Things have officially gone wild in the Wild Wild West. Over the past five seasons, at least one team with a winning record has failed to make the playoffs in the Western Conference as the competition has always been fierce and close until the final day of the season. It may never have been this close, however. Currently, 1 1/2 games separate the fourth seed and the ninth seed. Two teams — the Clippers and the Mavericks — are tied for the fourth seed
CHICAGO — It’s impossible to watch a Bulls-Heat game without daydreaming about an Eastern Conference Finals rematch. Ever since the two teams played that five-game series a year ago, it has to be the first thought that comes to mind whenever they’re on the same court. The media treats it that way, the United Center on Wednesday night had a postseason buzz, and if you were to give a dose of truth serum to players from both teams, you’d surely get
If recent history is of any indication, tonight’s matchup between two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference promises to be a close contest filled with intensity and playoff atmosphere. The two rivals meet in another rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference finals as the two-time MVP LeBron James and the Miami Heat visit the reigning MVP, Derrick Rose, and the Chicago Bulls in tonight’s best game. Last season, Chicago took all three meetings between the teams in the regular season
Mike James is back for his third temporary stint with the Chicago Bulls, unless this 10-day contract turns into something bigger and better. The Bulls today signed guard Mike James to a 10-day contract, and he will be in uniform tonight when the Bulls take on the Miami Heat at the United Center. Luon Deng (wrist), Richard Hamilton (shoulder) and C.J. Watson (ankle) are all listed as day-to-day. James, 36, appeared in seven games with Chicago earlier this year and averaged 6.1 ppg,
Brandon Jennings had 34 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 blocks in their win over the Nets. The lats player to post such a line was Alvin Robertson on January 16, 1990. Kris Humphries scored a career-high 31 points, as well as pulling down 18 rebounds. His previous career-high is 25 points, and he also had 19 rebounds earlier this year. A team has not scored 73 on the road and won since April 6, 2008. Every point scored by Charlotte
The Bulls and the Knicks have something in common: They’ve both won a lot of games when the stars of their teams were out with injuries. The difference? Chicago kept winning when Derrick Rose came back while New York unraveled when Carmelo Anthony returned. The New York Knicks (18-23) look to find answers to snap a five-game losing streak against the league-best Chicago Bulls (34-9) in Monday night’s best game. The teams met back on February 2 — two games before the beginning
Two days after having their eight-game winning streak snapped, the Chicago Bulls host the Utah Jazz tonight in a game that should feature a lot of hard drives to the rim. Derrick Rose, one of the most athletic guards in the league, is mired in a mini-shooting slump in his last two games and may be feeling the burn of the lockout-shortened season. That, or being a part-time member of an injury-riddled backcourt. Rose shot just 6-for-22 against in a 99-94 loss to
One man started the rumor of a Pau Gasol trade on Twitter in the afternoon and it had swept the globe by tipoff. Possibly distracted, Gasol had 12 points and 11 boards in the Lakers win, though Andrew Bynum (26 & 10) did the heavy lifting and Kobe Bryant scored 34. Kevin Love was a very late scratch with a sore back, but the return of Nikola Pekovic (25 & 13) and a great effort by rookie Derrick Williams (22