TNT has to be kicking themselves for not keeping tonight's game against the Los Angeles Lakers on their schedule. They switched to Houston-Portland, which saw the Rockets win by 13. On the West Side, fans got treated to a game that was even right up until the very end. That's when 21,626 were able to redeem their ticket stubs for free Big Macs following a 102-100 Bulls victory in overtime.
With the Bulls up 92-90 and 7.4 seconds left, Joakim Noah got to the free throw line and split a pair. After a Lakers timeout, Nick Young missed a three, but drew contact from Noah and proceeded to hit all three free throws. Noah's questionable shot selection on the ensuing possession forced the overtime. The wind was sucked out of most of the crowd.
Fast forward to 30 seconds remaining in the extra session and the Bulls leading 100-98. D.J. Augustin, who had taken over for the Bulls by then, milked as much time as he could, but lost the ball out of bounds. After a timeout, Young got open and hit a baseline jumper, tying the game again and giving him 31 points. The Bulls had six seconds to end it and despite taking too much time to find a shot, the ball went out off a Laker with 0.9 seconds remaining. We may never know what Tom Thibodeau drew up in the 20-second timeout that followed, but we'll be grateful for Taj Gibson's layup with no time left that followed. Game over. The Bulls are back to .500 at 20-20.
As mentioned, Augustin had himself a night, leading the Bulls with 27 points and hitting five three-pointers. Nate Robinson's replacement has truly arrived. It just took until after the season began for it to be found. It was also impressive considering he had to carry the entire load at point guard after Kirk Hinrich exited with a right hamstring injury. He's going to keep the Bulls in a lot of game going forward.
Noah, whose recent play is building a serious case for a second straight All-Star appearance, had a terrific line of 17 points, 21 rebounds and six assists. The way he handled Pau Gasol tonight should be on his highlight reel for the season. He didn't always succeed, but Gasol really had to earn his paycheck tonight, scoring 20 of his toughest points of the season.
Jimmy Butler finished a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. However, he struggled from the field for much of the game, shooting 6-of-19. Carlos Boozer fared worse, scoring 11 on a night he was 4-of-16. He didn't even see the floor late in the game, showing how much of a liability he was to Thibodeau on this night. That's not the first time he's been in this situation either, just one reason folks wouldn't be sad to see him amnestied after the season. Mike Dunleavy scored 13 and Taj Gibson added 12, the last two of which came on his first game-winner at any level.
With the Bulls hot and the Lakers not, it probably shouldn't have been as close a game as it was. Instead, we got another reminder of the grind-it-out style the Bulls are going to have utilize for the rest of the season. With Derrick Rose out and Luol Deng gone, pure scoring is harder to come by and the best offensive performances, like with Augustin tonight, will mostly come from players getting hot at the right time.
It would also be better if they slowed the pace down a little bit. It seemed too often in this game, they tried to perform certain tasks quicker than their bodies would allow them. That led to turnovers, although the Lakers had plenty of similar mistakes. If the Bulls would just play their own game instead of trying to counter with their opponents', they should have more success. Then again, I'm not an NBA coach, so I can't decide what their best strategy is. I just think their style is the most preferable method.
The Bulls get to check out Deng's new digs in Cleveland when they visit the Cavaliers Wednesday. We'll have an idea of who can survive more without the other, although the Bulls have played very well since the trade went down. We love you, Luol, but the NBA is always business first. Sentimentality will have to be put aside for one night.
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