The Chicago Bulls are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals after a 93 – 73 blowout victory over the Atlanta Hawks tonight. It certainly wasn’t an easy road for Chicago as they faced troubles with both Indiana and Atlanta, but the NBA’s number one seed in the 2010 – 2011 season has finally made it to the matchup which will decide the East.
The Bulls effort was very similar to that which we saw from Oklahoma City on Wednesday evening. Chicago looked indestructible and got back to doing those things that helped them clinch the number one seed in the NBA.
Carlos Boozer, uncharacteristically so, led the Bulls with 23 points and 10 rebounds on 10-16 shooting. He was one of five Bulls in double figures in this game, which is an enormously positive sign if you are a fan of the boys in red. Maybe the biggest issue Chicago had faced in these playoffs was a lack of plurality in their offense, with Derrick Rose shouldering the entire offensive burden at times.
On Thursday night, Rose usually started the play, but didn’t always have to end it. Joining Boozer’s impressive 23 were Luol Deng with 13 points, Noah with 11, Taj Gibson with 10, and Rose with 19 and 12 assists. In fact, to begin the game the Bulls had 10 assists on their first 12 field goals, a stat which flies in the face of their recent ‘one trick pony’ criticism.
And let’s not forget that defense, best in the league during the regular season, and best on the court tonight. The Bulls held the Hawks under 20 points for the first three quarters of this game, and only 20 in the fourth when Tom Thibodeau sat most of his starters.
Atlanta gave the Bulls all they could handle in five games previous but tonight they were no match for Chicago’s lock down effort. Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 19 on just 7-18 shooting, followed by Josh Smith with 18. No Atlanta starter had more than five rebounds, although Pachulia boarded 13 off the bench.
For Atlanta, all is not lost, and it is hard to believe they will look at this season as a failure. They ousted the Dwight Howard – led Orlando Magic handily in the first round and then took the best team in the NBA (record-wise) to 6 games in round two.
Even further, Atlanta established a stronger identity for themselves through this series. People tend to forget about the Hawks in the NBA landscape but they proved that when their stars (Johnson, Horford) are playing well and their role players (Teague, Josh Smith, Crawford) are rolling, they can be very dangerous.
With the win the Bulls earn their ticket to their first Eastern Conference Finals since 1998, and the days of MJ. They now draw the Miami Heat for a chance at The Finals, who knocked off the veteran Boston Celtics a night before in five games.
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