We've Seen This Before

The Bulls and their fans rightfully feel good after beating the Cavaliers 99-92 in Game 1 and taking home-court advantage.  It was a game in which they never trailed, a first for a LeBron James playoff opponent on the road, and three starters scored at least 20 points, led by Derrick Rose's 25.  Even though the Cavaliers still had a chance down by six with 30 seconds left, Jimmy Butler's banker was enough to convince the Quicken Loans Arena crowd no victory was coming, so they started leaving.  All in all, the night was a success for most people in Chicago.

So why shouldn't everyone be so pumped up?  The Cavaliers are missing Kevin Love, J.R. Smith is suspended for Game 2 and the Bulls are proving to have more depth right now.  Plus, James doesn't have the offensive sidekicks he did in Miami and in Game 1, he often looked uncharacteristically passive.  Why shouldn't plans for the conference finals be made already?

The simple answer is the Bulls had impressive Game 1 wins each of the previous two times they played a James team in the playoffs.  Both times, his Heat romped through the Bulls in each of the next four games.  Who are we to say this won't happen again?  James is the best player in the NBA and will do anything to get his team to the next level, even if he has to do it himself.

Let's go back to when the Bulls were the undisputed team the beat.  They lost Game 1 of the 1991 and 1998 NBA Finals, but recovered nicely.  Or, if you want to relate to the conference semifinals, the Knicks shocked the Bulls at Chicago Stadium in 1992.  That turned into an epic seven-game series, which the Bulls won.

Of course, these Bulls and the current state of the Cavaliers are different right now.  Derrick Rose is back and rediscovering his game, Jimmy Butler is playing the best basketball of his life and Pau Gasol is exactly the playoff veteran the Bulls have needed for some time.  Without Love, James must get more help from Kyrie Irving, who's not exactly playoff tested.  Conditions seems to be right for the Bulls to advance.

But the playoffs are pretty funny.  They can lure you into a false sense of confidence before it shoves reality right back in your face.  Bulls fans have done this with James before and the Bucks might have done it when they won two straight in the last series.  You know what happened in all those instances.

Those good feelings can be dangerous, especially when you have to wait two days for the next game to arrive.  That's a lot of time for someone to think positively enough that you're convinced everything's going to be all right.  Conversely, a fan of a team that just lost can let in the kind of doubt that says the season's over.  I feel sorry for those in Cleveland who feel this way right now when they're trying to see their first major sports championship in over half a century.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying the moment.  After all, that optimism is often what keeps us going as fans.  Just know that a down comes with an up most of the time.  Championship dreams today can turn into draft and free agency thoughts tomorrow.

Still, this is the best chance these Bulls will have at reaching the Finals, or at least defeating James.  The 2011 team went to the conference finals, but proved it didn't really have the talent, depth or experience to play for that seventh championship.  Today, the Bulls are improved in all those areas.  The Cavaliers are weaker than what they thought they'd be during the playoffs, but a win would still be a win, even if we'd rather see it with Love in the lineup.

Game 2 comes Wednesday in Cleveland.  James will be ready to prove Game 1 was just a fluke.  If the Bulls aren't prepared enough, everything is bound to get out of hand in a hurry.  They taught this to the Bucks when they closed them out and the tables can just as quickly turn.