Gassed and Beaten

I'm simply at a loss for words as to how to describe how this game unfolded, but I'll do my best.  The Wizards got off to a 17-point lead in the first quarter, but the Bulls battled back and took the lead in the third.  With 6:58 left in the fourth, the Bulls held a 10-point lead and it appeared the series would be tied.  Then, the offense ran out of gas, which the Wizards happily took advantage of to force overtime.  The extra session saw the Wizards with a six-point lead, but a fortunate sequence for the Bulls saw that advantage cut to two.  Kirk Hinrich had a chance to tie it with two free throws in the final seconds, but missed both and the clock ran out on a 101-99 loss, giving Washington a stunning 2-0 series lead.

Bradley Beal, whom I said would be the better shooting guard in this series, led all scorers with 26 points.  Nene wasn't quite as dominant as in Game 1, but still scored 17 and came up with several key plays for the Wizards down the stretch.  Although some questionable calls by Joey Crawford went in his favor at that time, I won't dwell on them here.  John Wall had 16 and his seven assists tied Trevor Ariza for the team high in that category.

D.J. Augustin led the offensive charge during the Bulls' comeback and finished with a playoff career-high 25 points.  Taj Gibson continued his impressive campaign with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds.  Joakim Noah also reached double figures in those categories by way of 20 and 12.  Hinrich scored 12, but too often, appeared to take over on offense when he's well past the point in his career where he can do that.  Granted, nobody else was scoring down the stretch.  Still, what does that say when your point guard with all this mileage on him is trying to bail you out?

As mentioned, the Bulls' offensive tank ran dry at the worst time.  The defense continued to impress as it has throughout the season, but the team's inability to put the ball in the basket made it all for naught.  Chalk it up to the closing players being badly fatigued and Tom Thibodeau unwilling to get fresh legs in there when they were most needed.  You can also blame the lack of a pure scorer, which has further plagued the Bulls with Derrick Rose's injuries.  Every time this issue arises, the calls to get Carmelo Anthony this offeseason grow louder.  Even if Rose returns to his old form, it won't matter if he doesn't get some help.  And Thibodeau can preach defense all he wants, but if he's doing it at the risk of his offense, which is possible with the Bulls possessing the league's worst, how strong of a coach is he?  Would he rely strictly on what the real scorers know already if he had two of them?  I don't know, but he better figure all that out because everyone in the league is trying to exploit his single-minded philosophy.

Game 3 is Friday in Washington.  The Bulls will return to Chicago soon, but whether they will still be playing basketball remains to be seen.  Battling this hard all season just to see a sweep?  I think not.