Four instant classics and four overtimes weren’t quite enough for the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics. On Thursday night, the two teams got tangled in what many are saying is the greatest playoff game ever, as the two teams made their fifth instant classic of the series, and tacked on three more overtimes in the triple overtime thriller.

With 10:16 left in the game, Tyrus Thomas slammed in a dunk to give the Bulls an 88 to 76 lead. Surely this time they would hold onto the league? Not quite….following a Tyrus Thomas jumpshot, which gave the Bulls a 91 to 81 lead, the Celtics went on an 18 to 0 run to take a 99 to 91 lead with 3:38 left in the game. The Bulls had just let their season slip away.

But the Celtics would only make one more shot in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls would not let their season end this way, giving up another double digit lead in the fourth quarter. They fought back. Brad Miller even made another three to make it a 101 to 99 game. Then Miller made a layup, somewhat reminiscent of the one at the end of game 5, only this time it went in, to tie the game at 101 a piece.

Paul Pierce missed the game winning attempt for the Celtics, and then the Bulls got their chance to tie it up. The Bulls put it in Ben Gordon’s hands, and he just put up a horrible shot. It’s not so much the actual look, but more so the shot. He just put up a really flat shot, that was an airball. He needs to get arch on that shot. That type of shot won’t go in when it’s that flat.

The Bulls took a 107 to 103 lead with 2:13 left in the overtime period. Gordon would foul a few moments later, fouling Pierce. The Bulls would be going on without their usual clutch savior. And of course, the Celtics come back, and take a 109 to 107 lead. John Salmons gets the score to tie it up, and once again, Paul Pierce missed the potential game winner. Onto double overtime for the second game in this series.

Glen Davis came out in the second overtime made his third straight shot to give the Celtics a 113 to 111 lead. John Salmons then hit a big three to give the Bulls a 114 to 113 lead, and followed it up with a layup for the 116 to 113 lead. Kendrick Perkins fouled out in between the Salmons scores. But Ray Allen answered with a crazy fall away shot over Joakim Noah to make it a 116 to 115 game with 20 seconds left. The Celtics were forced to foul, and Brad Miller made both free throws. But Ray Allen would respond by making a three from the left wing to tie the game at 118 a piece. Brad Miller turned it over on a pass as time expired…onto a third overtime.

Glen Davis and Derrick Rose scored the early points in the third overtime. Ray Allen hit a jumper to tie it at 123. The score would remain here for over a minute. But Joakim Noah stole the ball from Paul Pierce, and beat Pierce down court for a powerful slam, that Noah drew the and one foul on. Pierce fouled out of the game here, and Noah hit the free throw to give the Bulls a 126 to 123 lead.

Eddie House made a jumpshot to make it a 1 point game, but Brad Miller made two free throws after the intentional foul to give the Bulls a 128 to 125 lead. Rondo would miss a layup but get the tip in to make it a 128 to 127 game.

It looked like the Bulls were about to choke this away. Kirk Hinrich missed a layup, which is unacceptable in the clutch. Upon further review, it looks like Rondo committed goaltending here, touching the rim. He should have made it regardless of the small contact Rondo made with the win, but a goaltend is a goaltend, and it should have been called.

Rajon Rondo tried to be the hero, and took a fallaway jumper, which Derrick Rose blocked. Kirk Hinrich knocked the ball to Rose in a skirmish for the ball. Rose here missed two free throws, Rajon Rondo missed a half court shot, and the Bulls won 128 to 127.

Now time to break down the players.

I will start with Ray Allen tonight. He was phenomenal, scoring 51 points. Absolutely unstoppable. What makes Allen’s performance even more impressive is that he has made all the big shots.

Kirk Hinrich had a pretty nice game with 11 points and 7 assists. In the first quarter, Rondo grabbed Hinrich by his arm and threw him into the scorer’s table. Kirk Hinrich went right back at Rondo and shoved him. Rondo was lucky that the ref jumped in right away, as it looked like Kirk Hinrich was about to beat him up.

I thought the way Kirk Hinrich went at Rondo, he was just trying to get a fight going, and trying to take Rondo out of the series as the result of a fight. But upon further review of this, Rajon Rondo threw an elbow at Kirk Hinrich, which missed, and that is why Hinrich went after Rondo in the way he did. If the NBA has any type of consistency, Rajon Rondo will be sitting out Game 7 with a suspension, just as Dwight Howard sat out Game 6 in the Magic vs. 76ers.

