The Chicago Bulls had an up and down week. It started out very strong, with a 110-90 win at home over the lowly Toronto Raptors. They got their starters alot of rest in the late stages of that game in preparation for a 2 game roadtrip against two of the weaker teams in the Eastern Conference, the New Jersey Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Those are two teams the Bulls should beat by double digits every time out. However, the Bulls turned in by far their worst performances since Carlos Boozer's return against Orlando early in December. Low energy offense and terrible rotations on defense led the Bulls to consecutive road losses against teams at the bottom of the conference standings. Not only that, the Bulls had a small problem at the end of the Nets game, with Carlos Boozer being upset over sitting on the bench for the final 14 minutes of the game.
Coming off of back-to-back road losses, and playing the second night of a back-to-back at home against the first place Celtics didn't bode well for the Bulls, who were struggling really for the first time this season. I was not really expecting the Bulls to play particularly well against the Celtics, and even worse, I had tickets to the game, so I was ready to witness my favorite NBA team lose for the third consecutive night.
Instead, the Bulls played inspired basketball for almost the entire game. Fueled by the fact that they had already lost twice to Boston this season, the Bulls really got after the Celtics on the defensive end of the court. In fact, three times in the game last night the Bulls forced 24 second shot clock violations in which the Celtics didn't even get the shot off. There was one other time when they forced another such violation when the shot didn't hit the rim. They challenged shots almost every time down the floor, and outrebounded the Celtics by a wide margin.
On the offensive end the Bulls received large contributions from their two star players. Carlos Boozer finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Boozer was hot and cold all night. For instance, he scored 2 points and had a few turnovers in the first quarter, only to score 11 points and have several key rebounds in the second quarter. Then in the third quarter Boozer turned the ball over and missed easy shots. In the fourth quarter, he made 2 critical baskets to keep the Bulls ahead by a safe margin in the middle of the quarter. I wouldn't say this was his best game, but he played outstanding in key stretches, which allowed the Bulls to sustain a good offensive attack.
Derrick Rose had a fantastic game. He finished with 36 points, 5 rebounds. He only had 2 assists, but that was clearly not his fault. He tried to get his teammates involved early in the game, but nobody could hit a shot early on, so he decided to take over the game. It was great to see him get to the foul line. He shot 19 free throws and made 15 in last night's game. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come. He needs to get to the line more often in order to slow the game down, end opposing team scoring runs, and to improve his overall game. I have always enjoyed watching Rose play, but seeing him live was awesome. He took over the game in the first quarter, and in the fourth quarter he made three huge jumpers, including a high arching shot over Shaq that basically sealed the win.
The Bulls ended last night's game with a 90-79 victory over a great Boston team. Both teams were dealing with injuries (Boston was without Garnett, Perkins and Delonte West, while the Bulls were missing Noah). However, when both teams are healthy, their contests should be just as competitive. The Bulls improved to 24-12 with the win, and continue to have the most comfortable division lead in the NBA (a 9 game lead over the Pacers). The Bulls have a tough week coming up. They play tomorrow night at home against the Pistons, who have played the Bulls very tough so far this season. They have road games against the Bobcats and Pacers later in the week before returning home on Saturday to face the Miami Heat. I am really excited to see that game. It'll be interesting to see how the Bulls stack up against Miami's "Big Three".
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