It wasn't until the second quarter when the Bulls looked poised to break the game wide open. By the third quarter, their lead had extended to 13 and the nail in the coffin was about to be hammered. Then, over a period beginning in the third and ballooning in the fourth, the Wizards started making shots and the Bulls were shooting bricks both from the field and at the free-throw line. The end result: an 18-6 Washington run in the final six minutes and a Bulls team filled with players either unwilling or unable to keep the game from slipping away.
All five Wizards starters scored in double figures. Leading the way was Nene, who has been plagued by injuries recently, but still had 24 points. Suddenly, he's one of the real threats in this series. Marcin Gortat had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. The starting backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal combined for 29 points and 13 assists. Trevor Ariza scored 18 and Andre Miller came off the bench to pour in 10. I know I gave the Wizards three of five position edges when I previewed this series, but even I couldn't believe how the areas I gave the Bulls were so advantageous the other way. Hopefully, that's just an outlier in what will be a competitive series.
Each Bulls starter had double-digit points too, with Kirk Hinrich leading that group with 16 points, a total shared by D.J. Augustin off the bench. Joakim Noah's double-double of 10 and 10 couldn't compare to Gortat and Carlos Boozer's near double-double of 11 and 9 looked even weaker when you look at what Nene did. Jimmy Butler did his best to keep the offense afloat by scoring 15 and also grabbed seven boards. Experts are looking to him to have a breakout postseason, which says something after he put himself on the map in last year's playoffs.
The Bulls got beat in field-goal percentage (48.6-42.0) and rebounding 45-39. They also gave up a few too many inside points. These indicate one problem they've had all season (scoring) and two that shouldn't even arise (rebounds, matchups down low). I can live with the shooting and scoring problem as that's one of the things sure to eliminate them eventually, but a team that thrives on collecting the ball after missed shots and not allowing anything easy should not have to go down like this. There were far too many second chances for the Wizards and they were more than happy to take advantage when they needed to.
Tom Thibodeau would have been embarrassed by this effort even if his team had won. If there's one thing that drives coaches crazy, it's when their team gets beaten at their own game. Yes, it's a long series. Both teams are entitled to one clunker most of the time. However, Thibodeau is the kind of coach who hates the phrase "off night" as that's nothing more than an excuse in his book. He did not guide his team to within one game of the third seed in a lost season to see performances like this. No big lead is safe when your club is not known for scoring, so that must be fought with tough defense. For whatever reason, the Bulls eased up on it and Thibodeau will let the players know that until they heard his barking in their sleep, which is probably a recurring thing for them already.
Game 2 will take place on Tuesday at 8:30. The good news for the Bulls is the winner of Game 1 in each of their last four playoff series has gone on to be eliminated in that same round. Although they have history on their side, it won't matter if they can't turn the heat up on the Wizards. The last thing any team wants is to head into the other's building down 0-2. The players know that, but they must show it. Until then, Happy Easter to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment