Bulls Up 1-0

Two words, Luol Deng. The 6-9 220 lb forward from the Sudan, showed the world why John Paxson never traded him at the trading deadline last Feb. Deng has rewarded Paxsons decision every since that day including yesterdays game against the world champion Miami Heat. Deng led the Bulls with 33 points as the Chicago Bulls defeated Miami 96-91 to go up 1-0 in the best of 7 playoff series!

Deng had some help. No doubt about it. Gordan 24 points and 11 assists. Nocioni added 17 including 2 big free throws with 19 seconds left in the game. Ben Wallace stepped up his overall game and added 14 rebounds!

This was a good win for the Bulls but make no mistake, the series is not over. Not yet. Last year the rolls were reversed. The Bulls played the Heat and Miami had the home court advantage. The Heat won in 6 games but the Bulls were harder for them to handle than the rest of the teams they faced on their way to championship! I look for this series to be emotional as well and being a Bulls fan, I hope for a different out come than the one last year.

One point to bring up is the fact that Kirk Hinrich was in foul trouble most of the game, yet the Bulls won anyway despite Kirks poor performance of just 2 points with 1-7 shooting from the field. He will not play this badly the rest of the playoffs. That has to be a plus for the games to come.

P.J. Brown the long time veteran forward that was brought to the bulls for Smith and Chandler also had a bad game. Playing just 13 minutes he had 2 points and 5 rebounds. I look for Brown to be more of a factor in future games. He was brought here for the playoffs, now its time for him to show up.

The next game is Tuesday.