wake.eat.sleep

As expected, both James and Wade return to their more typical numbers, shooting 3-7 and 8-10 free throws respectively. The rebounding advantage also shrunk, 45-41 in favor of Miami despite a 17-10 advantage by Chicago on the offensive rebounding side. The Bulls continue to struggle shooting the ball in the playoffs, going 28-82 (34.2%) and a horrific 3-20 from 3 point land. If the Bulls weren't going to score, they needed a lockdown from their defense. But this night, the Bulls took one on the chin...or literally, Asik took one from Wade.

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In my ECF Quick Prediction, I mentioned the need for the Bulls to limit Miami's transition offense. Partly because the Bulls have been somewhat mediocre at transition defense, and partly because Miami tends to feed off the energy created by the type of highlights that get generated by those plays.

One key that I tend to take for granted and that many analysts have seemed to downplay is that this Bulls team can be, and has been quite relentless all season. Coming into the playoffs, many analysts were saying that other teams would ratchet up their intensity, and the Bulls would have no "extra gear" to shift into. Regardless of whether you believe that, the unique quality of this team is being able to bring the same level of energy and intensity for longer stretches than most teams, and in particular they feed off the energy of Joakim Noah and complementary players such as Taj Gibson.

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

These two plays were a microcosm of the intensity and approach of both teams.

As both Sam Smith and Nick Friedell have pointed out, Wade talked about how it affected him, and some odd 90 to 1 dunks to dunked on ratio (?). Gibson however, explained why he preferred the putback dunk instead:

“That showed no matter the score or how much time is left in the game you never stop playing. You play until the clock runs out. Thibs’ motto is to play 48 minutes and tonight we wanted to show we could come out and play 48 minutes of tough basketball.”

This game certainly was the poster child for 48 minutes of tough basketball.

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Keys for Dallas to win: Defense. Balanced scoring. Rebounding.

Keys for Oklahoma City to win: Transition offense. Better shooting. Perimeter defense. More assisted scoring, and less isolation scoring.

Sentimentally, you'd like to see Dirk get another chance to play in the Finals. With Butler, you'd like his chances. But, without him, it's not clear if their defense can hold up against a young Thunder team.

Thunder in 6.

Keys for Miami to win: Force turnovers, win the rebounding battle, score on transition, get contributions from role players on road.

Keys for Chicago to win: Limit turnovers, long rebounds, prevent transition offense, win points in the paint battle.

Expect a tough series, with some wild lead changes throughout. There will at least be one blowout win (12-15+ lead for most of the game).

Bulls in 7.

It seems that most of the post season, we've been hearing a lot on the play of Carlos Boozer, or rather the lack thereof. Game 6 finally gave newly suffering Carlos Boozer haters a reason to be quiet...

23 points (10-16 shooting), 10 rebounds and 5 assists in 35 minutes of play.

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

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From the post game press conference:
“This is the playoffs so you’re going to be in tight quarters,” said Thibodeau. “You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable."

This is a team that has been built on hard work, effort and dedication. Everyone has expected roles to fulfill and at this point of the season players aren't surprised.

For example, Brewer will be the first player usually off the bench assuming no foul trouble. Noah and Boozer will generally get subbed out before the end of the 1st quarter. Rose will usually start on the bench for the start of 2nd quarter and Deng will usually be the last starter to get a quick breather with about 7 or 8 minutes left in the 2nd.

For the most part, I can tell who's been watching Bulls games just by being able to talk about these lineups and rotations.

In these last couple of months, the Bulls have used their better defensive combinations for late 3rd quarter sequences, and have generally opened 4th quarters with combinations of Watson, Korver and Rose to focus on offense.

This game however was going to get uncomfortable, but there was a group that was going to lead the Bulls to a comfortable result...

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

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After Game 2, my feeling was that in Games 3 and 4 there would be a tough game, and a relatively easy game. Basically one game that would be close until the 4th quarter, and one where the Bulls would have command throughout. I thought that Game 3 would be the tough one, and Game 4 would be the the easy one. Instead the script was reversed, and now the series heads back to Chicago tied at 2-2.

But, let's talk some Josh Smith, as he epitomizes what makes the Hawks fun to watch, and tough to beat, and the reverse as well.

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I have a confession to make. Sometime during the end of the first round, I was rooting for Atlanta to upset Orlando. Was it because of a potentially favorable matchup? Sure. But the bigger reason, was that a last-minute business trip would potentially put me in Atlanta during the series. And once the upset was complete, the schedule published, and a scheduling snafu pushing me to stay an extra day, the stage was set for my first road playoff game with the Bulls.

(Warning: this will likely be a long post.)

On game days, I tend to acknowledge that the Bulls are playing in some way. This time, I elected to go with my Bulls polo. At our partner site, I ran into a Hawks fan that disagreed with my choice in apparel that day. We had a short, spirited conversation on the series. It was his belief that as long as the Hawks played "their game", they could beat the Bulls. I politely declined to share my full opinions on the Hawks, choosing to highlight what I enjoyed about the Hawks in terms of athleticism and shooting ability.

As soon as our work day ended, I immediately geared up and headed down to Philips Arena.

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One fun thing about Twitter and hash tags, is that occasionally you will get people to @ mention you when you say something of interest. In this case, I made a remark about a timeout huddle plea by Larry Drew:

"As good as we were the last game, we have reverted back to taking a bunch of bad shots. We can't do that. Not on the road. And when you do that, you give a team life. And that's what we've done."

To which I said:

Attn Larry Drew: they were taking bad shots in Game 1... they just went in! #hawks #bullsupdates @chicagobulls

— Wesley Rizal (@wrizal) May 5, 2011

I had a nice little "chat" with an Atlanta sportswriter on the Hawks. Basically, he felt that the chief offender was Josh Smith, and that Johnson and Crawford were the only ones who could make shots.

What do I think?

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...and all the chants are worthwhile.

I'll update this soon.