Rondo was called for a flagrant one. It was originally called a flagrant two and ejection on the court.

If Rajon Rondo is sitting out game 7, he will have no one to blame but himself.

Brad Miller finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. He was big, hitting the clutch three, the layup, sinking his free throws. I was glad that Miller was able to redeem himself after Game 5. It wouldn’t have been fair for Miller to have to take blame for losing the series. Rondo should have been called for a flagrant there, and Miller should have been subbed out, as he was in no condition to be playing basketball, and Gordon would have made his free throws, and the Bulls may have won game 5. But the refs made the wrong call, putting Miller in this bad situation. Miller redeemed himself in Game 6, and I hope no one blames him for losing us this series.

Derrick Rose finished with 28 points, 7 assists, and 8 rebounds. He also had 5 turnovers, which looks bad on the surface, but really isn’t that bad when you consider he played nearly 60 minutes. Rose was great in the first half, but horrible from there on out, barely being able to hit a shot. He did come up with the big block in the third overtime, but missed the two free throws. Rose’s efficiency wasn’t all that great tonight. A similar scoring night efficiency wise to Gordon’s 26 in Game 5. I’d like to see an efficient game from Rose scoring the ball to close out the series.

Joakim Noah with 9 points and 15 rebounds, and the big steal and dunk. I won’t say this is by itself the most important play of the season. Gordon’s game winner against Detroit to guarantee avoiding Cleveland, Gordon’s game tying three are very important. This is in a way the biggest play of the season, it’s just tied with a few others. Just a great play for Noah, we are going to be talking about this play for years to come. If it hasn’t become clear to Bulls fans yet, Joakim Noah is a winner. He makes big plays, and does the little things that are important in winning. No wonder Florida won two straight national championships.

John Salmons stepped up with the big scoring night, with 35 points on 13-22 shooting. We needed a big game from Salmons, especially with Gordon in foul trouble, and Salmons delivered.

Ben Gordon finished with 12 points on 4-14 shooting and 4 assists. Gordon again didn’t have an efficient scoring game. He seemed to drive to the hoop more often than normal. I thought he had some really nice passes. I think this was an example of the refs taking a player out of the game. Gordon was called for touch foul after touch foul. I think the refs had a vendetta set out from the beginning to foul out Ben Gordon after Ray Allen fouled out in Game 5. Gordon drew a technical after he was in disgust over one of the fouls called on him.

Paul Pierce had 22 points. I think the refs assisted him to his 22 points. He was the recipient of a lot of these ticky tack fouls.

Kendrick Perkins finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Another good game from Perkins. I like Perkins game a lot. He gives what I like out of a center, which is a tough guy, who can’t be moved in the paint, who takes up a lot space in the paint. Celtics have a keeper at center here.

Rajon Rondo finished with 8 points, 19 assists, and 9 rebounds. Another near triple double. I don’t think this game was as good as the others. I think a lot of the assists were the result of playing 57 minutes, and also Ray Allen just being on fire. Nothing special really that Rondo did.

Glen Davis had 23 points on 10-18 shooting. He was hitting some big shots for the Celtics, but fouled out.

With the win, the Bulls even the series at 3-3. Game 7 will be Saturday in Boston at 7 PM.

Closing Comments

Great win for the Bulls. No one is going to be saying the Bulls don’t have playoff experience anymore. What more could you experience in a playoff series. Game tying shots? Check. Game winning shots? Check. Overtime? Check. Double overtime? Check. Triple overtime? Check. A guy dropping 50+ points on you? Check. The Bulls have experienced just about everything you can in a series.

I think the Ben Gordon fouling out could end up being a blessing in disguise, as the Celtics’ big three and Glen Davis all played over 50 minutes, while Ben Gordon should be relatively fresh, only playing 31 minutes. Tyrus Thomas should also be pretty fresh, as he hasn’t really logged big minutes at all this series. Brad Miller, also only played 34 minutes, and Kirk Hinrich played 42 minutes, which isn’t all that much given Kirk’s limited burn. Derrick Rose and John Salmons were the only two guys that logged major minutes, both playing nearly 60 minutes in the game. The Bulls should be much fresher than the Celtics going into Game 7.

