Eastern Conference playoffs - round one: Chicago Bulls(47-35) v. Washington Wizards(45-37)

Game 1: Sunday at Chicago, 4:30 TV: CSN/TNT
Game 2: Wednesday at Chicago, 7:30 TV: CSN/NBATV
Game 3: April 30 at Washington, 2:00 TV: CSN/TNT
Game 4: May 2 at Washington, TBD
Game 5: May 4 at Chicago, TBD*
Game 6: May 6 at Washington, TBD*
Game 7: May 8 at Chicago, TBD*
*if necessary

No need going over what a great season this has been, what it means, who deserves the credit, etc. Because the season aint over. Especially in this series, which will be difficult but winnable.

If Curry and Deng were in the lineup, I'd say it's a no-contest Bulls series win. Obviously losing two of a team's best players will hurt, and as I'm sure most of you have heard: no team that lost it's leading scorer going into the playoffs have won a series.

ESPN.com has a pretty nice preview up, and provides their experts' (and Bill Walton) predictions as well as some key stats:

	WIZARDS	BULLS
PPG	100.5	94.5
RPG	42.8	43.8
APG	19.1	21.3
FG%	.437	.432
FT%	.725	.750
3P%	.343	.357

As we all know, that doesn't tell the whole story, so here are some advanced stats from Knickerblogger's site:

	WIZARDS	BULLS
Poss	96.6	96
Off Eff	103.9	98.5
Def Eff	103.9	97.4

That's right, as good of an offense as Washington is, they are just as poor on defense. And it's nearly opposite for the Bulls, so needless to say this series will be an interesting clash of styles. The Bulls need to have their defense lock down and keep the game close. What that will essentially come down to is the team defense of the Bulls against Washington's big 3: Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Antawn Jamison.

How can the defense accomplish keep this? We all know the Bulls have trouble with whomever in the backcourt isn't guarded by Kirk Hinrich. In this series I'm going to guess Hinrich takes Larry Hughes while Chris Duhon matches up with Gilbert Areanas. This could lead to a huge game or two by Arenas, and with him being one of the league leaders in getting to the foul line, you know that he is not one to be afraid of penetrating to the basket. This goes the same for Hughes, but the Bulls have to hope that Hinrich can put the brakes on at least one of the Wizards' terrific guards.

The Wizards start a small frontcourt of Jamison and Jared (don't call me Chris) Jefferies, which provides a matchup problem. I do think that Nocioni can hassle Jamison enough to keep him off his game, but the loss of Luol Deng really hurts when Noc needs to rest (or gets in foul trouble) or when guarding the other forward spot. The AARP squad of Antonio Davis and Othella Harrington will provide an inside scoring that the Wizards will have to contend with, but I think that it'll be the Wizards' athleticism that will provide even more problems. Defensive stalwart Tyson Chandler will have his hands full watching the basket for the Wiz' big 3, and hopefully will be altering shots left and right. He may need to more than normal.

Will the Bulls score enough points to stay close?  Fortunately for the Bulls those same Wizards also give up a lot of points. Larry Hughes is the NBA leader in steals, but that at the same time illustrates the flaws of their defense. Unlike the Bulls who never give up a cheap basket, keep a hand in the face of every jumpshooter, and contend for every rebound, the Wizards are a chance-taking defense that thrive on the steals of Hughes and others. The Bulls are dead-last in the NBA in terms of taking care of the ball, so this could be a huge issue if the Bulls' (especially Gordon, Nocioni, and Chandler) do not play smart. A few costly turnovers and the Bulls won't even have time to set up their defense before they're taking the ball out of their own basket. The Bulls frontcourt, even without Curry, have the ability to score in the post against the Wiz' big men. I know I have already taken a pot-shot at the age of Antonio Davis and Othella Harrington, but it has been their quality play that has soften the blow of losing Eddy's offense. The Wiz' Brendan Haywood averages 2.4blk/40 (almost as good as Chandler [2.6]), so it won't be completely easy.  But where they could also get points is through offensive rebounds, where the Wizards are 26th in the league in opponents' OReb%. And we all know that's how Tyson can do damage.

So the game is close, now what? This is where the Bulls have an advantage. While it's true that the Bulls are young and have little playoff experience, the Wizards can say the same. Kirk Hinrich and especially Ben Gordon have shown a closing ability that has won the Bulls many games that they many times had no business winning. But when the games were close, this team found a way. Will that change in the playoffs? perhaps, maybe the young guys will frighten under pressure. But I doubt it. And don't underestimate how much the clutch factor for this team rests on Tyson Chandler. He needs to be in at the end of games, period. It is him who is getting Ben Gordon the ball off of rebounds, and him who is responsible for anchoring a defense that leads the league in defensive fg%. I was thinking of suggesting that Skiles should start Chandler over Antonio Davis, minding that the Bulls could not afford slow starts in playoff games. But if it keeps him out of foul trouble, keep him coming off the bench. Besides, why mess with success??

What about the (gulp) intangibles? Coaching is a draw, as both Skiles and Eddie Jordan are at the top of their profession, although it seems that the Wizards aren't as consistently motivated as this Bulls team is. As I pondered before though, how much of an edge would this give the Bulls in the playoffs, where you can assume all opponents will be as focused as them? This is especially true due to the bad blood these two teams have accumulated over the season. It'll be interesting to see if either playoff-inexperienced team comes unglued due to the animosity (and this will really have me eyeing Nocioni).

