No(ah) joke - Bulls are in playoffs after win in Charlotte
Just before Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro was about to begin his postgame news conference, he paused and accepted congratulations from Michael Jordan.
Jordan is now owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, a team that reached the playoffs for the first time in its six-year history. Now the Bulls are in, too, after taking care of Charlotte 98-89 on Wednesday.
The Bulls wrap up the regular season with a 41-41 record. They're the No. 8 seed in the East and will face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, owners of the NBA's best record.
"Now the real fun begins," said center Joakim Noah.
As usual, Noah and Derrick Rose powered the Bulls. Rose finished with 27 points and 5 assists, while Noah piled up 21 points and 13 rebounds.
"We're a young team," Rose said. "We have a lot of confidence in each other. This is going to be a great challenge. It's going to be fun."
The Bulls left no doubt they were ready to play, hitting 7 of their first 10 shots to open a quick 19-6 lead. With Jordan watching from the front row, sitting next to another ex-Bull, Charles Oakley, the Bobcats got within 5 points a couple of times, but never made a serious run.
Charlotte (44-38) had already locked up the No. 7 seed in the East and had nothing at stake on Wednesday, though coach Larry Brown has said he believes in playing out the season without resting starters. The Bobcats will face No. 2 Orlando in the first round.
Asked if he's relieved to reach the playoffs for the second time in as many years as coach of the Bulls, Vinny Del Negro put himself in the back seat.
"It's not about me, it's about the players," he said. "Players win games. I'm very proud of how the guys hung together all year, through a lot of things and just gutted it out.
"We had a lot of turnovers in the second half. We were fatigued and tired, but they just kept gutting out. I give them all the credit. We've had to really grind it out here."
The only real scare came in the third quarter when Charlotte trimmed an 18-point deficit to 65-60 after a driving lay in by Boris Diaw. Noah answered with a dunk, then Luol Deng added a steal and lay in. The lead was back to 10 points by the end of the third, and the Bobcats didn't get within single digits until the game's final seconds.
Del Negro plans to give the Bulls a day off Thursday.
"I think its just time to give these guys a break for a day and let them enjoy this because they've earned it," he said. "They're worn down. We have a bunch of injuries guys are fighting through. Luol is struggling right now physically with his calf and his knee and everything."
Brad Miller went down late in the game after he was accidentally smacked in the jaw by the forearm of former Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>
<p class="News"><b>No sweat:</b> It's a good thing the Bulls didn't have to rely on the Knicks to beat Toronto on Wednesday, because it didn't happen. The Bulls rolled to a fairly routine win at Charlotte, though, to clinch the No. 8 playoff seed and a date with the Cleveland Cavaliers.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Rose to occasion:</b> Guard Derrick Rose came through when it counted once again, scoring 27 points. Center Joakim Noah had another big game with 21 points and 13 rebounds.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Eye on Cavs:</b> The Bulls went 2-2 against Cleveland this season. One of those wins came last week when LeBron James was resting for the playoffs. The other was a 1-point victory at Quicken Loans Arena way back on Nov. 5. Shaquille O'Neal is supposed to be back for the playoffs, which isn't a bad scenario for the Bulls.</p>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=373373">Rozner: Why is Vinny the only one in trouble? <span class="date">[4/14/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=373235">Bulls try to downplay Del Negro-Paxson spat <span class="date">[4/14/10]</span></a></li>
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