Bulls pulling clear in East #1 battle

With an unconvincing 95-87 win over the lowly Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night the Chicago Bulls opened up a 2-game lead over the Boston Celtics for the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoff race.

Boston lost 83-81 to the Bobcats at home in Boston. A shocking result that showed the true frailties of a team still struggling defensively since 7-footer Kendrick Perkins departed in early March. To go with this struggle of stopping teams, they have lost their scoring touch to boot. Shooting just 42% since the trade of Perkins the Celtics have fell from a 2 game lead to a 2 game deficit in less than a month.

Chicago have had a busy 7 days with 2 sets of back-to-back games this past week. These two sets couldn't have been any more different in highlighting both strengths and weaknesses of this young Bulls' team. In two laughers over the Hawks and Kings showed the Bulls can score points easily when playing poorer defensive teams. However, these past two nights have seen Chicago needing bailed out by Derrick Rose with late-game plays befitting of his MVP-candidacy. Last night in Milwaukee, Rose scored 8pts in a 12-0 Bulls run along with providing assists on the other 8 of the Bulls final 16pts.

Time and again Rose has silenced his critics with various displays of his wide range of talents. Many said before the season that he had no jump-shot and could only score easy lay-ins. In reply he broke his scoring record against the league's top team and then equaled it again for good measure. Critics then told how he could only shoot from close range and not from 3-point range. So Rose went out and became one of the top 10 players in the NBA in 3-point shots made this year. He has quietened the people who said he couldn't pass by smashing his career high with 17 assists last night and has proved himself an adept defender with crucial blocks, steals and tipped passes. He should be a shoe-in for MVP if the media can avoid falling in love with LeBron James again.

On Saturday night, Chicago opened up the game by going down 8-15 as the Bucks continually scored from deep inside the painted area. Joakim Noah was found wanting against the tougher Andrew Bogut while fighting for rebounds at either end. Noah hasn't been the same since returning from surgery earlier this month. Another player not fulfilling earlier form is Carlos Boozer, playing poorly of late with just his 8th double-double game in his last 22 (last night) and another night of 0 free-throws for Boozer. Poor defending saw the Bulls fall as many as 15 points down before Keith Bogans (yes, you read it right) fired in back-to-back 3's to cut the lead to 9 and Rose poured in a nice lay-up to start an 8-0 run that effectively saved the Bulls from a blowout, energizing the split crowd and sparking the team into fight mode. The Bucks continued to do well in the third quarter, but they could not score in the 4th as their reliance on jump-shots cost them down the crunch time of the game. The Bucks struggle from 3-point range, so the Bulls defense tightened inside and allowed them to miss plenty of threes and long twos.

Chicago showed their fighting spirit with a 4th quarter rally on Friday night against Memphis and did the same again in Milwaukee as they stopped Bucks' top scorer John Salmons from scoring a single point in the 4th, including 2 brilliant defensive plays by a quiet Luol Deng that set up Rose to pull the team through. With 1:53 left, the Bulls had pulled level at 83-83 before a simply mesmerizing play by Rose. He crossed over his defender before driving the ball behind his back and then passing down low to Boozer for the dunk. The Bulls led the game for the first time on this basket. They went on to score 12 more unanswered off Rose with a soaring, twisting lay-in that got a foul too, which he made as Derrick scored all 12 free throws he was given. To end the game, he scored a Kobe Bryant-esque fadeaway leaning jumpshot from the foul line that swished in and sent the large swathes of Bulls fans in the Bradley Center into celebration. He wasn't done, dishing a nice lead pass to Ronnie Brewer for once final lay-in to put the nail in the coffin.

Chicago have 10 games remaining as they sit 53-19, the Lakers are 52-20 and would have game 7 of a Finals in Chicago (I'm dreaming I know). 6 of their next ten games are against teams with less more losses than wins as they face Philadelphia, Minnesota and Detroit in the next 5 days. They also have trips to Orlando and a home visit from Boston left in their final gallop to the finishing post.

Rose boasted that the team could finish go undefeated the rest of the way.

Who doubts him?

Bulls move within a half of Boston

With their win Saturday night, Chicago moved to percentage points behind the Celtics for a share of the East's #1 seed.