Hopefully Game 7 doesn’t end up being a let down, like Game 7 of the Hawks vs. Celtics series last year. But this one is a bit different, as we were in it down to the final possession in all three games in Boston, winning one of them. Atlanta never really competed in Boston.

I think it is clear that this is probably the greatest playoff series ever. So many overtimes, so many big shots, and some chippy play. I don’t remember anything like this in my 11 years of watching basketball as a hardcore, and don’t remember seeing anything like this on ESPN Classic or Sports Century. The drama is just too great.

I would love for the Bulls to just go in and blowout the Celtics in Game 7, but it doesn’t seem fitting for it to end that way. It seems like another overtime thriller would be more fitting, with Gordon hitting another game winner, or Derrick Rose hitting his first game winner of his career.

I am really excited for Game 7 and I think the Bulls will come out and compete hard.

Go Bulls!

With the Bulls down 106 to 104 in overtime against the Boston Celtics, Vinny Del Negro ran a brilliant play, finding Brad Miller for a wide open path to the basket for a layup. Miller’s layup was derailed when Rajon Rondo smacked him across the face, sending Miller to the line for two free throws, as a personal foul was assessed on Rondo. Miller missed the first free throw, and the game was over.

Rajon Rondo was not making a basketball play. He was about 3 feet away from making contact at the ball. Rather, he was just taking a free shot at Miller’s face. The foul deserves a flagrant foul call, and should have been called a Flagrant-2.

If the referees called a flagrant foul, the Bulls could have subbed Tyrus Thomas in for Brad Miller, and sent Ben Gordon to the line, who likely would have made both free throws to tie the game at 106. Then the Bulls would have the ball, with a chance to win the game, and if they missed, the game would go into a second overtime period.

Rather, the Bulls were left in an impossible circumstance. Either choose between Brad Miller, who is normally a good free throw shooter, but who had to shoot the free throws with a gash in his lip, and the fumes of the compound used to stop the bleeding, or let the Celtics pick who gets to shoot the free throws in Miller’s place. With that, the Celtics could have sent a poor free throw shooter, such as Aaron Gray to the line.

The referees blew the game. The Bulls wouldn’t have necessarily won this game, but they were put in a bad position because the refs failed to make the proper call on the court, which was a flagrant-2 foul.

The league office should do what is right, and raise Rondo’s foul to a Flagrant-2, and suspend Rondo for Game 6, but they won’t. And that’s just how things are in the NBA, and the Bulls will have to fight through the Celtics physical play.

The Chicago Bulls let one get away in Boston tonight, as they lost to the Boston Celtics 106 to 104.

Rewind to 9:28 left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls are leading by 11, 77 to 66. Now fast forward to 5:45 in the fourth quarter, Ray Allen hits a three to make it an 83 to 80 game in favor of the Bulls. A few moments later, Ray Allen fouls out of the game with his sixth foul on a double foul with Brad Miller.

Yes, the Bulls gave up the lead, but they will roll to victory with Allen out now? Not quite. This is when Paul Pierce stepped up.

With 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, Paul Pierce hit a layup, as Boston finally tied the game at 91 a piece.

After a Rose turnover, and a missed shot by Rondo and rebound by the Bulls, they had the ball back with 27.2 seconds left in the game. The Bulls got the ball to Gordon, who was guarded by Stephon Marbury, who was playing tight defense. But Marbury let Gordon find a wide open look after picking up his dribble, and Gordon sank the potential game winner with 16 seconds left.

A few seconds later, Paul Pierce hit a turn around jumpshot from the free throw line to tie the game at 93.

Then Ben Gordon had his last shot at it. He drove left, took a step back, and fired up the fallaway jumpshot, off left iron, for the third time in the series, the game went into overtime.

This is the first series in NBA history to have three games go into overtime.

How did the Bulls give up that 11 point lead? Derrick Rose and John Salmons wilted under pressure. After the Bulls had an 11 point lead, Derrick Rose committed 3 turnovers. John Salmons missed 3 of his 4 shots, getting two of them blocked by Kendrick Perkins.

In overtime, Gordon really stepped up. He drew a foul and made two free throws, and then hit a tough one shot flicker from the free throw line. Still, with 36.5 seconds left, the Celtics had a 104 to 101 lead behind the clutch shooting of Paul Pierce.

