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NBA Playoffs -- Sunshine amidst the rain for the Bulls By Kristy Gonowon PhilBoxing.com Sun, 10 May 2015  CHICAGO -- A rainy Friday evening in Chicago had the air of playoffs electricity. The familiar jumbotron intro video featuring digital bulls running through downtown Chicago blasted overhead. Fireworks popped and sizzled through the air. Lasers blinked images on the court in the shape of the Bulls mascot. Grammy-nominated artist Montell Jordan sang the national anthem and then performed his hit "This Is How We Do It" at halftime. Screaming Bulls fans angrily booed 4-time MVP LeBron James while those same fans cheered to deafening decibels for 2015 Most Improved Player Jimmy Butler and even louder for 2011 MVP and hometown favorite Derrick Rose. Friday night (Saturday Manila time) brought the Eastern Conference semifinals series between the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers back home to the United Center for Game 3 after the series was split 1-1 in Cleveland. The game started off slow as it took over two minutes into the first quarter for either team to score. This slow start continued for most of the first half as neither team held a lead in the double digits. In fact, the leads throughout the game were only in the single digits. After halftime, with 8:33 in the third quarter, Bulls center Joakim Noah and LeBron James got in each other's faces and exchanged words, resulting in a double technical foul. LeBron James appreciated the intensity but not the words used by Noah. "It started on the play before when he fouled me. I love Joakim's emotion and his passion. The words he used went too far. I'm ok with competing and I love the competitive nature in him but we should leave it there. The best way to retaliate is to make a play. That's the only way I know how to resolve things. Make a play and help our team. If it was the 1990's or 1980's, I would have been able to say what I wanted to and moved on. But, I got the T; I earned it." The double technical was immediately followed by a series of offensive prowess when Mike Dunleavy missed a 3-point 25-foot jump shot, with Rose grabbing the rebound but missing, and then Jimmy Butler grabbing a second rebound and banking a 16-foot jump shot. With the back-and-forth continuing through the third quarter, the fouls came at a more rapid pace, with the Bulls tallying 6 fouls, doubling what they had done in the first half, while the Cavaliers raked in another 7 in the quarter to add to their 10 from the first half. The third quarter ended with Dunleavy sinking a 3-point 25-footer with less than 8 seconds left to put the Bulls ahead 74-73. However, Dunleavy's 3-point shot to end the third was the Bulls sole 3-pointer of the quarter, as the team went 1-of-7 while the Cavaliers fared slightly better going 4-of-7. This trend was evident through three quarters as the Bulls were extremely deficient in that area, going 4-of-14 compared to the Cavaliers who went 11-of-24 from 3-point range through the third quarter. Going into the fourth quarter, the excitement level only increased as Bulls rookie Nikola Mirotic displayed his aggressiveness by taking LeBron James head-on. However, with 7:33 left in the game, Mirotic got into foul trouble with his fifth and had to sit. The crowd did not waver, as waves of "MVP" rang through the United Center as Derrick Rose shot two free throws with 3:15 left in the game and the Bulls up, 91-88. And then the real excitement happened. With 10.8 seconds left in the game, Cleveland's J.R. Smith tied the game at 96-all. That is when the magic of Derrick Rose appeared. Aftering taking the inbounds pass from Dunleavy on the sideline with 3 seconds left, Rose dribbled past the top of the 3-point arc before draining a wild shot over Tristan Thompson, giving the Bulls the win, 99-96, on a last-second, buzzer-beater shot to put the Bulls up 2-1 in the series. It was a breathtaking moment that garnered elation by his teammates and resulted in uproarious and thunderous applause from the rambunctious Chicago crowd. Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau exalted Rose in his post-game press conference. "That is Derrick's greatness. There are not many like him. In fact, there are not any like him. You combine his speed, his quickness and power, and he is shaking the rust off. The more he plays, the more comfortable he is getting and the more rhythm he has."' Rose's teammates echoed their coaches sentiments. Joakim Noah said, "I thought it was well deserved. It was a great atmosphere in there tonight. Very happy that Derrick hit the shot at the end. He really deserves it, he put in so much work. He has gone through so much adversity, and for him to have a moment like that is huge, but I know he is not satisfied as I am not satisfied...not until we get Game 4." When asked what was said when Rose jumped into Noah's arms at the end of the game, Noah replied, "I don't remember what we said to each other, but it was such a good basketball game to be a part of." Jimmy Butler agreed about the enormity of Rose's last shot. "Of course it was huge. We needed it. That is just what he does, he is constantly aggressive. I think he did everything well, he rebounded, played good defense, and made the winning shot at the end. I am glad he has faith in himself." Ultimately, Rose thanked his teammates for putting him in the situation to win the game. "(The last shot is) a shot that you want to take if you are a player in my position. I'm thankful and grateful that my teammates gave me the ball. They believe in me. Down the stretch they kept giving me the ball and encouraging me to play the way I usually play. When I released the ball, I thought it was a good shot." Game 4 of the series continues on Sunday. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Kristy Gonowon.  |
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