to tell you these things. In all seriousness, the Bulls can barely even afford to have Boozer go as cold as he did on Saturday, let alone him and Hinrich and Hamilton. This is all a roundabout way of me saying "make shots, please."

Useless Prediction Time 

• Hinrich continues to struggle from the field, but Boozer and Hamilton enjoy respectable shooting performances.
• Redick has another great night from the field, but the Bulls' big men give Davis problems all night. Noah and Gibson combine for six blocks. 
• The Bulls' overall team defense is enough to keep a banged up Orlando team in check; the Magic don't eclipse the 100 point mark for the first time this season. After getting burned re: Saturday night's game, I don't feel as confident about the following as I probably should, but...here it is anyway. 
• Bulls 91, Magic 87

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 #3, Bulls-Hornets: The Cupcake Tour Marches On

Chicago Bulls (2-0) vs. New Orleans Hornets (1-1)

The Bulls return to the friendly confines of the United Center after a trip to Cleveland for a game that might have been the biggest rout of this NBA season thus far. The Bulls out-hustled, out-ran, and out-shot a bad Cavaliers team en route to a 29-point victory, taking the Bulls to 2-0. 

The Opponent 

On Saturday night, the Bulls take another decidedly mediocre to bad opponent in the New Orleans Hornets, who have actually acquitted themselves somewhat well thus far. The Hornets lost by four at home against San Antonio to start the season but then pulled out a thrilling 2-point win against the Jazz last night. Greivis Vasquez hit a layup with 1.3 seconds to go after Utah's Paul Millsap hit a trey to tie it on the previous possession. 

Unfortunately for NOLA, #1 overall pick Anthony Davis went out with a mild concussion in the first half of last night's game, and he is not traveling with the team to Chicago. 

Before Davis' injury, NOLA rolled out this starting lineup: SF Al-Farouq Aminu, PG Greivis Vasquez, C Robin Lopez, SG Austin Rivers, and, of course, Davis. With Davis out, former Orlando sharp-shooter Ryan Anderson or the 7'0'' Jason Smith will slide into the lineup at the 4. 

Davis boasted a lofty 26.3 PER rating in his less than 1.5 games, and the dropoff after him is not insignificant. (Vasquez comes in second at 17.9). 

Small sample size and all, but other than Anderson, the Hornets do not shoot the three particularly well. Anderson is 43% from outside, and he'll probably hit a few tonight as well, whether in transition or on the rare Bulls defensive breakdown (they happen, just not often). Otherwise, nobody else seems to shoot it well, but, then again, Anderson has taken close to half of NOLA's trey do date. 

Despite the loss of Davis, the Hornets still boast another solid inside presence in Robin Lopez, acquired from Phoenix via trade. During his four seasons in Phoenix, Lopez was never much of a scoring threat, never averaging double digit points a single time. However, through two games he's averaging 13.5, in addition to 8 boards per (3 of the offensive variety). Again, small sample size caveats apply, but maybe this is the year that Lopez becomes a more well-rounded player on the offensive end. 

Of course, the Hornets are still without the services of Eric Gordon, who is out for 4-6 weeks with a knee injury. 

Maryland product Greivis Vasquez--who NOLA acquired from Memphis to fill the backup spot behind Gordon--has also had a nice start to his 2012-13 season, dropping a total of 23 dimes through just two games. He is a more than capable distributor, so the Bulls will want to avoid letting Vasquez operate in transition. One way of doing this is by doing what they did last night in Cleveland: forcing turnovers/long rebounds and going on the break themselves for some easy scores. 

Points of Concern 

With both Davis and Gordon out, the Hornets don't offer much that should put a serious score into the Bulls, even without Rose. However, as mentioned, the Bulls will need to make sure that Vasquez doesn't do his thing in the transition game. 

Additionally, Ryan Anderson is always a concern for any team from beyond the arc. He scored 15 of his 19 points last night from downtown, and even the Bulls will leave a guy open on the perimeter from time to time (note: if that guy is Luke Walton, then by all means LEAVE HIM OPEN). 

If this were any other team, Robin Lopez doing work on the offensive glass would be a concern; luckily, this is the Bulls we're talking about here. 

The rookie shooting guard from Duke, Austin Rivers, has gotten off to a horrific 1-13 start from the field through two games. This isn't so much of a concern as it is me hoping that this isn't the game that Rivers finds his shot. 

What Needs To Happen 

• DO. YOUR. JOB. Pretty simple. If the Bulls do all of the things that the Bulls typically do on defense and the offensive glass, I have a hard time imagining the Hornets cracking 90 points. 

