Bulls Rally Past Hawks, Blazers win in OKC

So, let’s go right ahead and get a little carried away over what went down during the fourth quarter in Chicago last night.

We now know who the leading candidate is for MVP. It’s the same guy who won it last year, Derrick Rose, who knocked down three 3-pointers in the final period to bring Chicago back from a 12-point deficit.

We now know who is the leading candidate for Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau, who has drilled his team every single day of practice this season on how to properly execute the game-winning side out-of-bounds inbounds pass that the Bulls used to finish off the Hawks last night, preventing Atlanta from sweeping the most difficult back-to-back the NBA schedule makers could have come up with: The Heat on Monday, the Bulls on Tuesday.

We also have the first controversy of the year, Thibodeau’s decision to bench Carlos Boozer for the entire fourth quarter of Chicago’s improbable 76-74 victory that left the Bulls and Heat tied for the NBA’s best record, 5-1, less than two weeks into this lockout-shortened season. 

Like I said, that’s getting a little carried away by a game that was a brutal watch for the first three quarters, the Bulls entering the fourth quarter with a mere 44 points. 

It also does a disservice to Kobe Bryant, who dropped 37 on the Rockets despite a torn ligament in his right wrist that would send most mortals to the hospital in search of the nearest specialist with a scalpel. 

But what the heck, it was a thrilling game to watch down the stretch, and the Hawks were so fearful of Rose with 4 seconds remaining that they sent two defenders at him on the final inbounds play, with a third, Joe Johnson, leaning Rose’s way as the ball was inbounded to Joakim Noah, who also had been benched for the entire fourth quarter up to that point.

With Johnson’s momentum carrying him toward Rose, Luol Deng cut backdoor and took a pretty pass from Noah to lay in the game-winning points with 3.7 seconds left.

Delirium.

From K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “There are multiple options on the play,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Obviously, we were trying to get it to Derrick. They did a good job taking the first and second option away. Jo was having a tough game. He stayed in it mentally. It was a terrific pass. Derrick set a great screen. Lu made a great cut.” Deng and Rose played the entire second half. The Bulls missed 14 consecutive second-quarter shots, went scoreless for 5 minutes, 18 seconds and shot 2-for-21 overall in the second to narrowly avoid setting franchise lows for points and field goals in a half. Their 26 points and nine field goals slightly topped the marks of 23 and seven. That was forgotten by game’s end.”

Thibodeau’s lineup for almost the entire fourth quarter was Rose, Deng, Kyle Korver, Taj Gibson and Omer Asik.

Noah was saddled by four fouls, but Boozer was a spectator for reasons that were clear only to Thibodeau.

From Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago: Boozer and Noah haven’t played great this season together. They haven’t even been very good. For the second time in just over a week, the pair was benched late in a game as the Bulls tried to dig themselves out of a self-created hole. Yet again, a combined $140 million worth of contracts sat along with 22,166 people at the United Center as the Bulls furiously scratched and clawed their way back. It looked and felt a lot like Game 5 of last season’s Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat in which the pair found themselves planted on the bench at the end of the game. The only difference, of course, is that the Bulls actually won this game. That shouldn’t take away from the larger issue, though. …  “There was a stretch where I was going to come back with the starters, but that group was making their run and there was a lot of ground to make up. And I felt at that point we couldn’t afford to have another lull. I just felt like they looked like they were fine, and it looked like we were picking up our energy,” Thibodeau said. “That statement alone should be concerning to Bulls fans. They continue to find themselves in long lulls when Boozer and Noah are on the floor together. It’s happened several times already this year, and happened a lot at the end of last season as well. So what’s the solution?  The problem for the Bulls is that there really isn’t one at the moment. Boozer’s contract is an albatross, and he isn’t going anywhere. And while Noah certainly has trade value, the only player the Bulls would probably even think about dealing Noah for is Dwight Howard, and he just doesn’t seem to want to play in Chicago at the moment. So the Bulls are in a bind. Do they stick either Noah or Boozer on the bench to start the game? Do they hope that one of the big men will find success with another group? Noah and Boozer are useless to the team when they are sitting on the bench. Until the Bulls figure out how to get the most out of each, their dreams of advancing to the next step this season are in trouble.”

