Chicago Bulls 92, Brooklyn Nets 95I wasn't able to take notes during the first half of this one, so I'll just go ahead and skip right to the second half (this is the NBA after all, so that's probably a fair thing to do every time). Nonetheless, the Bulls, again with Kirk Hinrich, have up a whopping 60 first half points, with Deron Williams scoring 14 on 5-for-9 from the field. For all of the criticism Hinrich took throughout the system--some warranted, but most of it not--it's pretty well obvious by this point that the Bulls were going to have a rough go of it without him on the defensive end. Every defensive set begins with on-the-ball defense, and when you don't have your most effective player executing that role, the rest of the defense will struggle. The Bulls took a 60-54 deficit into the second half, which reminded me of the Michigan-Kansas game for the simple fact that it felt as if the Brooklyn lead could and probably should have been much greater than it was. To make matters worse, the Bulls were also without the services of Luol Deng, so it was encouraging to see them drop 54 in the first half. Still, the second half would be a struggle to keep up and continue to find enough production to stay with the Nets. Nate Robinson buried a trey to open the second half, cutting the lead to three, but the Nets quickly built it back up to eight in the ensuing minutes. Later in transition, Robinson attacked the rim and dished to an open Marco Belinelli in the corner, who nailed the three to cut the Nets lead to 69-68. Luckily for the Bulls, it wasn't an exceptionally well-played quarter for either team, but Chicago made enough plays on the defensive end to keep the game from getting away from them before the final frame. The scraptastic Bulls took a four point deficit into the final quarter, and the two teams continued to engage in trench warfare through the first five minutes, scoring eight points apiece. Despite the Bulls' inability to tie the game up for the first time since late in the first quarter, they did do an admirable job of locking down on Williams and Brook Lopez in the second half; they scored a combined one point through the first 18 minutes of the second half. Williams scored his first second half points at the line at the 5:24 mark of the fourth quarter. Although the Bulls were ahead in the series, the sense of desperation was palpable as the contest entered its final five minutes. Robinson buried a long jumper to cut the lead to two with under five to go, but a Lopez jam at the other end once again pushed the pendulum back slightly in Brooklyn's direction. The game felt like a Big Ten contest, in which a two possession deficit might as well be an insurmountable hill to climb. A Belinelli trey with just over two to go cut the lead to two once again, as the Bulls looked to steal a win in a game they were trailing for most of the time. Unfortunately, Andray Blatche hit an acrobatic spinning jumper at the other end, but the Bulls again cut it to two. On the next defensive possession, Noah swatted Blatche's shot from the left side, but failed to connect on a strong drive to the rim. The sequence ended with a loose ball foul on Carlos Boozer, his fifth, forcing Nazr Mohammed into action (Taj Gibson had already fouled out). Blatche went to the line and misfired on his first attempt. The United Center crowd, standing, couldn't coerce him into a second miss. With 32 seconds to go, the lead was now 93-90. The Bulls opted for two, hitting Mohammed for an easy bucket at the rim. Chicago couldn't get the Nets to hit Blatche on the ensuing sideline inbounds, but a trap of Deron Williams did force another timeout and allow for another opportunity to do so. The Bulls succeeded this time, but Blatche, a 69% free throw shooter during the regular season, buried both free throws with aplomb amid the din. The Bulls' final possession began with Nate Robinson dribbling around, falling, and a pass being deflected out of bounds off of a Brooklyn player. On the inbound, Robinson found Belinelli for a good look in the corner to tie, but he shot it long and Noah stepped out of bounds after corralling the ball. In a fortuitous sequence, the Bulls forced a jump ball situation, with Noah going up against Williams. Alas, it didn't matter, and the Bulls never got one final shot. The Bulls fell, 95-92, and the series moves back to the Barclays Center, tied at three games apiece. And so, the dreaded Game Six loss at home came to pass. After having been up 3-1 in the series, it's difficult to imagine the Bulls having one more win in them. Then again, it's not as if this Bulls season hasn't been a ceaseless paved with surprise after surprise, loping along clunkily but endearingly. Nonetheless, unless Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng both suit up in Game 7, we may be left channeling our inner Denny Green. Source:http://holdintherope.blogspot.com/2013/05/chicago-bulls-brooklyn-nets-nba-playoffs-luol-deng-kirk-hinrich.html
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 6, Bulls-Nets: I Have A Bad Feeling About This Images
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msn.foxsports.comBy Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)Week 6 MLB Power Rankings1.) St Louis Cardinals (23-13) - The Cardinals have made the jump into first place in the Power Rankings this week for the first time this season. Pitching has been what’s gotten them into the top spot, as they have the best team ERA, and the most quality starts in baseball.2.) Texas Rangers (24-13) - The Rangers are playing very good baseball this season, as they are in the top 10 in most pitching and hitting categories. The good balance from the Rangers has given them the best record in the American League.3.) New York Yankees (23-13) - The Yankees are still finding ways to win despite having almost an entire starting lineup on the DL. They are winning a lot of close games, and having Mariano Rivera at the back end of the bullpen is a sure thing this season, as he is 15 for 15 in save opportunities4.) San Francisco Giants (23-15) - The defending champs are winning a little differently