Bulls season ended, offseason hoopla begins
Staff Writer
The Chicago
The Bulls made the playoffs for the second straight year since drafting Derrick Rose, and hoped to make another great impression on the league and by defeating the NBA’s best, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The last time the Bulls and Cavaliers met in the playoffs, Michael Jordan was playing for Chicago Jordan
This time the Cavaliers have a number 23 set to take the Cavaliers where they have never been before.
The Cavaliers had the best record in the NBA, 61-21, and were ready to take on the eighth seeded Chicago Bulls, who finished the year with 41wins, 41 loses.
The last time the Bulls and Cavaliers met, it was the regular season and LeBron James was out and resting for the playoffs. The Bulls won the game.
This time, King James and his squad were back to full strength and with new faces including Shaquille O’Neal, and Antwan Jamison, to help them on their quest to the NBA Championship. Both Shaq and Jamison could take some of the load off of James.
In game one of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the Cavs played very well. LeBron had 24 points, along with three other players who scored in double figures. The Bulls weren’t getting it done on the boards and were out rebounded by the Cavs 50-38. They were dominated in the paint and were out scored 42-26.
In the third quarter the Bulls found themselves down by 22 points and it seemed as if the Cavs would cruise to a 1-0 series lead.
But the Bulls didn’t stop fighting. They eventually brought it back within seven points, but that was as close as they would get to the lead. James took over and helped put the Cavs ahead for good, winning the game 83-96. The Bulls saw Derrick Rose blossom again in the playoffs. He finished with a double-double, 28 points and 10 assists.
Game two was more competitive and personal for the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland
Joakim Noah had some choice words for the city of Cleveland Cleveland
The Cavs came out strong and were determined to take a two game lead into Chicago
With a few days off to prepare for the Cavs at the United Center
They played well on defense, despite some foul trouble, and were magnificent on the offensive side thanks to Rose’s 31 points, Kirk Hinrich’s 27 points, and Loul Deng’s 20 points. Noah once again had a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
They would take the lead into halftime and going into the third quarter, the Bulls clicked and pulled ahead by 21 points. Over the course of the third and fourth quarter the Bulls slowly saw the lead diminish to a one point deficit near the end of the game.
The Bulls depended on free throw shooting to win the game for them, but they missed many. The Cavs would hit some big time three’s to cut a seven point deficit to a one point lead with less than five seconds remaining in regulation.
Loul Deng took a pair of free throws and only made one, with three seconds left, giving the Cavs one last shot to pull off the impressive comeback.
The Cavs’ Anthony Parker would launch a half court shot only to have it hit the side of the rim and give the Bulls the 108-106 win over the Cavs.
The Bulls evened up the series, after escaping a game three loss, to give fans another memorable playoff series, as they did last year against the Celtics.
LeBron’s 39 point effort wouldn’t be enough to defeat the Bulls this time around, but he would be back.
Spirits up and positive attitudes, the Bulls looked to even up the series at two games when they hosted the Cavs on Sunday. However, James had no intentions of letting it happen.
The Bulls were outplayed and dropped game four by a score of 121-98. Though history was made, thanks to Joakim Noah’s 21 points and 20 rebounds, making him the first Chicago Bull in history to ever record a 20 point, 20 rebound game, the Cavs would steal the show.
Rose also added 21 points, but he could only watch James get a triple-double with 37 points, 11 assist, and 12 rebounds. Mo Williams scored 19, and Jamison 24.
Halfway through the second quarter, the Bulls had a small four-point lead, but it was erased quickly and stayed that way.
As the third quarter came to a close, James dribbled the ball up court to shoot a half court shot over Derrick Rose, just as time expired and drained it. Cleveland
The Cavs looked to put away the Bulls in Cleveland for game five with a 3-1 series lead over the Bulls, and get ready to face the Boston Celtics, who already advanced by beating the Miami Heat in five games.
It was win or go home for the Bulls and they did everything they could to keep the series alive. The Bulls were in foul trouble throughout the game, though some calls were questionable. Both Brad Miller and Taj Gibson fouled out and Noah had five.
LeBron and Shaq were dominant the whole game and having them both drive into the lane, they would get fouled. James used it to his advantage and had a couple of add-on plays to pile on more points.
LeBron finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. He would have one of the most decisive plays down the stretch. Rose had just hit a tear drop over O’Neal and appeared to have been fouled but wasn’t called, LeBron then ran it back the other way and scooped it in with a foul being called giving him the 3-point play.
The Bulls were close until the final minutes, only trailing by four, but eventually lost by two points, 96-94.
The most important story of game five was LeBron’s right arm, which appeared to have been injured on an earlier play. It was evident in his last three throw attempts, he shot the first one right handed and hit the shot to put the Cavs up by four, making it a two possession game with four seconds left.
The second one he planted his left foot on the line and shot it lefty but held his right elbow after releasing the shot. The Bulls would get the miss and call a timeout, and James walked off the court with a look of discomfort on his face, holding his elbow. When asked whether he would be ready to play the Celtics, he assured everyone he would be fine and ready to go.
Now that the Bulls season is over many questions remain: Will Vinny Del Negro still be the Bulls head coach next year? His job status has been questioned since reports leaked that he was involved in an altercation between himself and Bulls president of operations John Paxson.
Who will the Bulls pick up in the 2010 free agency? Could it be hometown native Dwyane Wade? Reining MVP LeBron James? Chris Bosh? Joe Johnson? Dirk Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony, or Amare Stoudemire if they chose to opt-out of their final year under contract? Or even take a gamble and sign Tracy McGrady? No one is sure, but the list goes on for All-Stars who will hit the free agency this summer and the Bulls will be a much stronger team with the addition of another All-Star to join Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.
The Bulls have the third most spending money this year. If money is what the top free agents want, then you could see a Wade, Rose, and Noah line up or a James, Rose, Noah line up, either one would instantly make the Bulls a legitimate contender. With a few players to help out on the bench, Chicago could very well have a seventh NBA Championship banner hanging in the United Center
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