The Bulls overcame the refs, poor free-throw shooting, and some less than top-notch coaching to win game 4. 

Gordon hit a clutch three to send the game to 2OT

Notes from game 4

• Every Bulls player who played (minus 15 seconds from Lindsey Hunter) scored in double figures
• How do the Bulls let Ray Allen get open for the three near the end of regulation to tie the game when we are up by 3 points?  The only thing that hurts us is a 3, and I wonder if the coaching staff brought that up or not during the timeout.  They did this coming off a time-out!  And he didn't even have a hand in his face. On the flip side, how do the celtics let Gordon shoot the three near the end of 1OT as they have a 3 point lead with ten seconds to go?  Craziness that the two pure shooters of this series were able to get good lucks on threes in the most crucial moments of the game.  In other news, Gordon apparently grabbed his crotch after knocking down that three, but upon further review and comment by Gordon, he was just nursing his Groin injury.  Truth.
• The refs lost their whistle on a series of plays early in the 4th / late in the 3rd.  Consistency is not in their vocabulary.
• Ben Gordon strained his hamstring in the 2nd quarter, but continued to stay warm by riding a stationary bike and taking other steps to prevent his hamstring from locking up.  Will be something to watch as we head into game 5.
• Paul Pierce played well, hit some big shots down the stretch, and took the blame for not getting in Gordon's face enough in the shot that tied it in 1OT.
• Derrick Rose is one assist shy of having his first triple double.  Rondo completes his second triple double of the series, first time it's been done twice in a series since Jason Kidd in 2002.
• Game is being recast on ESPN CLASSIC Monday 4/27 at 5 pm ET.  Your guide may say MLB baseball, but this game is taking that slot.
• Tickets for game 6 surprisingly are still available thru ticketmaster.  Check ticketmaster before hitting up craigslist and ebay.
• 2 for 1.  Learn it.  Do it.  Ever since Phil Jackson left town, the Bulls consistently fail to get 2 for 1 shots at the end of quarters.  With 35 - 40 seconds left, why don't we get a shot of around 28 - 30?  I understand you don't want to force something, but occasionaly this should happen.  Have not seen it much in the past 10 years.
• Every missed free throw by the Bulls in the 4th was so painful.  And to consider we were one of the best free throw shooting teams in the league.  Luckily it did not come back to bite us, but you can bet everyone will be shooting hundreds of free throws on monday.
• The Brad Miller / Big Baby skirmish looked a lot worse live than it did on replay.  Initially everyone around me thought Brad had punched him, but it turned out it was just a sleight-of-body from Big Baby.  Tyrus was the first to intervene and grab his buddy and break up the potential fight between his teammate and his close friend.  I thought the refs did a decent job of at least getting that call right and overturning Miller's initial ejection.
• Madhouse on Madison was back in form Sunday.  The crowd did a great job of lifting the Bulls in a game where players could have easily become tired playing near 50 minutes.  Both Pierce and Rondo played 50+ minutes.

Not much to say after that game.  World Champs rolled over us like nothing.  They are making adjustments while the Bulls are taking everything for granted.  Some notes on game 3

• The Bulls came out looking like a bunch of nervous nancies.  VDN hit it on the head when he said "We started out poor, we were tentative, very nervous."
• The crowd started out so ready to support, so loving, but the Bulls gave them nothing to cheer about, and the Celtics did a fine job keeping a potential raucous crowd out of the game
• The refs called a fair game for once, and the Bulls wasted a prime opportunity
• David Stern was in attendance to present the ROY award to D Rose, and continues his streak of giving the home team a loss with his attendance.
• It's only 1-2 in the series, but it feels like we are down 0-3. 
• Home court advantadge swings back to the Celtics.
• Celtics have made all the proper adjustments, while the Bulls still have no answer for Rondo and company.
• Rondo is playing out of his mind and is almost averaging a triple double on the series.
• Missed free throws and turnovers killed us in the first half.
• I think we ought to put Hinrich in the starting lineup and have him guard Rondo, and mix up Tim Thomas on Pierce, Salmons on Pierce and Allen, etc.  This is where we miss having a Sefolosha on the bench to come in for defense 10-15 minutes a game.
• VDN and staff need to take a good hard look at the tape and get the guys moving.
• Celtics are good.