But Ben Gordon was fouled on a three by Tony Allen, and Ben Gordon responded by hitting all three of the free throws to knot the game at 104 a piece.

Simple game plan, get the stop, call a timeout, and go for the win. But the stop part didn’t happen, as Paul Pierce hit another shot from just above the free throw line to give the Celtics a 106 to 104 lead. The shot would end up being the game winner.

The Bulls actually had a great player drew up by Vinny Del Negro. They found Brad Miller for a wide open layup attempt, as the Celtics were overly concerned with Ben Gordon getting the ball. But Brad Miller would serve up a three course meal of sucktitude.

First, Miller missed the layup, airballing it. He was fouled on the play by Rondo, so he still had a shot to tie it up. But he would miss the first free throw. So now he had to purposely miss the free throw, but he bricked it off the glass, so the Bulls didn’t even get a chance. Bulls would have to foul, Pierce missed a pair at the line, Celtics grabbed the rebound and won.

Now on this play, Rajon Rondo just smacked Brad Miller in the face. It should have been two shots and the ball for the Bulls, which would have been huge. Rondo wasn’t anywhere close to the ball, so this could not be considered a basketball play. If Miller had hit the two free throws, it would have been tied up, with the Bulls having the ball back to try to win it, or go into a second overtime. Even if Miller missed 1 or both of the free throws, the Bulls would have had another posession to try to tie or win the game. The Bulls should have had at least one more posession following the flagrant foul, but they didn’t.

Yes, the referees blew the call, it was definitely a flagrant, but the Bulls also blew this one by themselves. Derrick Rose and John Salmons shouldn’t have wilted down the stretch in the fourth, and Brad Miller should have sank his two free throws.

So now, breaking down the players.

Ben Gordon was great. It wasn’t his best game ever, but he still put up 26 points and 6 assists with a torn hamstring. He didn’t have the best efficiency tonight, but he stepped up and made the big shots in the clutch. Gordon scored 7 points in the overtime period, and scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime period. Offensively, I thought he was generating some good looks, he was just missing his shots. Defensively, I thought he looked hindered early, but in the second half, he seemed to be moving around pretty well.

Derrick Rose was dreadful. 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, but 6 turnovers. Horrible. This guy needs to control the ball. His turnovers are really deflating the team, and they’re coming at crucial moments.

Kirk Hinrich was great in the first half, really stepping up. His defense was good all game. He finished with 19 points in the game. But where’d your offense go in the second half? We needed you Kirk.

John Salmons was so so again, finishing with 17 points on 5-15 shooting. Something really bugging me about Salmons is that he doesn’t shoot when he catches it. He will hold the ball, allowing the defense to get back on him, so every shot he takes is contested for the most part. So basically every shot Salmons take is some Larry Hughes style contested jumper. This isn’t a good thing. Salmons needs to start playing much smarter, and just take the shot right away.

Joakim Noah was great again. He finished with 11 points and 17 rebounds. He fought hard in the paint, and was just great. Tyrus Thomas finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds, but he wasn’t good. There were multiple plays where he didn’t even contest shots, and just let the Celtics score uncontested.

Brad Miller was horrible, and choked in the clutch. Although a corner three he hit off of a Gordon assist in the fourth quarter was a pretty big shot.

Rajon Rondo was terrific again. 28 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds. This game was a bit different. He wasn’t just burning Rose, who is one of the worst defenders in the league. Rather, the Bulls were meeting him with double teams, and he still destroyed the Bulls.

Paul Pierce, finished with 26 points. He looked really bad early in the game, but stepped up in the clutch, hitting the game tying shot to bring the game into overtime, and then hitting the game winner in overtime.

Glen Davis completely dominated Tyrus Thomas in particularly en route to 21 points.

Kendrick Perkins was a monster tonight. He had the Tim Duncan in the Finals a few years ago type statline, with 16 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 blocks. He finished the game with 0 fouls, which is ridiculous, as the guy pushes our guys so much, and comes down on the guards, that he should have easily had enough fouls to foul out. But if the refs are not calling it, why stop doing it? Smart play by Perkins to continue to push around the Bulls stringbean big men with the refs not calling fouls.

Ray Allen struggled today, only scoring 10 points. I thought Gordon did a pretty good job staying with Allen once he got through the initial soreness of his injury, and Vinny had some good schemes, where he would cover Ray Allen with a big with help defense from time to time. But Allen, like Gordon, helps his team so much just by being on the floor, as the entire other team is worried about letting him get open.

