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It comes to a time when you can’t help but to realize that some things are just not meant to be. And Tim Thibodeau, the Chicago Bulls head coach, is doing his best at staying positive about this postseason. Right now, the Chicago Bulls are in what we could call survival mode. They are doing all they can to stay alive. But if we take a step back and look at this calmly, we can realize that Chicago might have had a chance when Derrick Rose got injured and he was going to be out for the season. To be quite frank, Rose had been dealing with injuries all season long and had miss half of the Bulls’ game this season. Then again, they managed to finish the regular season with the league’s best record. But on game 2, Joakim Noah sprained his ankle, and he couldn’t get in uniform for game 3. Without Derrick Rose, out for a season with a torn ACL and with Noah on day-to-day status, the 76ers manhandled the Bulls took a 89-82 win at home to lead the series 3-1.

It’s very unusual for the No.1 seed to be ousted by the No.8 seed in the Playoffs. As a matter of fact, it has only happened 4 times in NBA’s history and taking a look at the situation and considering that the Bulls will have to walk into game 5 knowing that they have to win 5-in-a-row without Rose or Noah, it look as if the 76ers are quite certainly going to make it into the second round. But that doesn’t mean that the 76ers haven’t struggled. Even in game four, the 76ers never got a clear look at a win until Jrue Holiday, a 21-year-old point guard made his first basket of the game late in the fourth quarter. Holiday had missed every shot he’d made in the game, but lock up consecutive three-pointers that stretched a one-point lead into a 7-point advantage that ultimately gave Philadelphia a 89-82 win over the Bulls.

Spencer Hawes scored 22 points and recorded 8 rebounds for the 76ers. At the end of the night Holiday had 20 and 8 boards to put the Sixers one win away from reaching the second round. Andre Iguodala chipped in with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, who have won the last three games after losing Game 1. That is, they’ve won every game they’ve played against the Rose-less Bulls. It was a bumpy start for Holiday, who went 7-of-21 shooting for the night, but he regained his game late in the third quarter and got things moving for the 76ers.

The Bulls on the other hand are reluctant to let the fact that they are playing without their best scorer and their top rebounder be an excuse and they are giving it all they’ve got. Even players who had been somewhat kept in the shadow during the first three games of the playoff series stood up, like Carlos Boozer and his 23 points and 11 rebounds for example. Taj Gibson chipped in 14 points and 12 rebounds. “Bottom line, we’ve got to play better defense without fouling,” Boozer said. “You can’t cry about the referees. It’s the playoffs. If we could hold them to 17, 18 points in the fourth quarter, maybe we win that game.”

NBA – Philadelphia 76ers defeat shorthanded Chicago Bulls

It comes to a time when you can’t help but to realize that some things are just not meant to be. And Tim Thibodeau, the Chicago Bulls head coach, is doing his best at staying positive about this postseason. Right now, the Chicago Bulls are in what we could call survival mode. They are doing all they can to stay alive. But if we take a step back and look at this calmly, we can realize that Chicago might have had a chance when Derrick Rose got injured and he was going to be out for the season. To be quite frank, Rose had been dealing with injuries all season long and had miss half of the Bulls’ game this season. Then again, they managed to finish the regular season with the league’s best record. But on game 2, Joakim Noah sprained his ankle, and he couldn’t get in uniform for game 3. Without Derrick Rose, out for a season with a torn ACL and with Noah on day-to-day status, the 76ers manhandled the Bulls took a 89-82 win at home to lead the series 3-1.

It’s very unusual for the No.1 seed to be ousted by the No.8 seed in the Playoffs. As a matter of fact, it has only happened 4 times in NBA’s history and taking a look at the situation and considering that the Bulls will have to walk into game 5 knowing that they have to win 5-in-a-row without Rose or Noah, it look as if the 76ers are quite certainly going to make it into the second round. But that doesn’t mean that the 76ers haven’t struggled. Even in game four, the 76ers never got a clear look at a win until Jrue Holiday, a 21-year-old point guard made his first basket of the game late in the fourth quarter. Holiday had missed every shot he’d made in the game, but lock up consecutive three-pointers that stretched a one-point lead into a 7-point advantage that ultimately gave Philadelphia a 89-82 win over the Bulls.