• Find the shooter. The only way I see the Hornets hanging around late into the fourth quarter is if Anderson catches fire, as he is wont to do. Whoever is on him (Deng?) will need to make sure to go over screens and generally give him the business, without fouling of course. 

• Dives and cuts. With NOLA lacking Davis' presence in the paint, the Bulls should be able to make hay on hard cuts and dives from whoever the second post player is. Noah made a nice cut through the heart of the paint for a score against Cleveland when Boozer occupied the right block. That will likely be there again. Lopez can swat some shots, but he is not Davis. 

Useless Prediction Time 

• Captain Kirk hits some threes: he goes 2/3 on the day. 
• Vasquez does not get into double digit assist territory...seven sounds right. 
• Ryan Anderson starts off hot from 3 but tails off as the game goes on. 
• Bulls 98, Hornets 88

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." 

Game #2: Bulls-Cavaliers

The game is not being played here but I took this picture so here it is. 

Chicago Bulls (1-0) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (1-0)

I will be making a concerted effort to try and talk about Chicago sports in the coming months since I now have the ability to hop on a train and watch some live sports. Due to a combination of a lack of time and the fact that there is really no point in me writing previews in the Michigan blogosphere, I'm going to direct my attention toward the Bulls, maybe the Bears, and maybe the Blackhawks (except the NHL is dead so probably not that). 

Anyway, that's your warning (in case the above picture wasn't enough). Today's preview will be a lightning round version, however these posts will generally be much shorter than your average Michigan football preview, there being 82 games and whatnot. 

The Opponent 

The Cleveland Cavaliers enter this tilt against the Bulls at 1-0 after a 10-point victory against what is still a very bad Wizards team. Nothing much has changed, as Kyrie Irving still makes this team go when it does in fact go (that sounds familiar); he paced the Cavs with a 29-point, 6-rebound effort on Tuesday. Tristan Thompson and the rookie out of Syracuse Dion Waiters both scored in the double digits as well (12 and 17, respectively). 

Otherwise, the rest of Cleveland's starting lineup is filled by all-around gritster and annoying guy Anderson Varejao and SF Alonzo Gee. Varejao does what he does...he's basically a poor man's Noah. Gee is just a guy. 

Points of Concern 

There's really only one: don't let Kyrie Irving beat you by himself. The Bulls are not the Wizards, defensively or otherwise, so I can't imagine that Irving will replicate Tuesday's performance. For all the talk about Hinrich's tough, GRITTY defense, I don't really feel that great about him staying in front of Irving. 

Cleveland grabbed 18 offensive boards on Tuesday; however, 12 of them came from Varejao. Even post-Asik, the Bulls still have a pretty dominant front court and overall rebounding presence. 

Other than the obvious admonishment that is "stop Irving," Tristan Thompson is an interesting player to watch out for. I had the chance to watch the Cavs take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in February and Thompson, then a rookie, was very much your standard 1-and-done guy: athletic, lanky and very raw. Thompson put up 11 points on 5-9 shooting and 8 rebounds, a solid night against a Knicks team featuring a defensive stalwart like Tyson Chandler. 

What Needs To Happen 

• Clean up the perimeter defense. The Bulls gave up far too many points on uncontested drives from outside against Sacramento. Against Irving, the Bulls really can't afford to do that or he will drop 30+. However, other than Irving, I'm not sure who on the Cavs roster is really going to break you down. Waiters? I guess, but then again it's not like the Bulls are overflowing with break-you-down-ability right now sans Rose. Daniel Gibson, the other Longhorn on the roster (the first being Thompson) looks to be coming off the bench; he is a known entity at this point in his career. He'll spot up and hit some threes if you leave him open, just like every somewhat decent player in the NBA will do. 

• Oh bench where art thou? So the bench didn't really get much run on Wednesday, and it would be nice to see that change a bit tonight. Against teams like Sacramento and Cleveland, you would think that the Bulls could afford not to run Deng et al into the ground so early in the season. Contributions from Marco Belinelli and Nate Robinson are always appreciated. This is a good opportunity for Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler to work on their offensive game against another bad team. Perhaps Gibson has a double-double in store to celebrate his recent extension. 

• GIMME DAT. Boozer makes shots. Shots make Boozer. Whatever it is, let's keep doing that please. The loudest Bull was 8-13 on Wednesday en route to an 18-point night. Yeah yeah, his game relies almost entirely on the jumper, but he did have a nice "and 1" play late in Wednesday's game. 

Useless Prediction Time 

• Both Deng and Noah play 40+ minutes again. 
• Gibson scores 10 but just misses the double-double, reeling in eight boards. 
• Irving has another Denardian performance, points-wise, but once again is somewhat lacking in the assist department. 
• Bulls 85, Cavaliers 80.