 Home court advantage will be a bigger deal, as the Wizards were 8th in the conference with a 16-25 road record (the Bulls were 3rd at 20-21). If the Bulls can take the first 2 at the United Center it could be a short series. I think it will go 7 though, with the Bulls putting enough good defensive efforts to make it to the second round. Chandler, Hinrich and Gordon(who will likely become a star after this series) will close these games out, and show the NBA what we've been enjoying all season.

Bulls over Wizards, 4-3.

I welcome your predictions and comments below, I'll have a game 1 report after coming home from the United Center on Sunday!

Good times all around, well maybe not all...

Even in a game where the Bulls had nothing to play for, they nearly beat the Pacers (who were playing for the far-more-desirable 6th seed rather than the 7th), sporting a lineup that included Pargo, Pike, Reiner, and new signee Lawrence Funderburke. A game like tonight just solidified how fun it's been all year to root for these guys. Despite the outcome, it was a fitting end to a great regular seaon.

More fallout from the home-court-clincher, starting with the Bulls Report:

Even if the Bulls lose every playoff game against the Wiz, Scott Skiles has accomplished just about every goal a second-year coach with a rebuilt team full of rookies could ever hope for.

And more from Unknown Column, who declares (and I agree) that Ben Gordon is the rightful Rookie of the Year:

Gordon, meanwhile, has played the role of hero on a team that has defied the odds and shocked the NBA. He's hit an assortment of clutch shots in pressure situations in games that truly matter.

Okafor has been impressive.

Gordon has been amazing.

This ROY vote, if it goes to Okafor, will go down as one of the prime examples of 'double-doubles' being the most overrated stat in basketball.

Meanwhile, Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander doesn't quite feel the elation that the rest of us do, instead he feels sad that Michael Jordan isn't involved:

But Michael is stunningly noticeable in our town by his absence from the team he made globally famous.

Oh, he'll show up for a game every now and then, sit in his 100-level box, avoid the crowds. Sometimes he comes because one or the other of his sons will want to watch a visiting player like LeBron James.

At least once this season Jordan said hello to some of the Bulls players after a game. But he's not a part of the team, nor is he a part of the organization.

More than that, Skiles was implying, Jordan is not a part of the thought process of the team.

Nor its spirit.

"In a lot of ways, it's been a wonderful, magical thing,'' general manager John Paxson said of this brilliant, odds-defying Bulls season.

It has been. And legendary Michael Jordan has been absolutely no part of it.

Which, when you think about it, is just kind of sad.

Eh, not really Rick. At the risk of repeating myself on Jordan, go here and here. Needless to say, I'm hoping that Jordan goes nowhere near the Bulls locker room, except maybe at most offering an 'attaboy' after the game. Ask yourself if Larry Hughes and Kwame Brown would welcome Jordan, and you'll know where I'm coming from.

Where Telander's right is that Jordan has no connection to this team. Skiles showed class by deferring the suggestion that Jordan address the team, but privately he should've been peeved. This is his team, his players' team, Pax's team. This is their moment. They can enjoy it without the great Michael Jordan coming to bask in some reflected light.

While there's a case to be made that it would've been nice if Jordan was an Ernie Banks-like superfan of this team, its didn't happen that way. The fault of this will always be debated here, but in no way does this make me feel like it detracts from what is happening right now. Let this be a new dynasty.

Playoff preview to come...

 

It's official

With yet another 4th quarter comeback netting the Bulls a victory over the Knicks, and a Wizards loss,  the Bulls secured the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and home-court advantage in the first round.

and the people rejoiced...

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• Another reason for celebration: Carnival of the NBA #7 is up at Knickerblogger.net, and with a twist.

 

Playing out the string

Back on March 1st I was forecasting expected wins for the month, adding:

You'll probably notice that I go to extremes when the Bulls are facing very good teams, or very bad ones. I figure this because during this stretch of the season I can imagine a good team as more likely to be gearing up for the playoffs (while not yet at the point yet where they would be resting guys), and a poor team is more likely to mail it in.

The Bulls have been winning games in bunches, including a weekend that included a blowout of Orlando and a huge comeback against the hapless Hawks. While the Hawks are the worst team in basketball, the fact that the Magic recently were eliminated from playoff contention made them another easy target.

Since Eddy Curry played his last game of the season on 3/28, the Bulls have lost 3 games: to the Heat, Pistons, and Wizards. All playoff teams. However, in that time they have only beaten one playoff team, and that was the Cavs. As we all know calling them a playoff team is premature at best. The rest of the Bulls wins have been against teams with no shot at the playoffs. And whether they were just plain bad (like the Hawks), or recently eliminated (like the Magic), these are games the Bulls come into with an inherent advantage.

2 games remain in this marathon, at home against the Knicks, and the finale (FYI: now on ESPN) at Indiana. With the Pacers losing on Sunday they dropped two games behind the Wizards, so by the time of the season finale it is possible that the Wiz will be locked in as the Bulls' first-round opponent. But as I'm sure everyone's aware of, the home-court advantage in that series may go down to that final game.

Since the loss to the Wiz last Wednesday gave them the tiebreaker, the Bulls have a magic number of 2 for home court. The Wiz's final games at New Jersey and at New York, so a loss in there isn't out of the question. But it's also likely that while undermanned, the Bulls still have something to play for, and their opponents wont. Obviously in the playoffs this advantage in motivation will be gone. Without it, will the injuries finally catch up?

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And another question: After Saturday night, do I owe Chris Duhon an apology? Then again, being a blogger means never having to say you're sorry :-P