The Celtics bench is pure garbage, nothing more to say on them.

With the loss, the Bulls fall down 3-2 to the Celtics in this first round series. Game 6 will be in Chicago, at 6 PM on Thursday.

Closing Comments

This was the fourth instant classic game of the series. I really hope the Bulls can just come out and blow out the Celtics in game 6, as I’m not sure how many more close games I can take. The Bulls at points seemed to be on the verge of breaking open the game, but they never did.

Celtics deserve a lot of credit. They hit the big shots, and played tough all game long, and had just as much to do with their win as the Bulls’ mistakes.

Ben Gordon is a warrior. He is now averaging 25 points, and he is hitting clutch shot after clutch shot. It will be absolutely ridiculous if the Bulls let him go. He has earned his money with his great season followed by a great playoff series, with a gutsy game 5 performance on an injured leg. Jerry Reinsdorf better pay Ben Gordon what he is worth to keep him with the Bulls, because he is too valuable to let go.

Good effort tonight by the Bulls, just too many mistakes. I think the Bulls can take these next two, but he Celtics are right there, and could easily end this on Thursday. Come out on Thursday, defend your homecourt, and then just put it all on the line in Game 7.

Go Bulls!

The Chicago Bulls defeated the New Jersey Nets 103 to 94 at the United Center in a matinee game.

The Bulls almost let this one slip away, ceding the lead to New Jersey late in the game.  But Brad Miller scored to give the Bulls a 95 to 94 lead.  Then John Salmons was fouled by Devin Harris on a breakaway, and the refs called it a flagrant.

It is hard to say whether or not the foul was a flagrant. It’s easy to see why the refs called it the way they did, but Harris obviously had no malicious intent, whatsoever with the foul.

Salmons made 1 of the 2 free throws.  Then, out of the timeout, the Bulls ran a play for Ben Gordon.  Ben Gordon ended up with the ball on the left wing.  The Nets gave Gordon a little bit of space and he pulled up and sank a three point shot.  This gave the Bulls a 99 to 94 lead, and the Nets fell apart after that.

Ben Gordon was just great down the stretch.  He started the game 0-10 shooting, but closed out the game making 3 of his last 4.  Gordon got to the line very well tonight, taking 12 free throw attempts.  Gordon finished with 18 points in the game.

That is the thing about Ben Gordon, he can be terrible for the first three quarters, and then save your butts in the fourth.  He is clutch.  When the other players tighten up and start missing shots they normally make, Gordon focuses in and plays at a high level.

His teammates seem to recognize this as well.

Joakim Noah had to say about Gordon after the game, “The thing with BG is there are not a lot of shots that he takes that you can say, ‘Oh that’s a terrible shot,’ because you know he’s capable of making it.  He’s really been huge for this ballclub all year, hitting big shots down the stretch. He’s been doing that since he’s been here.”

This is the truth. There aren’t many bad shots for Gordon, because he is so good at taking all sorts of difficult shots.  You will see him brick a wide open three and then come back and make a fade away shot over Chris Bosh’s extended arm.  That’s just Gordon’s nature, he can make any shot, and that’s why he is so much better than other players at making the big shots.

John Salmons had to say, “I’m never worried about him shooting the ball.  He can get it going like that.”

John Salmons came back to the Bulls today to give them 17 points on 7-16 shooting.  Not the most efficient night for Salmons, but he gave the Bulls another scoring option, which really helped.

Derrick Rose put in an efficient 15 points and 5 assists.

The Bulls got good production from their front court.  12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, and 1 block from Joakim Noah.  9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks from Tyrus Thomas, and 13 points and 7 rebounds for Brad Miller.

But Tim Thomas finished with the stat of the game, scoring 12 points on 104.2 TS%.  It isn’t very often that you see a player score in double figures with over 100 TS%.

Brook Lopez was very impressive for the Nets.  He finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  He is a good young center who is going to be a good player in this league for a long time.  There are a lot of teams in the top 9 picks that are going to regret not drafting him.

Devin Harris finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Ryan Anderson had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Keyon Dooling added in 16 points.

Jarvis Hayes had 14 points off the bench.

With the win, the Bulls improve to 37-40 on the season.

