Bulls Unable To Overcome Injury Issues As Sixers Advance To Second Round

Luckily, despite becoming the fifth No. 1 seed to lose in the first round in NBA history, Boozer feels the season was successful. From ESPN Chicago’s Nick Friedell:

Um.

You see, Iguodala has had a problem with clutch free throws this year. According to NBA.com’s John Schuhmann, Iguodala had hit just seven of 18 free throws in what were deemed as “clutch” situations. However, this time, he stepped up and hit the two biggest free throws of his career.

How’d he do it? Here’s what he told NBATV’s Cheryl Miller.

To those people: shush. The 76ers haven’t won a playoff series since 2003, and since then, they’ve been riding the treadmill of mediocrity for so long that fan apathy has set in. Even if this current 76ers team is also mediocre and merely benefited from a rash of Bulls injuries, this is still a cool moment for the fans and the players.

Congrats to the 76ers and their fans. To everyone else: let them have their moment.

This is brutal for Bulls fans. To go from being the best team in the NBA to losing your star player to a heart-rending elimination in two weeks is more than one should have to handle.

Important GIF’s and videos:

Noah himself declined to comment to reporters. He was limping around and did not participate in the shoot-around.

Noah suffered the injury rolling over a 76ers player’s foot in Game 3, a Bulls’ loss. He stayed in the game, but re-aggravated the injury and had to come out. The Bulls trail 3-2 in the series after taking Game 5 in Chicago.

Game 6 will tip off at 7:00 p.m. ET and be televised on NBA TV.

For all news and information regarding the Chicago Bulls, please visit Blog a Bull or check out SB Nation Chicago. For updates and perspective on the Philadelphia 76ers, head on over to Liberty Ballers or stop by SB Nation Philadelphia.

For all news and information regarding the Chicago Bulls, please visit Blog a Bull or check out SB Nation Chicago. For updates and perspective on the Philadelphia 76ers, head on over to Liberty Ballers or stop by SB Nation Philadelphia.

It’s good news that he’s able to walk without crutches, of course, but Chicago definitely could have used him in its do-or-die Game 5.

For all news and information regarding the Chicago Bulls, please visit Blog a Bull or head on over to SB Nation Chicago. For updates and perspective on the Philadelphia 76ers, check out Liberty Ballers or stop by SB Nation Philadelphia. For complete coverage of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated NBA hub.

The Philadelphia 76ers took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Chicago Bulls with an 89-82 win Sunday. It was the 76ers’ third straight win in the series and the first time the Bulls have lost three straight games all season.

For all news and information regarding the Chicago Bulls, please visit Blog a Bull or head on over to SB Nation Chicago. For updates and perspective on the Philadelphia 76ers, check out Liberty Ballers or stop by SB Nation Philadelphia. For complete coverage of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated NBA hub.

The Bulls are down 2-1 in their series, and earned their only win Game 1, the only game in the series Rose played in before tearing his ACL.

For all news and information regarding the Chicago Bulls, please visit Blog a Bull or head on over to SB Nation Chicago. For updates and perspective on the Philadelphia 76ers, check out Liberty Ballers or stop by SB Nation Philadelphia. For complete coverage of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated NBA hub.

On Sunday afternoon, the 76ers will look to take advantage of the reeling Bulls as they host their opponents in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series. Philadelphia holds a 2-1 series lead and are looking to move one step closer to pulling off the big upset and advancing.

Sunday’s Game 4 will tip off at 1:00 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on ABC.

Yes, Noah did this to his ankle ...

... and still tried to play. Hypertough athletes come in all shades of fuchsia.

Johnson reports that Noah left the Wells Fargo Center in Philly on crutches, wearing an air cast. The Bulls’ Game 4 against the Sixers is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

Noah had a rare healthy season for Chicago, missing just two games. He missed a combined 54 games over the previous two seasons.

Philadelphia now leads the series 2-1 and can take total control with another win in Game 4 on their home court.

