The Boston Celtics came to the United Center tonight hoping to capitalize on their victory over the Bulls Sunday. It appeared they would for awhile, but their hosts said no to such a notion. 89-80 in favor of the Bulls was what the scoreboard showed at the end of the game, so the home team held onto the best record in the NBA.
What angle to take about this game? Could it be Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer each scoring 23 points? Joakim Noah's latest double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds? C.J. Watson continuing to fill Derrick Rose's shoes nicely with 11 points? 27 team assists? Those are all nice things worth exploring, but instead, I'll go with the newest Bull (even though he was already on the roster earlier in the year).
Mike James fits the definition of NBA journeyman. You can look up his career on your own time, but I'd rather elaborate on what he has going for him right now. Signing another contract with the Bulls a couple of days ago (likely as insurance for Rose), James finally saw some floor time tonight. No bench player on either team was more efficient. You could make an argument for Chris Wilcox of Boston, but only if you're biased towards players who can finish alley-oops. James finished with eight points and four assists, really coming alive in the fourth quarter. He only had two field goals, but the shots he took were mostly ones an average point guard can knock down. What impressed me more were two smooth passes to set up Carlos Boozer layups. One was directly to Boozer himself, the other he passed to a teammate (I forget who specifically) who then passed it promptly to Boozer for the easy deuce. It was Luol Deng's three in the final minute that clinched the contest, but James earns high marks from me tonight.
I know this was only the first game he played in since the Bulls brought him back, but early results dictate to me that if I'm Gar Foreman or John Paxson, I sign James for the rest of the season. Yes, four point guards for a team that's completely healthy may seem like a lot, but depth is what makes this team work. Other teams play poorly when a big player for them misses even one game, but the Bulls are the best team in the NBA for a reason. Rip Hamilton missing a bunch of games? There's Ronnie Brewer. Derrick's toe or back acting up? Here comes C.J. Watson or John Lucas III. I could go on, but you can never have too many backup plans in the NBA, especially when you're a team in the Bulls' position.
Everyone in the East wants to take down Miami come playoff time and the Bulls are the team best equipped to do it. Will the bench be able to play consistently against LeBron, D-Wade and company for an entire seven-game series? That's a tough question to answer right now. It'll be up to the regular starters to carry the bulk of the load when that time is upon us. In the meantime, for the journey there, the bench has a job to do, which is to fulfill certain roles when anyone in the starting lineup is unable to. It'll be exciting to watch.
Saturday will feature a matinee on the West Side with the New Jersey Nets. Another victory appears to be in order. But will Rose be back? We'll see.
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