NBA Finals homecourt may be luck of draw
If the Bulls do manage to reach the NBA Finals this season, homecourt advantage could be out of their hands.
After Tuesday’s action, the Bulls trailed San Antonio by 1 in the loss column for the league’s best record. If teams with identical records meet in the Finals, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head and the Bulls split the season series with the Spurs.
The second tiebreaker is best record in the opposite conference. With the Bulls beating Phoenix and the Spurs winning in Atlanta on Tuesday, both the Bulls and Spurs will finish the regular season 23-7 against the other conference.
So if the Bulls and San Antonio finish with the same record, then meet in the Finals, homecourt advantage will be settled by “random drawing.”
In the meantime, the Los Angeles Lakers lost at home to Utah on Tuesday. So the Bulls are now plus-two in the loss column over the Lakers, who own the league’s third-best record. The Bulls will have a better opposite conference record than the two-time defending champs.
“Being the highest seed possible is important,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “You can’t say that it’s not. But you have to take it step-by-step. I think if you just look at the end and not think about the opponent in front of you, that’s how you can slip. We don’t want to do that.”
Boston changes:The Celtics have added plenty of new faces since they last played the Bulls on Jan. 8. The biggest change was center Kendrick Perkins being traded to Oklahoma City for center Nenad Krstic and forward Jeff Green. Boston also signed free agents Troy Murphy, Sasha Pavlovic and Carlos Arroyo.Basically, though, the Celtics#146; main lineup is still Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis. During Tuesday#146;s win over Philadelphia, Green and Krstic played between 18 and 23 minutes. Murphy, Pavlovic and Arroyo all played less than three.Uneven free throws:One odd sidebar to Tuesday#146;s win over Phoenix is the Bulls built a massive 20-2 advantage in free-throw attempts during the first half.In the second half, the Bulls didn#146;t get to the line until Carlos Boozer got a 3-point play attempt with 4:46 left in the fourth quarter. Phoenix led in second-half free throw attempts 10-4.#147;I thought we had some drives we could have got calls on that didn#146;t go our way,#148; coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game. #147;You#146;ve got to sometimes make the official make the call. I thought we did a lot of double-clutching instead of attacking. Maybe we didn#146;t earn them. I thought Derrick (Rose), on a couple of his drives, could have gotten calls, he didn#146;t. We need other people to step up, too.#148;Hill confronts fan:According to The Arizona Republic, Suns forward Grant Hill had an altercation with a fan after Tuesday#146;s game at the United Center.#147;He said some profanity and spit in my direction,#148; Hill said. #147;I#146;m not going to let somebody spit at me. He knew he did wrong because he took off running.#148;Hill was held back by security and the fan was apprehended, according to the Republic.Bogans skips practice:Guard Keith Bogans skipped Wednesday#146;s practice due to general soreness, but he is expected to play against Boston. Bogans has started every game this season.