Bulls in Driver’s Seat to Clinch 8th Seed in East
Monday, April 12th, 2010 | Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, NBA, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Sports
The Chicago Bulls took control of their own destiny with a BIG 104-88 win over the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday. Lucky for them, Raptors star Chris Bosh – who could become a Bull in the off-season – will miss the rest of the season because of fractured bones in his face suffered in a game against the Cavaliers last week. Without Bosh, the Raptors failed to put forth a consistent offensive attack as they failed to top the Bulls in any quarter until the 4th quarter when the game was already out of hand.
Joakim Noah back in the starting lineup led the way for the Bulls with 18 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists. Noah missed a ton of games dealing with a painful and nagging foot injury, so it would have been interesting to see where this Bulls team would have finished had it not been without Noah, Luol Deng and Derrick Rose for a considerable portion down the stretch here. Noah was pumped that they were able t bounce back from the disappointing double-overtime loss against the Nets in New Jersey on Friday night — “I knew it was a really important game, I was really focused. I just wanted to go out there and impose my will as much as I could, just be aggressive offensively and defensively. It was a huge win and I just wanted to make sure that our team played harder than their team.” Rose dished out 26 points and 7 assists in the win. Luol Deng scored 14 points and grabbed 7 boards while Taj Gibson continued his solid play with an 11-point, 6-rebound performance. With their big trio in the lineup – Rose, Noah, Deng – the Bulls always seem to put forth a more consistent effort.
The Bulls host the Celtics on Tuesday night at the United Center and then finish the season against the Bobcats in Charlotte on Wednesday night. The Raptors travel to play the Pistons tonight in Detroit and then end the season at home against the New York Knicks. If the Raptors win both games, then the Bulls must also win both games in order to make the playoffs as the 8th seed (the Raptors hold the tiebreaker over the Bulls because they won the season series 2-1). The Bulls can also clinch a spot in the playoffs if the Raptors lose 1 of their remaining games and the Bulls win 1 of their games, or if the Raptors lose both of their games (even if the Bulls also lose both of their games). You gotta think the Raptors will win at least 1 of their games, so the pressure is on the Bulls to pull off a win over the Celtics at home on Tuesday night. The Celtics are still playing for the 3rd seed in the East (they trail the Atlanta Hawks by 1 game), so they will still be fighting with their all on Tuesday night. The Bobcats are locked into the 7th seed in the East, so the Bulls could benefit if the Bobcats decide to rest some of their players on Wednesday night.
It should be an interesting couple of days. Let’s root for a Raptors loss in Detroit tonight. That might take a little pressure off of this “sometimes-tight and overwhelmed” Bulls squad. Then it will be on to face Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers if the Bulls qualify for post-season play…
