Nets vs. Bulls, NBA Playoffs 2013: Chicago wins Game 7

“Johnson had just two back-to-back awful possessions (in the fourth), as it got to the point where you had to wonder whether he was best served on the bench,” wrote Tom Lorenzo of NetsDaily. “At the nine-minute mark in the fourth, Johnson was 2-of-10 for six points with three turnovers.”

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Even without Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng, Chicago raced out to an early lead and held off a late Brooklyn charge. Noah was at the center of everything with 24 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks.

The Bulls, who got out to a 61-44 halftime lead, were ahead almost the entire game. The Nets came out firing in the second half, with the oft-maligned duo of Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans making key hustle plays, but the deficit was just too much for them to overcome.

The Bulls are just hoping they are healthy enough to give the Nets their best shot, or at least what amounts to their best shot these days. The Nets held on for a 95-92 win in Chicago which saw the Bulls put forth a gutty effort as a flu bug ravaged the roster.

Here are three questions about Game 7 on Saturday night:

Rose has come under a lot of criticism for not returning, but he told reporters on Saturday morning that he is unaware of the backlash. He said he is simply trying to take care of his body, and he’s confident that he will come back better than ever whenever that return may be.

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Deng did not play in the Bulls’ Game 6 loss to the Nets on Thursday after getting a spinal tap to test for viral meningitis the night before the game. The Bulls were still holding out hope that he would be able to play in Game 7, but he was unable to travel with the team.

Deng took to Twitter on Friday afternoon to explain his illness after being questioned by fans. He has been battling injuries all season, including a wrist injury that dates back to last season. The Bulls’ small forward has really struggled with his shot in the series against the Nets, shooting just 1-of-18 from three-point land.

Deng said he was “upset” that critics believed he missed Game 6 because of the flu and that he has played in “a lot” of games with the flu throughout his career. He clarified what his health problems actually were and revealed he was taken to the emergency room because of symptoms indicating he may have had meningitis.

In order to attempt to play on Thursday, Deng underwent a spinal tap, which he stated gave him the “worst” headache he has ever felt as well as making him weak. Deng concluded by saying he wanted his teammates and Bulls fans to know that he would never miss a game because of the flu, and will play as long as he is medically cleared.

No one thought the Bulls would be without Rose for this entire season, yet here they are as the five-seed in the East. They did this even after their penny-pinching ownership stripped the team of its valuable bench in the offseason, even after so many of the complementary parts meant to surround Rose also battled nagging injuries throughout the campaign.

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So he’s off to a big fat contract as a free agent this summer, right?

Well, the chances of him getting a fat contract from the Bulls seem low, strictly because Chicago is on pace to be well over the luxury tax threshold without him. And, theoretically, getting Rose back for next season will, along with Hinrich’s continued presence, shrink the role for Robinson. So while he’s leading the team through this quixotic playoff run now, he becomes superfluous so long as everyone is healthy next year.

Here is a brief list of how the Bulls adapted:

I thought he did a very good job. did a lot of good things out there. ran the pick-and-roll, shot the ball well, made plays, but not enough.Butler would play all 48 minutes. Belinelli would play 46:23.

That’s the starting point guard, backup point guard, and starting small forward out, with the starting center, a reserve guard and power forward not up to full speed.

With no depth available, each player in the Bulls starting lineup -- out of position, mismatched, whatever -- would finish with at least 14 points. It wasn’t enough, as the Bulls wouldn’t lead after the first quarter.

The Chicago Bulls are trying to hang in despite bangs, bruises and illnesses, but the Brooklyn Nets lead 60-54 at the half, behind 39 combined points from Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez.

The Bulls’ injury issues are getting insane. Kirk Hinrich remains out with his thigh bruise. Luol Deng was unable to go with a really bad case of the flu, leaving the arena shortly after tipoff. That left the Bulls without two starters, their two best perimeter defenders. They ran out a lineup featuring Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli and Jimmy Butler, giving playing time to rarely used rookie Marquis Teague and old vet Rip Hamilton, who started for most of the year but fell out of the rotation after injuries.

The loss of Deng significantly hampers the Bulls’ chances of ending the series on Thursday. Chicago leads 3-2 after the Nets won Game 5. If the Bulls fall, Game 7 will be played on Saturday in Brooklyn.

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Chicago Tribune reporter K.C. Johnson reported that Deng walked through the locker room “practically shivering.” The small forward and Gibson had missed the team’s shootaround on Thursday, and later in the afternoon, Robinson was added to the list of sick players.

Chicago has struggled mightily to score in the series. The Bulls only topped the 91-point mark in regulation during a 142-134 triple-overtime win against Brooklyn in Game 4.

The Nets put themselves in this tough position by blowing a lead to a banged-up Bulls team in Game 4. They are still on the brink of elimination despite winning Game 5, and only eight teams have ever climbed out of a 3-1 series hole (Chicago now leads the series, 3-2). It’s a tall task for a very inconsistent team.