Boston won a record-setting match over the Bucks on Sunday evening to maintain their half-game lead over Chicago in an increasingly tight Eastern Conference. Boston are now 47-17 with Chicago 47-18.

Saturday night's win should has been assured at half-time with the Bulls up 68-41, a franchise record 13 first-half 3's seeing them streak out to a 27-point lead after 2. The Jazz were scoreless for nearly 4 minutes of the game until they got onto the board at 12-2. Chicago continued to knock in triples for fun and ended with a team-best 8 for the quarter, ending it 37-17 up. Rose alone hit 5 of 6 with Deng and Korver hitting the mark from downtown.

Into the second and Chicago kept up the pressure with the second unit joining in the party from behind the arc, Watson was 2 of 2 in the quarter, with Korver, Deng and Rose adding 1 more each. Noah came in and grabbed a number of offensive boards, Kurt Thomas showed he still has the jump shot that makes him a danger out to 15 feet.

The Bulls came into the locker room with 68 on the board, another record for the team.

An extra-long halftime was taken as Chi-town honoured the 20th anniversary of the 1990-91 title winning season, the team's first. Scottie Pippen and now team-owner Michael Jordan made a brief address to the capacity crowd, in which Jordan delivered a message of optimism.
"You guys are in for a lot of other championships," he said of the onlooking current squad. "Don't be surprised if you have six more coming."

High praise indeed, from a man who rarely hands out compliments. Joakim was particularly respectful of 'Those' Bulls and the legacy they created in the 90's. "When you have a player like Michael giving us love like that it feels great." Noah kept sight of the present by offering that despite this praise, they still have their faults. These faults were laid bare, Chicago got stuck in a familiar rut as they couldn't get a shot to fall or a stop on defense.

Whether the long break drained the momentum from Chicago, they came out firing blanks, the Jazz finally functioning in defence, holding the Bulls to just 27% shooting in the quarter. Al Jefferson came to life to lead the Jazz to 54% shooting as they cut and held the lead to under 20.

Although Kyle Korver stopped the rot with a key 3-pointer, the Jazz scented blood and closed to 102-90 midway through the final period, but a nice run buy a mix of bench and starters closed out the game. So much damage was done by half time that Rose was without a score in the 4th. He finished with 26pts, 7 assists. Deng also had 26 with 4 rebounds as Chicago out-rebounded the opposition yet again for their 6th W in a row and 9th win in 10.

Tuesday sees the visit of the Wizards, the first of many games against sub .500 teams. Chicago must be feel confident that the top see is within reach as Boston have 7 of their next 9 on the road, including a trip to New Orleans. Boston's road record is not the best, so dropping a game or two is a possibility.

Currently, the Celtics have a 2-1 series lead of Chicago with one to play, at the United Center in April. Splitting the series would mean the tiebreaker is decided over the pair's record vs the other Eastern teams.

London 2011: New Jersey Nets Players

Here it is, Part 3 of my bumper London 2011 Games preview. The Toronto Raptors will battle with the New Jersey Nets over two nights at London's O2 Arena.

Here is a quick lo-down on the players you might want to watch battling away in the Nets uniforms.

Deron Williams: Deron is the Nets' marquee signing of this year's in-season trade window. Signed from the Utah Jazz in return for two current Jazz players, two future Jazz players and over $3million cash. The Point Guard is now in his 6th season and was named an NBA All-Star for the 2nd year running in 2011. Williams was regarded by many experts as the league's best Point Guard in the 2009-10 season. The 6th year player has a nasty box of tricks to go with explosive speed all ready and waiting for this weekend.

Brook Lopez: 7ft Center Lopez is the glue-guy for this team. Without him, they don't play well, he just adds a certain... x-factor to the Nets' offense. See what I mean? This guy scores for fun against every player given the difficult job of stopping him. Lopez is regarded as one of the league's top defenders, largely thanks to his great energy in both attack and defense.

Jordan Farmar: Farmar is another of the young point guards making up this 'golden generation' of point guards currently terrorizing the NBA. Plenty of success has already fallen the way of the Californian, he was a part of the Lakers team that has won the last two NBA Championships.