<h3>Closing Comments</h3>

Some brief closing comments.  Good win for the Bulls and it is nice to have John Salmons back.  Ben Gordon was great in the clutch as he always is.  The Bulls need to continue to win down the stretch.  They have passed up Detroit once again, putting them in the seventh spot, and have gained some good separation from Charlotte.  They need to keep this up and make the playoffs.  But not only that, Del Negro needs to push the Bulls to finish 4-1.  If they do that, they will not have had a losing season.  If the Bulls have a losing season and don’t win a playoff series, then I think Del Negro should be fired, because this team, with all the talent on the roster, should be a winning team.

The Chicago Bulls blew out the Orlando Magic 120 to 102 tonight, as they play strong to keep themselves in the playoff hunt.

The Bulls crept to some double digit leads in the second and third quarters, but Orlando wouldn’t go down without a fight. The Magic nearly tied the game, bringing the score to 83 to 82. Following that, Rose hit two big shots to give the Bulls a 5 point lead going into the fourth.

Then a lineup of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, John Salmons, Tim Thomas, and Brad Miller/Joakim Noah led the Bulls to victory in the fourth, opening the game into a blowout.

Tonight was one of those nights where no one really played bad for the Bulls.

Derrick Rose struggled early in the game, but had an explosive 14 points in the third quarter, which were big in preserving the Bulls’ lead. Rose finished the game with 22 points and 5 assists.

Ben Gordon snuck under the radar tonight for an efficient 20 points on 9-14 shooting. He just played completely within the offense, and very rarely tried to create anything on his own.

Gordon was called for a type one flagrant foul, when he hammered Courtney Lee. It didn’t look like much of a flagrant foul, just a good old fashioned hard foul.

Kirk Hinrich had 6 points on 3-4 shooting. His defense was really bad for the first three quarters. He managed to give up 10 points to J.J. Redick, who scores almost exclusively on Hinrich. But Hinrich’s defense was big in the fourth quarter run that turned the game into a blowout. Hinrich forced a lot of Orlando turnovers in the fourth.

The Bulls young front court was solid. Tyrus Thomas had 11 points, and Joakim Noah added in 14 points and 8 rebounds. Noah really struggled guarding Dwight Howard. He’s just not strong enough to guard Howard.

Howard finished the game with 26 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulls got Howard into foul trouble, drawing 5 fouls on him. He got pretty much whatever he wanted against Noah, but struggled to score on Brad Miller.

And on that note, John Paxson’s trade is looking like a grandslam early on. The thing about the trade is the Bulls traded Andres Nocioni, a chucker who didn’t play defense and Drew Gooden, another chucker who didn’t play defense, along with a bunch of scrubs. In return, the Bulls received three legitimately talented NBA players.

The Bulls main nine man rotation currently is: Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons, Tim Thomas, and Brad Miller. There is no question, all those guys are quality NBA players. John Paxson should be lauded for putting that group of players together.

Brad Miller’s defense on Dwight Howard was great. He is a legitimate center, and would not allow Howard to back him down. Miller finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Two of his points came on a breakaway dunk after he stole the ball. Miller is just a good offensive big man. He can make both interior passes and passes out to the perimeter, he can set screens, and he knows how to cut to the basket. Having such a skilled center will really shape up the Bulls offense.

Tim Thomas was huge in the game. He was hitting big shot, after big shot in the fourth to help open up the big lead. Thomas finished with 17 points, going 4-6 from three point land. Thomas fills the Nocioni role quite well, as he is a bit of an upgrade over Nocioni.

The interesting thing about Thomas, is that he has been directing his new teammates while out on the floor, especially Derrick Rose.

John Salmons had 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. He dribbles around a lot, looking to create his own shot. It doesn’t quite kill the offense because he has the ability to make his shots, as well as make some nice passes when he is driving to the basket.

Hedo Turkoglu had 16 points for the Magic, and Courtney Lee added in 14 points.

Both Luol Deng and Rashard Lewis finished with 10 points.

At the end of the game, Del Negro subbed Rose in for Gordon to give Gordon the standing ovation. It’s a little weird that he didn’t use Anthony Roberson or Lindsey Hunter for the standing ovation sub.
With the win, the Bulls improve to 26-31 on the season. The Bulls are now 1.0 game behind Milwaukee for the 8th seed, and 2.0 games behind Detroit and Philadelphia for the 6th and 7th seeds.