| 14 April 2010
I'm going to talk about the game first. I'll address the other nonsense about management fist-fights in my next entry. Because the game's more important, right? I think? Not sure. I think so.
First, let me just say...oh my goodness, Kirk Hinrich. I have never seen a more heroic performance from The Captain. The Bulls backcourt of Rose and Hinrich outplayed the Celtics backcourt combo of Rondo/Allen/Pierce. Those three combined for 57 points, while Rose and Hinrich combined for 69. Kirk Hinrich set a season scoring high with his 30 point performance. And it wasn't so much that he scored 30 points. It was more impressive that he was just hitting big shot after big shot, especially in the 4th quarter. The Bulls would have been donezo if Hinrich had not hit some of those 3's in the 4th. And I've said in the past that Kirk is maybe the least clutch shooter in the game. But not last night. Last night he was the most clutch shooter in the game. Watch the video below and hear Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose talk about "Kirkie Wirkie" and hear from the horse's mouth himself, The Captain, about his great night and his thoughts on the last game of the season.
What is more entertaining than a Joakim Noah post-game interview in the locker room? Not many things. Jo had a terrific night himself with 9 points and 16 rebounds. His rebounding numbers really are staggering. Still not sure how he does it. But he helped the Bulls outrebound the Celtics 49-40.
And of course let's not forget about Derrick Rose's performance. A career high 39 point ball game. And equally important, getting Rajon Rondo in serious foul trouble, thus allowing him to abuse Nate Robinson over and over. Rose had a line of 39 points, 7 assists, 5 boards, and 3 blocks. And one spectacular open-court reverse dunk:
Dirty. Derrick Rose may have won the dunk contest with a dunk like that. He's making a case to be in next year's competition. He had an unbelievable night while his counterpart, the ever-lauded Rajon Rondo, was held to a measely 4 points and 6 assists, with no steals. And this is a guy who averages 14 points, 9.8 asissts (fourth in the league), and 2.5 steals (1st in the league). All that in 37 minutes? I would say that's one of the worst performance of Ms. Ronda's career. And Derrick also had this stuff on Ronda:
Do not bring that weak stuff in on Derrick. And also, Derrick was finally getting some calls as well. He actually shot 10 free throws. AND HE MADE 9 OF THEM. Where was that free-throw stroke in the Nets game? Beyond that, the Bulls also got a few breaks and bounces for once, a la Rasheed literally catching a ball and laying it in for the Bulls:
I have never seen anything like that. Ball don't lie, right? By the way, how quick was Rasheed Wallace's decline? I bet the Celtics would give anything to rescind that contract offer from this past off-season.
Bottom line, the Bulls, in the midst of possibly the worst distraction of the season, came out incredibly focused and absolutely did work, especially Captain Kirk. How ridiculous is it that our playoff homes come down to the final game of the season? Makes me think back to the 35-point Kings comeback or the Nets debacle from a few days ago. JUST ONE MORE WIN, and we'd already be in. So many blown opportunities. But you gotta forget about all that, and come out tonight and do what needs to be done. GO BULLS.
