The Chicago Bulls are one of the top defensive teams in the league, but the Brooklyn Nets had no problems figuring it out in a 106-89 Game 1 win in the first-ever playoff game in Brooklyn Saturday.
Bulls vs. Nets: No answer for Deron Williams, Brook Lopez
The vaunted Chicago defense was picked apart by Brooklyn in Game 1.
For more on the story, visit Blog a Bull or Nets Daily
Brooklyn's two stars, Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, were dominant, scoring 22 and 21 points respectively. Williams also had seven assists and three steals and Lopez blocked three shots. But more importantly for the Nets, a struggling Gerald Wallace played well with 14 points on 5 for 7 shooting -- his first game in double figures since March.
“Gerald Wallace continued to prove that he just may indeed be ‘back,’” wrote Tom Lorenzo of Nets Daily. “He hit a long three early in the third and then followed that up with an and-one. This was the Gerald Wallace Nets fans were hoping to get in the playoffs.”
Carlos Boozer had 25 points and eight rebounds and Jimmy Butler scored 13 points, but the rest of Chicago's starters played poorly. Wallace out-played Bulls leading scorer Luol Deng.
“One matchup we figured the Bulls had a definite advantage in was the SF spot, but Luol Deng had an awful game made even more damaging by the fact that his counterpart Gerald Wallace had his best night in months,” wrote Chicago Bulls blog Blog a Bull. “Wallace started the game 5-5 with 14 points (he missed two shots afterwards though!) while Luol was a paltry 3-11 from the field, and worse was missing badly on several looks.”
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