London 2011: Toronto Raptors Players

Welcome to Part 2 of my preview of the NBA Games in London. The Toronto Raptors will face off with the New Jersey Nets at London's O2 Arena over the weekend of the 4th-6th March.

Next up in the series is a quick look at the players that you might want to look out for playing in Raptors' red.

The Raptors have a number of
quick, young players

DeMar DeRozan: "No Props Needed" is one guy you need to watch. Why? How about this? or this, possibly one of the best dunks-on-a-man I have ever witnessed. Dynamic, athletic, he can jump higher than just about anyone. DeRozan is the future of the Raptors franchise, he's young and popular. Exactly the type of player that the league loves to see play the game. Never a complaint comes from his lips either.

Leandro Barbosa: Another youngster making an impact on the league, Barbosa is recognizable by the half-shirt he wears under his Raptors vest. The powerful Brazilian guard is one of the league's most explosive players, and at 6ft 3in is one of the strongest of his relatively small size.

Andrea Bargnani: Bargnani is one of many Italian players making their name in the NBA, Andrea came from Italian side Benetton Treviso to play his ball in America. One of the NBA's top scoring Centers, Bargnani combines his height (all 7ft of it) and incredible speed for a big guy to score points for fun. Not many Centers can claim to be good ball-handlers too, Bargnani is sublime at keeping that ball in control and doing whatever he wants to do with it. And for a big guy, my goodness can he jump

James Johnson: Any fan who watched the Chicago - Utah pre-season game in London in 2009 knows who Johnson is. In his first starts for Chicago, then-rookie JJ scored the game-winner at the buzzer to seal victory over the Jazz. JJ never really got a chance to shine in Chicago, especially under the new coach who preferred experience to youth athleticism and often left him on the bench, unused. The Bulls realized his dream by sending him off to Toronto where he would be guaranteed the chance to start. Fans instantly warmed to a passionate Johnson as he helped his new team to a win over his former employers in his first-ever game for the Rap's. JJ is quick, he is strong and he can slam a basketball through the hoop as he pleases.

London 2011: Raptors/Nets Season so-far.

We'll start this bumper guide to this weekend's groundbreaking events with a brief look at how our two teams, Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets, have performed this season so far.

Toronto Raptors


The Raptors, the only Non-American NBA team (Canada), were one of the teams unlucky enough to find themselves a part of last summer's chaotic trade window. We saw LeBron James destroy a budding franchise by leaving his boyhood team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to build a new life in Miami with the Heat. Toronto felt this big time, as their own Superstar, Center/Forward Chris Bosh, joined James in Miami to form a super-team with long-time Miami star Dwyane Wade. Bosh and LeBron's old teams have both had similar seasons, though the Raptors have coped much better than the Cavaliers (losers of an all-time worst 26 straight games).

In 2009-10, Toronto missed the playoffs by losing just 1 more game than 8th place Chicago. This year, the playoffs are out of the question as the Raps enter a rebuilding phase in this post-Bosh era. They brought in Chicago Bulls' youngster James Johnson, who played big in his first Raptors game, against his old team, to help them to a confidence-boosting victory. Currently at 16-43, the Raptors are 13th in the East and will finish this year with more losses than victories.

New Jersey Nets


The New Jersey Nets have just come off completing the 4th-worst year in NBA history, with 12 wins and 70 losses. The Nets set new records along the way, becoming the only team to ever start the year by losing their first 18 games. They also became only the 3rd team to have played 43 games and come up with 3 wins from them. After 50 games, New Jersey broke another with their horrific 4-46 record. The worst record ever seen in any of the 4 major American Sports.


Things are beginning to look brighter for the Nets however, as they are now co-owned by Russia's 2nd richest man, Mikhael Prokhorov and rapper Jay-Z. The Nets recently pulled off a star-signing of their own in securing the services of All-Star Deron Williams, a player that the team will be looking to build around for the future. A big signing that rivals any of the mid-season trades this year. New Jersey sit 12th in the East, just 2 losses ahead of Toronto which of course means that 2 Raptor wins could see the teams trade places in the standings. The Nets, are currently playing in Newark, a relatively small area for a big team such as NJ. Next year however, the Nets are looking forward to moving into the brand new, state-of-the-art Barclays Center in downtown New York.