If Kirk Hinrich is able to play, he’s the obvious answer. If the veteran guard is out, or can only play limited minutes, then the issue gets a bit messier. Jason Patt of Blog a Bull admits that Hinrich has been essential to Chicago’s success in this series:

Williams stays away from the paint and finishes while falling baseline. Robinson fouls Williams in the process, giving him an and-one opportunity.

Robinson can’t defend Williams by himself in these situations, especially when Williams is driving to the rim. The Bulls are trying to have extra defenders ready to help, but they were late this time.

The news -- which includes some surprises -- comes from K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:

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The 5’9 guard who started Chicago’s season third on the point guard depth chart played 43:34 in a 110-91 loss, and that’s even with a minute-long spell of garbage time where Tom Thibodeau rested his starters. Sure, Robinson had been the instant offense, a heroic spark that led the way Chicago’s triple-overtime Game 4 win Saturday. But in that game, he’d only played 29 minutes -- and that’s with the extra three sessions.

Thibodeau gave his team no excuses, and felt that with the format of the playoffs allowing the team to play every few games, his players had no excuse for suffering from fatigue late. Via nba.com’s live press conference stream:

“I don’t have a social life. I like hanging out with my guys here,” Lopez said. “i didn’t want the season to end.”

Lopez, now 25 and in his fifth year, has been strong in every game for the Nets, culminating in his 28-point, 10-board Monday night to keep his team alive. It was his fifth 20-point effort in the playoffs in as many games, each one seemingly more impressive than the next.

The two squads battled early, but for every advantage the Bulls seemed to get, the Nets had an answer. The Nets quickly jumped out to a 17-10 lead, but when the Bulls ran off a 7-0 stretch, the Nets scored seven in a row of their own. When the Bulls eventually jumped back to take the lead, the Nets had a run too, eventually scoring 10 of the final 14 points in the period to enter halftime up 52-44.

The early star was Lopez, who had 17 points in the first quarter, showing the full extent of his refined game: long jumpers, surprisingly quick post moves and a few big dunks.

Here’s our answers to the questions posed by Jason Patt earlier.

It doesn’t seem like the Nets’ poor performance down the stretch is weighing on them early. They jumped out to a seven-point lead, saw Chicago come back, took another seven-point lead, saw Chicago come back, then later scored eight in a row to go up 10 points. At no point did they cower in the corner and give up because the Bulls were making a run.

Hinrich is in a walking boot and could miss the rest of the series after playing 60 minutes in the Bulls’ 142-134 triple-overtime victory in Game 4. Hinrich scored 18 points and dished 14 assists in the game, but a calf injury was revealed afterward and he can barely walk without the boot.

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Hinrich had been listed as questionable with a calf injury after playing 60 minutes in the Bulls’ 142-134 triple-overtime victory in Game 4. But the point guard showed up to shoot around on Monday morning with the boot on his left foot, saying he could barely walk without it. An MRI revealed no tear in the calf, but Hinrich could miss the rest of the series.

Injuries have been no stranger to Hinrich this season, as he missed 22 games in the regular season with a variety of problems. The Bulls often missed Hinrich’s presence in the lineup, going 5-13 without him since Jan. 1.

Tom Lorenzo of Nets Daily wrote that, though Robinson’s performance was brilliant, Brooklyn’s regulation lead should’ve been insurmountable with so little time remaining.

“This game never, ever should have gotten to overtime, which is the story here,” Lorenzo wrote. “The 4th quarter letdown was huge. The series is now 3-1 Bulls. Starting Monday, Brooklyn has to win three straight or their season ends.”

Robinson slowed down in the overtime periods, fouling out at the end of the second. But the damage was done, and if it wasn’t for his outburst, the Bulls would be staring at a 2-2 tie heading back to Brooklyn for Game 5 rather than a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Robinson was quiet throughout the first three quarters, other than a scuffle with Watson which resulted in a double technical. But as the game wore on and the Bulls fell behind big in the fourth quarter, Robinson realized that his team needed him to step up.

The Bulls appeared to take control in the second overtime period, going up by four points on a Noah dunk with just over a minute left. Robinson fouled out as the Nets quickly erased the lead, but both teams missed chances to win on their final possessions of the period.

Williams had 32 points to lead the Nets, but he only managed one basket over the three overtime periods. Johnson — also fighting plantar fasciiits like Noah — finished with 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting, while Lopez had 26 points and 11 rebounds. Brooklyn got some unexpected offensive contributions from Wallace and Evans, with Wallace scoring 17 points and Evans pouring in a playoff career-high 15 points. But it would not be enough to avoid a devastating loss, and despite playing much better offensively, the Nets now find themselves on the brink of elimination.