Thanks to Robs and BradMC for this picture…

Docksquad says,
"Oh and for the rest of you haters(yes there are a ton), Rose has already gotten props from all of the best players in the League from Kobe Bryant to the best pg's in the game, CP3 and DWill. They all have nothing but great things to say about the kid. And if that isn't enough for you, Rose also is the only rookie that finished in the top 5 of the ROY voting that made the playoffs this year. With such a great rookie class you would've expected there be to more, at least I did."

A lot of you are Cavs / LeBron fans out there, including Uncle C, etc…. Check out these vids…The first is a Nike commercial by the Cavs as a spoof to the Heineken commercial where they walk into the fridge and the beer, and the second is a movie trailer for LeBrons movie

The Chicago Bulls are encouraging all fans to wear red to every playoff game.  Red rally towels will be handed out to fans arriving early to game 1.

whatcha talking bout KG?!

Ok, so no disrespect to Kevin Garnett.  He is a good guy and of course Joe Smith always spoke highly of him, and he's a Chicago guy, has a passion for the game, etc.  But what was up with that face in game 2?!?!  In fact this picture does not even do it justice, there were a ton of shots of Kevin with lips even higher.

• Best of luck to Leon Powe, who is out for the season and will have to undergo knee surgery.  Hate to see anyone in the game get injured, but these things happen.
• Doc says Rondo is sitting out of practice and only watching film to rest the ankle, and will be fine for Thursday.  48 hours of rest.  It will be interesting to see if Rondo's play is affected. My guess is not.
• Did Big Baby really do what he did to us in Game 2?  It seemed like he shot 100% from the field. Wow, I didn't think he had that kind of game in him.
• A CelticsBlog writer notes that KG is postponing surgery in case there is a chance he comes back for the playoffs.
• Celtics dominated us on the glass.  We can't win if they get so many second chance shots.
• Refs dominated us on the floor.  We can't win if they get so many undeserved calls.

From Tom Fornelli (Follow link for full story)

Some Celtics have even gone as far as guaranteeing that Rose will not have a repeat performance on Monday night.  In particular, Kendrick Perkins.

“Everybody has their night,” Perkins said. “I know it won’t happen again. He’ll never have another game like that against us. It wasn’t anything that they did. It was all on us.”

Wow, I have to disagree.  It wasn't like the Celtics were just letting him go by every time.  We'll see what happens the rest of the series.

Noah and Allen react to the game winning shot

Arrrgh.  Sooo close to being up 2-0.  After Gordons three pointer gave the Bulls a healthy lead with a few minutes left, I really started to believe we could take this one.  A few notes from Game 2.

• There are a lot of weapons in this series, it's just a matter of who shines each game.  This game it was Ben Gordon and Ray Allen and Big Baby.  Don't forget Paul Pierce, and Rondo and Rose.  And of course any given sunday, Salmons could step up, or Hinrich, Noah, Thomas, etc.  It should make for a fun series.
• After dwelling on this, I'm not too upset anymore. Look, we took 1 of 2 on their court, which was really everyone's hope going into this series.  And not only that but we now have the confidence that we can play with these guys.  And not only that but we could easily be looking at 0-2 right now if Pierce hits that free throw.  So all things considered, the Bulls and us fans should be pretty happy.  And we are returning to the UC.
• Love to see the emotion finally from the Bulls.  Seeing the Bulls run off the Bench after Gordon's 3 pointer and subsequent Celtics timeout was sweet.  I don't equivocate this to Rex Grossman smiling on the sideline after a touchdown that ties the game and being content.  It's more like the Celtics and other good teams who play with a little bit of emotion.  Good to see.
• What's up with KG's looks on the sidelines?  Poor guy, I feel for him and know he wants to play, but still was interesting.
• Ray Allen can hit clutch shots, we know that, we saw it recently in the game against the Bobcats, and I thought we should have played him a little tighter, but in the end as Rose said, thats the shot we want him to have to take, fading back with a 7 footer (Noah) in his face.
• The Bulls once again reverting to mid-season, used all timeouts too early, leaving them 0 timeouts for a last second heave.  (By the way I thought Tyrus put up a decent shot given the situation).   I think the big wasted ones are late in the game (about a minute left) after the Celtics score.  Here we oughta let D Rose just run down before they get set up.
• What's up with the hatred on Noah by Celtics fans, out of nowhere?! He did not do anything dirty, and got several chants from the crowd. If anything Perkins was the instigator.
• Can't wait to get into the UC Thursday night.