Sitting just a half-game behind the Bulls and the Heat for best record in the NBA are the Portland Trail Blazers (4-1), who have been touted on this site and in very, very few other places as a team to watch, a sleeper of a contender.

Last night, all they did was go into one of the more hostile arenas in the Association and took down the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-93 behind LaMarcus Aldridge’s 30 points.

The top three teams in the Northwest Division, Portland (4-1), OKC (5-2) and Denver (4-2) have more combined victories (13) than the entire Atlantic Division (10).

From Jason Quick of the Oregonian: “Remember how Russell Westbrook torched the Blazers last season, making Andre Miller look 50 while averaging 27 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in four games? Well, now the Blazers have (Ray) Felton, whose speed — both offensively and defensively — neutralizes Westbrook just enough to take away a huge advantage. Westbrook still got his Tuesday night — 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists — but nine of the points were late and much of his night was spent trying to beat Felton, not the Blazers. Felton, by contrast, looked like a point guard out to help his team, not his statistics, and he hurt the Thunder at key moments, using his quickness to go coast-to-coast twice during a third-quarter surge, and another time drawing two defenders to feed LaMarcus Aldridge for a dunk. All told, Felton finished with 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds and the big stat — one turnover in 36 minutes. 
“That’s the type of guy he is, that’s his mindset, that’s how he plays,” Felton said when I remarked about Westbrook’s win-the-battle, but lose-the-war mentality. “He’s always in a one-on-one battle with all the point guards. I’m not really into that. I’m into winning. If you win, everybody gets the praises. We are not wearing ‘Felton’ on the front of our jerseys; it says Blazers. I care about the Blazers winning.”  Also, that ghost of 2007? You know, taking Greg Oden instead of now MVP-candidate Kevin Durant? That’s been partially exorcised, too. No, it doesn’t appear Oden will play this year, probably bringing to an end a monumental No. 1-pick nightmare for Portland, but at least the Blazers appear to finally be equipped with the right personnel and depth to control the phenom. Gerald Wallace not only frustrates the lithe Durant with his brawn and bravado on defense, he also punishes him on offense, repeatedly backing him down to point-blank range. When Wallace needs a breather, the Blazers throw Nicolas Batum at Durant, giving him length and savvy to deal with. In three games since Wallace has been with Portland, Durant has shot 5-for-18, 9-for-24, and on Tuesday, 8-for-26.

At the Staples Center, Bryant’s 37 points were backed by Andrew Bynum’s first career 20-20 game (21 points, 22 rebounds) as the Lakers cruised past the Rockets 108-99.

It has been 10 days since the NBA season started, and only the Thunder have played as many games as the Lakers – seven. Let’s not forget that the first four were without Bynum, and the Lakers now find themselves in the familiar position of looking down at the rest of their Pacific Division rivals.

From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: Bynum started the season late because of his well-publicized four-game suspension, but he has arrived on time, putting up averages of 22.7 points and 17 rebounds in three games. … 
“I can’t say that I am [surprised],” Bryant said. “We all know the amount of talent that he has and he’s really worked on it. One thing that I like about him is he has an engine inside him. He wants to do well. He wants to dominate. He has an ambition to be great, and that’s the biggest positive about him aside from all the physical attributes.” And to think Bynum isn’t even in complete shape yet. The 38 minutes against the Rockets were a team high, and he laughed about it afterward.
“I still can’t breathe,” Bynum said. “It’s crazy.” Or as Lakers Coach Mike Brown said of his conditioning, “If he can get it to where it’s great, oh my gosh.”

There were two other games:

Rookie and No. 1 overall pick Kyrie Irving tied a season high with 20 points and had six assists with no turnovers, and No. 4 overall pick Tristan Thompson had season highs with 16 points and nine rebounds as Cleveland defeated Charlotte 115-106.  (Vegas had set the over/under at 189.5)

The Cavs (3-2) are one of only six Eastern Conference teams with plus-.500 records.

The Jazz lost Devin Harris (calf strain) and Josh Howard (quad strain) to injuries but still defeated the Bucks 85-73, with Derrick Favors getting five of Utah’s 10 blocks. Al Jefferson thrived not having to go against Andrew Bogut (out for personal reasons), going for 26 and 10.