NBA Games come to London.

With just 1 week to go until the NBA comes to London, I'll give you a quick guide to both the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors, including which players to look out for, plus my predictions for who will win both of the games.

Follow this blog over the next 7 nights for all the news on these landmark games.

• Raptors/Nets Season so-far
• Toronto Raptors: Players to watch

You can keep up with this blog on twitter by following me @Peeeter_Owen

Preview: Bulls vs Heat

Time for the run-in, the stretch, the post-All Star push. Whatever we call it, this last 30 or so games ultimately decides how this most unpredictable of NBA Championships will be fought out.

D-Rose will continue his battle
with MVP-candidate LeBron James

First up for Chicago is a huge match against Miami at the United Center. The Bulls are surprisingly just one game in the Loss column behind the much-favored Miami Heat and another one after that behind the Conference-leading Celtics. Chicago face Miami twice in the next 14 days, two games that could go a long way to deciding which of the two teams will be the #2 seed, and possibly even decide which of the two will contend for the East's #1 spot.

The Bulls are this year's surprise package (apart from highlight-reel-Blake Griffin and Gilbert Arenas totally losing it). They are 38-16 and have played just 7 games with their preferred starting lineup, all 7 played while Noah was already injured. With a full-strength squad, this Bulls incarnation could scare the bejeezus out of the other 'Elite' teams. In the 30 games that Joakim has missed, Chicago somehow completed a miraculous 22-8 record including big wins over the Heat and a HUGE 10pt battering of the NBA-best Spurs right before the All-Star game. Worrying hiccups against the Bobcats provided some food for thought for Thibodeau. And since January, only the Spurs have a better record in the league than Chicago.

The Heat however, have put that spluttering 9-8 start behind them and haven't looked back, being 32-6 since many experts were hitting the panic button. LeBron James is probably MVP of the pre-All Star part of the year (very close between him and Derrick Rose), and the "Big 3" have started to gel of late with solid victories over some of the big teams. Miami has finally broken the early-season stigma that had them down as 'not quite there' and is proving now that they are ready to fight for the Title this year.

One of the other intriguing aspects of this tie is that the Bulls lead the NBA in points allowed (per 100 possessions) whilst the Heat are 3rd in point scored per 100 possessions. Could we see the unstoppable force meet the immovable object?

With the #2 position in the East up for grabs, this run-in will be vital for both Chicago and Miami's title aspirations. Whoever finishes 3rd would have to go through both the Heat in the 2nd round and the Celtics in the ECF without homecourt advantage. Just a slight disadvantage then.

This week's News:
The obvious big story is the ending of the Carmelo Anthony trade fiasco. It started off as a nice conversation topic and ended up being the most annoying story this side of LeBron's 'Decision.' 'Melo finally decided to run for the money that New York were offering and has signed his $65 million extension there. The Knicks in return will send Forwards Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari and Guards Reymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov to Denver along with $3 million cash, 2012 and 2013 second-round picks (originally from Warriors) and the Knick's 2014 pick. Also moving are Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman and Shelden Williams (All Knicks-to-Nuggets). The Timberwolves are the 3rd team involved and they will send Corey Brewer to New York in return for Anthony Randolph, Eddy Curry's expiring contract and another $3 million cash.

Chicago announced Tuesday afternoon that they had traded 6-9 Forward James Johnson to the Toronto Raptors, gaining Miami's 2011 Regular First Round draft pick in return for the 2nd-year player from Wake Forest. Johnson recently returned from an impressive D-League stretch, finished as the 3rd-most efficient player in the league when he left. In his rookie campaign, JJ averaged 3.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg with 11.6mpg in 11 starts in 65 appearances.

DeMar DeRozan has blasted the use of props in this year's Sprite Slam Dunk contest.  "I'm not into all the props and everything," DeRozan has said, after he performed two highly creative dunks including one ridiculous through the legs, reverse dunk on an alley-oop. DeMar did not score high enough to get through to the final pairing which saw JaVale McGee make use of 3 balls and Blake Griffin leap over a KIA car to win the contest. DeRozan said that he "would compete" in a dunk contest again, "but not no prop dunk contest."