Spencer Hawes scored 22 points and recorded 8 rebounds for the 76ers. At the end of the night Holiday had 20 and 8 boards to put the Sixers one win away from reaching the second round. Andre Iguodala chipped in with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, who have won the last three games after losing Game 1. That is, they’ve won every game they’ve played against the Rose-less Bulls. It was a bumpy start for Holiday, who went 7-of-21 shooting for the night, but he regained his game late in the third quarter and got things moving for the 76ers.

The Bulls on the other hand are reluctant to let the fact that they are playing without their best scorer and their top rebounder be an excuse and they are giving it all they’ve got. Even players who had been somewhat kept in the shadow during the first three games of the playoff series stood up, like Carlos Boozer and his 23 points and 11 rebounds for example. Taj Gibson chipped in 14 points and 12 rebounds. “Bottom line, we’ve got to play better defense without fouling,” Boozer said. “You can’t cry about the referees. It’s the playoffs. If we could hold them to 17, 18 points in the fourth quarter, maybe we win that game.”

Tim Thibodeau and the Chicago Bulls are making one heck of an effort trying not to make a big deal out of a huge blow. Derrick Rose, the incumbent MVP, is now out for the rest of the season, and just as some reporters hurry up to say that with Rose, the dream of a title evaporates for the Bulls, Thibodeau and Co. are trying to convince themselves that they still have what it takes to make it into the NBA Finals and return home with a ring. They won the first game of the Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. But the 103-91 win did cost the Bulls their finest player. There were only 1:22 seconds left in the game when Rose tried to leap off with his left foot as he was going through the lane straight into the basket. Rose had 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists when he was injured. Right after the fall, Rose went to the ground and held his left knee with both of his hands. You could tell by his face he was in some serious pain. A few hours later, the team officials announced what already many Chicago fans feared: Derrick Rose had suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and was going to miss the rest of the season.

The facts are out there. The Bulls have without a doubt lost their best man in the court for the Playoffs. But if we look at it from a very cold perspective, they might as well just keep on playing and battling the whole thing out. If these was the Miami Heat and it was LeBron James we were talking about, or if these was the LA Lakers and Kobe Bryant was going to be out for the season, this would had been a different story. The thing is that Rose has been struggling all season long with injuries. As a matter of fact, he missed 39 of the Bulls 66 regular season games. Turf toe, back spasms, pulled groin and foot injuries, it’s been a very rough year for Rose. What moves us a bit about this story is that deep down inside we all could agree with his teammate Carlos Boozer. “It’s tough,” Boozer said in the press conference after the game. “It seems like he just can’t catch a break. … I just feel for him, man. He really can’t catch a break this season.”

Once again, the subtle attacks came against the Bulls head coach Tim Thibodeau. He was asked about his philosophy of keeping his top players in late-game situations when the outcome is not in doubt. It’s easy to say that once the game is over, and reporters have consistently been making the same question. It seems that they want to blame the coach of the year and not bad luck, or the particularly demanding (because of the lockout) schedule for Rose’s injuries. “I don’t work backwards like you guys do,” Thibodeau said. “The score was going the other way.” And that’s that.

Now, on a shameful note: Jason Petrie, a Nike shoe designer who came up with LeBron James’ signature sneakers, tweeted this. “You got one guy only getting stronger, and one guy breaking down before our very eyes. You chose poorly Pooh… #shouldasignedwithNIKE #GWS,” Petrie wrote, referring also to James and Heat’s 33-point Game 1 victory over the New York Knicks. It might be just me but I hope they fire his sorry ass.

There was a lot of shoving and hitting and dirty talking in the matchup between the two top seeds in the Eastern Conference. It’s hard to say how this series would eventually play out in the postseason. One thing is for certain: without Derrick Rose on the field it’s just not going to be that easy for the Chicago Bulls to defeat the Miami Heat in a 7-game series. Particularly because if they do come to meet each other down the stretch it is going to be for the Eastern Conference Title and the steaks are going to be as high as they get for these two squads. Hopefully, on the other hand, this long pause is going to cool down some of the tempers that both squads showed in this 83-72 of the Heat over the Chicago Bulls.

