Bulls deliver dagger to Nets' playoff hopes
Coach Tom Thibodeau has said it about 200 times over the past few months - the Bulls want to be playing their best basketball at the end of the season.
This is just a sample size of one game, but the Bulls put it together pretty well on Monday at Brooklyn, rolling to a 113-86 victory at the Barclays Center.
It was a must-win game for the Nets, who no longer control their own destiny to make the playoffs. Brooklyn had won 12 of its last 17 games heading into this one.
The Bulls (49-32) clinched homecourt advantage in the first round with this victory. But to finish third in the East, they'll need Toronto to lose one of its last two games. The Raptors play at Boston on Tuesday and host Charlotte on Wednesday.
If the Bulls finish ahead of Toronto, they'll play Milwaukee in the first round. If not, it will be a rematch with Washington.
There were a number of stars for the Bulls in this one. Nikola Mirotic scored a game-high 26 points, hitting 6-of-11 shots from 3-point range, Pau Gasol had 22 points and 11 rebounds, collecting his league-high 53rd double-double of the season.
Derrick Rose was solid for the second straight game. He produced 13 points, 7 assists and 2 turnovers in 23 minutes. He was scheduled to play in the fourth quarter, but there was no need with the outcome decided.
"I wanted to play (in the fourth), but at the same time there's nothing wrong with resting," Rose told reporters after the game, according to bulls.com.
Joakim Noah was a late scratch, with what the Bulls called hamstring tendinitis. The Bulls hardly missed him, limiting the Nets to 36.8 percent shooting.
"At this time of year, when something like that happens, we're going to play it safe," Thibodeau said.
Gasol and Jimmy Butler (17 points) have been consistent all year. Rose and Mirotic are a couple of guys who could make the playoffs interesting.
This was Rose's fourth game back after missing 20 because of arthroscopic knee surgery and he looks like he's ready for his first playoff action since 2012.
"He feels real good and that's the big thing," Thibodeau said. "I think he's playing his minutes with great intensity and that's what I want him to do. I think his wind is coming around. His conditioning is improving, his timing is improving. Those are all real good signs, positive signs."
Mirotic is sort of the ultimate X-factor, because he can get hot from long range and he's a challenging matchup for most every team in the league as a 6-foot-10 forward who can score in the post and attack off the dribble.
This was the second time Mirotic has hit 6 3-pointers in a game this season. He went 6-for-6 from behind the arc on Dec. 19 at Memphis.
"I just need to shoot, because sometimes when I think, I miss the shots," Mirotic said, according to espn.com. "When I don't think, I make it."
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