Creating Own Magic

As the 82-game regular season schedule nears its end, the Bulls are still dealing with the constant twists and turns that come with it.  Just today, they waived Tornike Shengelia and signed forward Greg Smith to take his place.  They also learned D.J. Augustin would miss the evening's game against the Orlando Magic after his wife gave birth to a baby boy.  None of that, as it turned out, impacted the outcome as the Bulls won 108-95 in their regular home finale.

The home team never trailed in this game, but the Magic went on a few runs which opened the door for a potential upset victory.  Each time though, the Bulls responded by raising their game to the point where all Orlando could do was try to catch them.  The game was tied only twice, but it might have happened more if the Magic had taken better care of the basketball.  They had 20 turnovers to the Bulls' 9 and gave up 24 points off those turnovers while scoring only eight in that category.  It was the perfect sign of a young team struggling against one with the personnel and desire to win at all costs.  The Bulls did that tonight by playing smothering defense and sharing the basketball with great quickness and precision.

Mike Dunleavy, who has been terrific in the second half of the season, led all scorers with 22 points and went 3-for-4 behind the three-point line.  Joakim Noah was two assists shy of a triple-double, keeping his presence a threat with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Carlos Boozer also achieved a double-double of 13 and 12 while picking up five fouls.  Also finishing with five fouls was Jimmer Fredette, who took advantage of Augustin's absence by scoring 17 in a game he and much of the fan base have been waiting for.  Though Tom Thibodeau said after the game Fredette won't be part of the rotation going forward, he had to be happy with Tony Snell's 13 points, two of which came on a buzzer beater to end the first half.  Jimmy Butler's streak of playing 40 minutes in a game ended at nine, but he scored 12 anyway.

 With only Wednesday's road game against the Charlotte Bobcats remaining before the playoffs, the lone certainty for the Bulls is they'll have home-court advantage in the first round.  After the Raptors beat the Bucks tonight, they continue to hold the third seed in the East with both teams having identical records and them holding the tiebreaker.  The only way for those positions to switch now is for the Bulls to beat the Bobcats and the Raptors lose to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.  With the Pacers having locked up the top seed tonight, you might root for a loss on Wednesday to avoid playing the second-seeded Heat in the second round.  Regardless of what you want, the Bulls will keep playing to win and hope for the best news out of New York.

If the season ended now, the fourth-seeded Bulls would have a rematch of last year's first round with the Brooklyn Nets.  This time, the seeds would be reversed.  If things play out how the Bulls want on Wednesday, they'll likely be looking at a series with the Washington Wizards.  Kirk Hinrich would love a shot at revenge for the 2005 Bulls' playoff ousting even though he's not the player he was back then.  No matter who the Bulls face in their first best-of-seven series, their trademark intensity will be present and their opponent must be prepared to face it.

I'll be working on Wednesday, so I won't be able to recap the night's events after they unfold.  However, I'll have a series preview soon after and as has been the case in the previous two seasons of this blog, each playoff game will be broken down regardless of whether I had a chance to watch it.  It's only fair I stay on top of the most important time of the year.  The postseason is unlike anything else, so let me help you make sense of it all.