This time head coach Erik Spoelstra relied heavily on a very strong defensive scheme. That didn’t keep the Miami Heat’s offensive end from finishing with good numbers overall. LeBron James had 27 points and 11 rebounds, Dwayne Wade chipped in with 18 points while the other member of the Big Three, Chris Bosh was sidelined for the second consecutive game so that he could rest some minor bumps and bruises. The season is coming to an end, and all teams around the board are in one way or another suffering from injured players that just couldn’t keep up with such a demanding schedule from this shortened season. Had the knew it was going to be so rough on them, perhaps the Collective Bargaining Agreement among the team owners and the players association would had been signed a lot faster.

Anyhow, at 46-17 for the season, the Chicago Bulls still have to play games with the Dallas Mavericks, the Indiana Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. On the other hand, the Miami Heat could manage to win the No. 1 spot in the East, considering that at 45-17 for the season the matchups against still Washington (two games) and Houston should come back as a win. It’s going to be a different story when they once again meet the Boston Celtics for the regular season finale.

The Bulls simply couldn’t keep a good rhythm all season. Injuries have had a very high toll over some key players. That been said, they do have managed to stay competitive, and as a matter of fact, as the season comes to an end, they still hold the best winning record of the league. John Lucas guided the Bulls with 16 points while Joakim Noah took top performer credits with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Luol Deng chipped in with 11 points and Carlos Boozer had 10. The Bulls split four games with Miami this season and could have clinched the top spot in the East with a win on Thursday.

Now, in regards to all the hitting, punching, fouling and just plain unnecessary roughness in the match, this is what the Heat’s head coach had to say: “It was a physical, competitive game against two teams that defend (…) That tends to lead to a little bit more passion. And nobody was really backing down.” I really think that Erik Spoelstra put it mildly.

The Chicago Bulls have reached the league’s best 40-win mark this season with a thrilling overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. One would assume that considering the Raptors currently hold a 16-33 record for the season, they wouldn’t pose much a thread against the Chicago Bulls and their NBA’s best 40-10 record. Sure enough, the Bulls have been playing without their all-star point guard, Derrick Rose, who has sat out his 6^th consecutive game with a groin injury. But despite missing their most valuable player, head coach Tim Thibodeau has managed to keep this team winning. But it was quite an unexpected turn of events to see the Bulls struggling so much, and having to come from behind to win this thrilling game 102-101 with a buzzer-beating last shot by Loul Deng to take a very significant win at the United Center.

Chicago Bull’s C.J. Watson was the player in charge of making the one last decisive shot. He drove for the basket as the time was running out but his shot was partially blocked by Toronto’s James Johnson. For a split second it seemed as if the game would end up going to the Raptors. But without missing a beat Loul Deng was there for the winner. After officials reviewed the play to make sure Deng’s shot beat the buzzer, the shot was confirmed and the Bulls claim another win. “We’re lucky we had enough time to get the rebound,” Deng said. “When it left my hand it felt good because I saw the light after it left my hand. But then again, you never really know. We waited until they made the decision.”

James Johnson had a good run against the Bulls. He had 20 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, including the last one that could had virtually given the Raptors a well-deserved win. And it’s not just a random performance from this 16-win team. As a matter of fact, three nights ago, the Raptors gave the Bulls another great run for their money before Chicago eventually took the win with them. But it was going to be up to Jose Calderon to lead the Raptors in their effort to hold off the Bulls late in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Calderon finished with 20 points and 10 assists. Gary Forbes had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, which overall is a good performance, but he also missed two game-changing free throws with 6.4 seconds left in overtime.

Carlos Boozer leaded the Chicago Bulls efforts with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. CJ Watson has been doing a very good job filling in for Derrick Rose. He finished the night with 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a brilliant 3-pointer from the right side to give Chicago a 93-92 lead with 52.6 seconds to go. But Amir Johnson took a lob pass from Calderon and dunked to give the lead right back to Toronto. Watson then hit 1 of 2 from the line to make it 94-all with 32.2 seconds left and take it into overtime. Joakim Noah was kicked out of the game with a double-technical foul. It is still uncertain if the league is going to punish him with additional games for tossing the ball back to a referee.