Bulls win to take sole possession of first in East
Inside the locker room, Keith Bogans compared this Bulls team to the Orlando squad that went to the NBA Finals in 2009. Bogans spent about half the season with the Magic before getting traded to Milwaukee.
What Bogans meant is the teams are similar in their unselfishness and commitment to winning.
“Everybody gets along,” Bogans said. “Everybody wants to see each other do well.”
Someone who didn't know better might think he was comparing the teams' commitment to launching high-volume, 3-point shots.
For the second straight game, the Bulls tossed up an uncharacteristic 32 attempts from 3-point range. They are averaging just 17 long-range shots on the season.
They made a franchise-best 18 on Saturday against Utah. They hit just 12 on Tuesday against Washington but still were able to shut down the short-handed Wizards 98-79 at the United Center.
The Bulls played without center Joakim Noah (illness) in addition to Carlos Boozer (sprained ankle).
“I think we're just taking what we've got out there,” forward Luol Deng said. “I think teams are realizing it's hard to play us man (to man) and they're coming out in zone. It's open looks. I don't think anyone is taking tough 3s or anything like that.”
Asked if coach Tom Thibodeau has told them to cut down on the long-range shots, Derrick Rose (23 points) insisted he hasn't.
“He always says if you're open, shoot your shot,” Rose said. “In practice, we always shoot those shots. Every shot we took that was a 3, people were wide open or it was the right shot. You can't complain about that.”
The victory sent the Bulls (48-18) into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference, which was the last place most preseason predictions expected them to land. They are a half-game ahead of Boston with 16 left to play.
The Bulls are bucking history. In the past 40 years, just three teams have gone to the Finals with a primary shooting guard averaging fewer than 10 points per game — Cleveland in 2007 (Sasha Pavlovic), San Antonio in 1999 (Mario Elie) and Boston in 1981 (Chris Ford).
Bogans is averaging a minuscule 4.1 points, but he erupted for a season-high 17 against Washington. Bogans took advantage of the Wizards' zone and knocked down 5 of 10 attempts from 3-point range. He had 3 against Utah on Saturday.
“We always play around with him, tell him to shoot the ball more,” Rose said of Bogans. “Tonight, we were making him shoot the shots because he was wide open and he was hitting.”
Bogans still ranks among the top scorers in University of Kentucky history, so he's familiar with the concept of scoring points. That just hasn't been his niche in the NBA.
“This team has a different makeup,” Bogans said. “We have three big guns that start the game. I'm going to defend the best perimeter guy to start the game, try to slow him down. I wasn't brought in to shoot the basketball.
“I always like to play against the Wizards. That's the hometown team, my whole family's there. I always want to have a good game against them.”