For more on the Bulls, visit Blog-a-Bull and SB Nation Chicago. For more on the Sixers, please visit Liberty Ballers and SB Nation Philly.

The Bulls did squash a one-point halftime deficit to take a 60-51 lead to close the third quarter, but the trepidation continues to build in the Windy City.

And just for good measure:

Game Date/Time: Friday, 8:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pa.

Philadelphia heads home with a 1-1 road split in Chicago, and on the basis of this performance by the Bulls, the 76ers might have just become favorites to take the series.

For more on the Bulls, visit Blog-a-Bull and SB Nation Chicago. For more on the Sixers, please visit Liberty Ballers and SB Nation Philly.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the starting lineups are submitted, but it certainly seems like Turner will get the go-ahead over Meeks, at least in the early goings of Game 2.

For more on the Bulls, visit Blog-a-Bull and SB Nation Chicago. For more on the Sixers, please visit Liberty Ballers and SB Nation Philly. For full coverage of the series, follow our Bulls vs. Sixers StoryStream.

Rose’s absence is not that new for the Bulls — the dynamic point guard missed close to half of the 2011-12 season with a variety of injuries, and Chicago still managed to compile the league’s best record. But without their playmaker, the Bulls might struggle to score.

No. 8 Philadelphia 76ers at No. 1 Chicago Bulls

8 p.m. ET -- Game 2, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals | Bulls lead, 1-0

National TV: TNT

So without Rose, Chicago is a team with an elite defense that struggles to shoot well. That sounds exactly like their current opponent, the Sixers. The metric comparisons are almost uncanny: Philadelphia’s overall effective field goal percentage is .480, close to the Bulls Minus Rose’s .475 and far below the Healthy Bulls’ .500. Without Rose, the Bulls’ offensive efficiency is just under 1.04 points per possession -- the Sixers are at 1.039. Meanwhile, both versions of the Bulls carry a defense that gives up 0.98 points per possession; the Sixers gave up 0.99 this season.

The Hook is a regular NBA column by Tom Ziller. See the archives.

Thibodeau bristled when asked the question by reporters after the game.

On the one hand, this is a predictable response. One of the first things that must be said to comfort a person grieving after a tragedy is that, despite what they think, there’s nothing they could have done to prevent the tragedy from happening. Derrick Rose getting injured isn’t an actual tragedy, but it’s the same kind of freak occurrence that can cause anyone that knows him to wonder what they could have done differently to prevent the outcome from happening. Publicly, Thibodeau can’t get caught up in feeling sorry for himself like that. There are games still left to play.

For more on the Bulls, visit Blog-a-Bull and SB Nation Chicago.For more on the Sixers, please visit Liberty Ballers and SB Nation Philly. For full coverage of the series, follow our Bulls vs. Sixers StoryStream.

Rose walked off the court slowly with assistance after receiving attention from the Bulls’ medical crew. He received MVP chants and an ovation as he limped off.

Rose was driving to the bucket when he landed poorly and careened to the floor. There did not appear to be contact on the play -- Rose may have just twisted poorly in the air and landed wrong. Regardless, while the Bulls have played well without Rose this season, losing him would be awful for their title hopes.

As in previous years, we’ve adopted Bill James’ Log5 projection method for the NBA. The Log5 projection for Bulls-Sixers, as you’ll see below the jump, foretells a Chicago victory ... eventually.

Here’s the series probability chart.

After Game 1, the teams will be off until Tuesday night. The schedule follows; the NBA has not released times for potential Games 5-7.

Game 1 - Sat., April 28 at Chicago, 1 p.m., TNT

Game 2 - Tue., May 1 at Chicago, 8 p.m., TNT

Game 3 - Fri., May 4 at Philadelphia, 8 p.m., ESPN

Game 4 - Sun., May 6 at Philadelphia, 1 p.m., ABC

Game 5 - Tue., May 8 at Chicago

Game 6 - Thu., May 10 at Philadelphia

Game 7 - Sat., May 12 at Chicago