this season, as their pitching hasn’t been up to its normal greatness yet, but the offense is scoring runs which is winning them ball games.5.) Baltimore Orioles (23-15) - Orioles pitching hasn’t been great this season, but they have scored the most runs in baseball, which has helped them win 14 road games already this season, and are in second place just behind the Yankees in the AL East.6.) Cincinnati Reds (22-16) - The Reds are hitting their groove winning seven of their last 10 games, which included a sweep this weekend against the Brewers. Brandon Phillips has been a run producing machine with 31 RBIs already.7.) Cleveland Indians (20-15) - Cleveland is playing fantastic right now, as their new look offense is rolling, and led them to sweep a four-game series against the Athletics before taking two out of three against the Tigers to put them in a tie for first place in the AL Central.8.) Detroit Tigers (20-15) - The Tigers hitting is just unreal this season, but bad news is that their leadoff hitter Austin Jackson is off to the DL with a hamstring injury.9.) Atlanta Braves (21-16) - Brian McCann is back from the DL for the Braves, but that wont help B.J. Upton hit the ball better, as the Braves big free agent acquisition is hitting just .153.10.) Pittsburgh Pirates (21-16) - A.J Burnett is leading the Pirates to a good record, as he has bounced back from his woes in New York. Burnett has three wins and an ERA under three so far this season.11.) Boston Red Sox (22-16) - Boston has cooled off of late losing eight of their last 10 games. They also lost closer Joel Hanrahan for the season because of surgery, so Andrew Bailey will now be the go to guy to close games.12.) Arizona Diamondbacks (21-17) - the Diamondbacks good start to the season is in large part due to the success of Patrick Corbin, Wade Miley, and Trevor Cahill who all have an ERA under three.13.) Washington Nationals (20-17) - The Nationals are not scoring runs, as they rank 27th in the majors, and Stephen Strasburg has five losses already, but they are still three games over .500.14.) Tampa Bay Rays (19-18) - The Rays are back over the .500 mark thanks to a nice five-game winning streak to close out the week. The next 12 games for the Rays are against all the teams in the AL East, which will be a tough task.15.) Colorado Rockies (20-17) - The Rockies have come back to earth a bit after a great start to the season, but they are still over .500, and have Troy Tulowitzki, who is batting .324 with eight homeruns and 31 RBIs.16.) Kansas City Royals (18-16) - A (1-6) week for Kansas City knocked them down in the standings, and with a tough 10 game road-trip coming up for the Royals they will be tested to see how good they really are this season.17.) Minnesota Twins (17-17) - Minnesota’s not a very good team, but they are finding ways to hang around .500 which is surprising. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau’s averages are both good, but they only have combined for five homeruns this season.18.) Seattle Mariners (18-20) - The Mariners are being led by the face of their franchise in Felix Hernandez, whose having a great season with five wins, and a ERA of just 1.53. As the story always is with the Mariners if they can score some runs they can get past the .500 mark.19.) Philadelphia Phillies (18-21) - The Phillies are hanging around .500 with not playing very good baseball, but Chase Utley has been able to stay healthy which helps the lineup, as he’s hitting .289 with seven homeruns and 24 RBIs.20.) Oakland Athletics (19-20) - Oakland had an extremely tough week losing six games, as the offense that was so good in April has cooled off in May. In the seven games they played this week the Athletics were only able to score more than three runs once.21.) San Diego Padres (16-21) - The Padres were nearing the .500 mark before being swept on the weekend by the Rays, which included a very tough loss on Saturday, when Evan Longoria hit a two-run walk-off homerun off Houston Street.22.) Chicago White Sox (15-20) - The pitching for the White Sox has been excellent for the most part this season, but their offense is nowhere to be found right now, as they are ranked 29th in runs scored and batting average.23.) Milwaukee Brewers (15-20) - It’s been a strange season for the Brewers thus far, as either they are on a big winning streak or losing streak. Sadly for the Brewers the long losing streaks have happened more than the winning streaks.24.) Los Angeles Dodgers (15-21) - The Dodgers season certainly hasn’t gone the way they hoped it would have after spending a ton of money. They were able to snap their eight-game losing streak this weekend by winning two games against the Marlins.25.) Toronto Blue Jays (15-24) - The Jays had a solid week as they try to get back to the .500 mark. They split a four-game series with the Rays, and then won a series in Boston. Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are getting their homerun swings going, as they have combined for 20 homeruns now.26.) Los Angeles Angels (14-23) - The Angels tough start to the season continues, as they lost a series to the Astros to start the week, and then after a three-game winning streak, were shutout by Chris Sale on Sunday Night Baseball.27.) Chicago Cubs (15-22) - The Cubs are in a rebuilding mode, but the best thing that happened for them this week was that they were able to lock up First Baseman Anthony Rizzo for seven years worth 41 million dollars.28.) New York Mets (14-20) - The Mets have become a tough team to watch unless Matt Harvey is on the mound. Jon Niese, who started the season so well, has fallen off, and Ike Davis is still batting under .200.29.) Miami Marlins (11-27) - The worst offense in baseball showed why they are the worst on the West Coast, as the Marlins only scored one run in three games against the Padres to start the week.30.) Houston Astros (10-28) - The Astros were expected to have a tough season, and that is exactly what has happened. A bright for them is that their offense is in the middle of the road stats wise, but their pitching has been awful with a team ERA of 5.79.
