NBA – Chicago Bulls beat Boston Celtics to clinch the Eastern Conference Title

Ok, let’s be fair to the Boston Celtics and perhaps for the sake of precision lets just say that the Boston Celtics still have a mathematical probability of winning the Conference Title and holding on to the No.1 seed in the East for the NBA Playoffs. But on the other hand we must also say that the Celtics gasping the No.1 seed is as improbable as it is for the Bulls to lose all of its pending games.

For starters, the soon to be named the league’s MVP, the talented and spectacular Derrick Rose outplayed no other then one of the NBA’s finest point guards: Rajon Rondo. As if that was not enough, Rose, with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists almost, single handedly outscored the Boston Celtics Big three: Kevin Garnet, 10 points, 10 rebounds; Paul Pierce, 15 points, 4 rebounds; Ray Allen 7 points and 6 rebounds.

So this better be a wake-up call for the Boston Celtics if they are really hoping to emulate their National Championship in 2008. Sure, they made it to the finals last year, but considering all the rebuilding and insane investments that the teams in the Easter Conference have made, it is certainly going to be a bit more of a challenge to play the Bulls, the Miami Heat, the Orlando Magic and the Knicks for a spot in the NBA Finals.

The guys from Chicago were playing with much more cohesion and style, there is really no doubt about it: the Bulls deserved the win. Boston was not at its best, and the Bulls made sure they showed everyone watching the game the Celtics many flaws. Chicago outscored the Celtics 44-22 in the paint, outrebounded them 44-35 and held Boston to 38.4 percent shooting. And that’s not the Celtics that we expect to see on a daily basis. That’s not the team that held the Miami Heat to a 3-0 record and which on Sunday could very well sweep the season with a 4-0.

Because there is simple one big issue: Derrick Rose has been certainly a prominent force in this new era for the Bulls. Because let’s face it, we haven’t seen the Bulls play like they have since, well, since Scottie Pippen and Micheal Jordan were working their way into becoming NBA Legends.

Rose was a one-man highlight reel against Rajon Rondo, beating him with his crossover and getting to the rim. His performance in the first half was just outstanding. Rose scored 16 points in the first two quarters as the Bulls build a 48-43 lead. Luol Deng scored 23 points, and Carlos Boozer added 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The bottom line: Rose outplayed Rondo and that just was not good news for Boston. Twice, Rose completely lost Rondo with hard crossovers. In the second quarter, Rose duped Rondo by stepping back and left, fainting to shoot, then crossing back to his right and flying pass three Celtics Players for the layup. It was a beautiful play that simply made Rondo and the Celtics look a bit too soft, too weak, and not quite ready yet for the Playoffs.

NBA – The Chicago Bulls crush the Atlanta Hawks

Derrick Rose keeps proving he is MVP material, this time leading the Chicago Bulls to a 94-76 crush of the Atlanta Hawks. Rose had a slow start, and it took a while to get his engine going, but once all the pieces began to fit in, he was unstoppable.  The talented point guard guided the Bulls with 34 points, 6 rebound and 5 assists for Chicago’s tenth consecutive win at home and 12th win in 14 games.

The Bulls are not really fighting to catch up with the Boston Celtics in the Easter Conference; Chicago has bigger expectations for their own team. What happens is that it is starting to seem as if at the end of the regular season, when the veteran-drived Boston Celtics are starting to drop their pace and lose too many games, the Bulls are getting stronger by the hour.

The Bulls didn’t seem to miss Carlos Boozer too much that night, as the talented player sat down for the whole game with a sprained left ankle. The key to the Bulls’ success in this game: the third quarter. By halftime, the Atlanta Hawks had managed to stay strong and where down only by two points. But Rose was just about to put on his one-man show and with 18 points alone in that quarter, drive the Bulls into a 24-10 run and extend the difference to 72-60.

Loul Deng had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, to keep on contributing to the Bulls. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Josh Smith added 15 and Jamal Crawford scored 14 for Atlanta, which went cold in the third – its lowest scoring quarter this season – and remained winless since beating Chicago at home last week.

It seems it was payback time for the Bulls.

NBA – Chicago Bulls defeat Miami Heat

Yes, there are alot of fans out there who believe that the NBA games that really matter are those played during the Playoffs. Even though there is quite a strong argument in their favor, one could also sustain that some regular season games are quite significant. One of this significant games without a doubt was the 93-89 win of the Chicago Bulls over the Miami Heat.

Here is the thing: what really matters here is that the Bulls won over one of the strongest teams in the nation. For the second time this season. And yes, this time around the Miami Heat had all of its stars in the court. LeBron James was there, Dwayne Wade was there and even Chris Bosh was there. Well, sort of. Ok, as a matter of fact, Bosh was having one of his worst nights as a pro, but heck, he was there.

So perhaps that’s why it was such an important win for Derrick Rose and the Bulls. The last play of the game was a sweet definitive moment for Rose. Let’s face it, he is a talented player who does a great job on the field, but who’s numbers are certainly somewhat of a dissapointment. He was 9-for-24 with 5 boards and 6 assists for 26 points. Not bad, but nothing spectacular either.

Unless, you actually take a look at what he does on the field. Check out what he did on the last play: Loul Deng went to the far corner and stood outside the arch. Dwayne Wade was covering him. Rose had the ball and quickly swirved into the paint. Wade turned around and tried to double team Rose as he was been guard by LeBron James. And then it happened. Somehow Rose managed to clear the ball past two of the best active players in the league, and without missing a beat Deng shoot for the tiebreaking three-pointer that gave the Bulls the 4 point lead 18 seconds before the end. 

And it was over. Despite the efforts of Wade who scored 34 points and LeBron James who added 29 for Miami, the game was goint to go to the Bulls. Perhaps the weakest link was Chris Bosh. He missed 17 of 18 shots and had seven points with Joakim Noah doing a fantastic job guarding him most of the night.