Mike Dunleavy saves the Chicago Bulls’ season

WASHINGTON -- “White America” is apparently what Joakim Noah calls Mike Dunleavy, the Bulls’ lanky small forward that poured in 35 points to save the Bulls’ season. Or maybe it’s not and it’s just something Noah likes to say.

Either way, as the media surrounding the cramped visiting locker room swarmed to Jimmy Butler following an emotional 100-97 Bulls victory over the Wizards to cut Washington’s playoff series lead to 2-1, a Bulls public relations staffer announced that Dunleavy was headed to the interview podium, an honor reserved for the game’s top individual standouts.

Suddenly, a weary Bulls locker room came to life. “AAAH,” screamed Taj Gibson from one side. “AAAH,” shouted another Bull from the back. “AAAAAH,” shouted Noah as he leaned back in his chair. A beat passed and nobody followed, but Noah had one more thing to add. “WHITE AMERICA,” he shouted as those media members shuttled out.

It was much-needed comedic relief for the Bulls just minutes after they got a much-needed lift from a player that hadn’t provided much in this series. Dunleavy played just 27 of the 53 minutes in Chicago’s overtime loss in Game 2 and sat in crunch time as Tom Thibodeau instead used Kirk Hinrich and D.J. Augustin together. Chicago’s offense stalled and they lost for a second time after falling in Game 1.

Faced with de-facto elimination, the Bulls made sure to get Dunleavy going. Chicago ran him off a series of screens early in the game and wouldn’t stop once it was clear he had it going. By the end of the night, he was 8-10 from three-point range. The Wizards were so concerned with his shooting that they sent big men up high to trap him, which opened up other opportunities.

“When I saw them going in, I said, ‘Let’s keep trying to go to him,’” Thibodeau joked when asked if the plan was to get Dunleavy more looks.

“You go into the game thinking that D.J. [Augustin] will get a lot of attention, Taj [Gibson] will get a lot of attention, but if you make quick decisions, it’s hard to lock into people,” he said later. “I thought our bigs did a good job of screening for him and our guards did a good job of giving him the ball.”

The Wizards had an inkling that this would be Chicago’s adjustment, but they still couldn’t stop it. Bradley Beal was too short. Trevor Ariza was too undisciplined. Martell Webster was too slow. Baseline switches that were confusing the Bulls in the first two games were happening at the wrong time in this matchup. Randy Wittman said Washington had more blown defensive assignments in this game than in the first two games combined.

“We took too many shortcuts early in the game and gave him an opportunity,” Wittman said.

Dunleavy, for his part, was mostly ‘Aww shucks’ in his podium moment. He played dumb when asked about television cameras picking up Beal saying that he’d hold Dunleavy scoreless in the second half after scoring 16 in the first. When asked about his lack of minutes down the stretch in the first two games, he admitted that every player wants to play, but he trusts Thibodeau to make the right decisions.

That trust may have been on thin ice earlier in the day. In an odd moment at shootaround, Gibson revealed that he expected to see a different closing lineup than the one the Bulls used in the first two games. Thibodeau scoffed when asked about it before the game -- “I have no idea what he’s talking about” were his exact words -- but followed through by playing Dunleavy and going offense/defense with Augustin and Kirk Hinrich. Dunleavy rewarded Thibodeau’s faith with a huge three to stem a Wizards run, and Butler put the Bulls up for good with a three of his own with 43 seconds left.

Now, this is a new series. The Bulls were surprised by the Wizards’ aggression in Chicago, not used to a team that seeks out the first punch against them. It was telling that Gibson disagreed when posed with the suggestion that this was the kind of physical series the Bulls wanted.

“I wouldn’t say that’s what we want,” Gibson said. “That’s just what we’re getting. They’re playing physical. You look at Nene, [Trevor] Booker, [Marcin] Gortat, you look at all these guys, they’re playing physical. It’s not us.”

Nevertheless, things change quickly. After being in control in Chicago, it was the Wizards that lost their cool. After scoring a critical layup early in the fourth quarter, Nene brushed against Butler and all hell broke loose. Butler said something, Nene gave him a death stare and advanced. Nene cupped his right hand against the back of Butler’s throat before the rest of the players converged. There’s fear that Nene will be suspended for Game 4 depending on the league’s interpretation of his act; a headlock yields an automatic one-game suspension, but was this a headlock?

Without Nene, the Wizards are in trouble. He was snarly about the exchange, expressing little regret and leaving the decision to the league. The rest of the Wizards pled ignorance, saying they weren’t watching the play. Butler claimed he only told Nene to “watch all that,” but you’d think more was said.

“We got a lot of tough guys too,” he smiled. “When it comes down to it, I like our chances.”

Such confidence was nowhere to be found after the Wizards’ two wins in Chicago earlier in the week. You can thank White America’s shooting for that.