Hoiberg plans to stick with Mirotic
BOSTON - Not everyone with a long beard played well in Sunday's NBA playoffs.
Houston's James Harden delivered an MVP-style performance against Oklahoma City. Nikola Mirotic didn't fare as well against Boston.
Mirotic made just 1 of 9 shots and scored 4 points in the Game 1 victory. The good news for the Chicago Bulls is Bobby Portis showed up ready for his playoff debut, so he took most of the minutes at power forward.
On Monday, coach Fred Hoiberg said Mirotic would remain in the starting lineup for Tuesday's Game 2 and defended parts of Mirotic's performance.
"I know Niko's going to come back and battle (in Game 2)," Hoiberg said. "I thought he had some really good defensive possessions for us, just little things that may not show up on the stat sheet.
"But as far as holding the midpoint and being in the right spot, blitzing a double-team to force extra passes. I thought Niko really did battle on the defensive end.
"So he did make contributions, even though his offense wasn't going. Everybody's got confidence in Niko right now, including Niko. So it's about going out there, letting the game come to him and knocking down those shots when they come."
Just like LeBron:
Dwyane Wade compared Jimmy Butler's Game 1 performance to LeBron James.
Bulls fans will recall in the 2011 Eastern Conference finals against Miami when James would guard Derrick Rose late in the fourth quarter. The Bulls used a similar plan against Boston's Isaiah Thomas. Rajon Rondo defended Thomas most of the night, but Butler stepped in during crunchtime.
Thomas scored 33 points, but the plan seemed to help.
"I had the luxury of playing with a guy named LeBron, and we did the same thing to Derrick Rose," Wade said Monday. "When you need a guy who is longer and just as fast, it helps. It gives them a different look. You're not going to slow down Isaiah Thomas. The guy can score as good as anybody in this game.
"But just to give him a different look and if you get their offense a little farther and it takes a little more time off the clock, all those things help. It's good to be able to have a guy like that to say, 'Get us 30. And then go guard the guy who got 30.' "
Hoiberg wins debut:
For at least one day, Fred Hoiberg is undefeated as a playoff coach. A day after winning his NBA postseason debut, Hoiberg talked about the experience.
"Being through that experience as a player helps," he said. "It helps get you prepared for that type of moment. You understand how much more is at stake, how much more physical it is, how much more amped up the teams are. So being in a high-level playoff series as a player does help you prepare for that moment.
"But once that game starts it's all about going out there and trying to make the necessary adjustments."
Wade takes on miss:
Dwyane Wade took his missed dunk Sunday in stride. After stealing the ball near midcourt, Wade flew in and bounced his dunk attempt off the front rim.
"It's cool. It's an honor to be on 'Shaqtin a Fool,' " he said. "Tell him I'm 35. I had a flashback in my mind. It just didn't work the way it was planned."