Faced with another season of no playoffs and Dante Cunningham's recent legal troubles, the Minnesota Timberwolves were perhaps hoping the Bulls would give them a bit of a break when they met at the Target Center tonight. Unfortunately for them, that's just not who the Bulls are. Sure, they trailed by five at halftime, but they decided enough was enough after that and took advantage of some bad Timberwolves shooting won 102-87.
Joakim Noah showed the Minnesota faithful there's actually an NBA center not named Kevin Love who can do just about everything. He had a triple-double of 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Meanwhile, Love was held to 17 points and 10 rebounds, which is an off night for him. D.J. Augustin showed them what happens when a player resurrects his career at basketball's highest level, leading all scorers with 21 points. Four other Bulls scored in double figures, including every starter not named Carlos Boozer, who finished with six after going 3-of-13 from the field.
The Bulls recognize the easy schedule they have left and will emphatically attempt to win every remaining game just like they always do. They've done that so far with a season-high six game winning streak and taking eight of their last nine. However, they remain tied for third with Toronto in the East and have four games to pass the team that holds the tiebreaker. It still isn't clear whether a higher seed will lead to a second-round matchup with Miami or Indiana, but the Bulls still want to finish as high as possible. As I've said before, the difference between third and fourth in the East barely exists, so going 4-0 or 0-4 at the end only matters if you just want to win. Since the team from the Windy City embraces that attitude like no other, this means the world to them.
With tonight's win, the Bulls need just one more win to clinch home-court advantage in the first round. They'll get their first crack at that Friday against the Detroit Pistons, who have long checked out of this season. Joe Dumars has even had enough and announced his impending resignation as general manager. This is the perfect chance to put that issue to bed once and for all. A team that cares vs. a team that doesn't is just too ideal.
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