Daily NBA Fix 4-23-14: We’re All (Almost) Even

Washington Wizards 101, CHICAGO BULLS 99

Enough About The Damn Zebras – Look, it’s no secret the NBA officials have been absolutely horrendous in the NBA Playoffs so far. Not only has the league had to come out and admit their referees were wrong on more than one occasion in just four days of games, but even conspiracy theories are being formed by angry fans. Admittedly, last night’s game featured quite a few calls that went Chicago’s way. But can we stop with all the harping on about the refs already? NBA officials have been terrible across the board this postseason, but at least they’ve almost always been bad on both sides. See? Consistency. Just accept that they’re going to be a (terrible) constant variable, move on and let’s enjoy some NBA Playoff basketball.

As for the game itself, it was an overtime affair that was incredibly entertaining down the stretch and God it’s sad I had to waste an entire paragraphs about the quality of NBA officiating before getting to the good stuff. Washington came back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, going on a 20-4 run between the fourth and OT to take a six-point lead that Chicago never could come back from.

The Wizards didn’t do themselves any favors (a couple of questionable calls didn’t help either), as a Joakim Noah layup, John Wall offensive foul, two Joakim Noah free throws and a missed Washington shot gave the Bulls the ball back down 101-99 with 14.6 seconds to play. Kirk Hinrich got fouled attacking the rim on (surprise!) a questionable foul call against Nene, but in the words of the immortal Rasheed Wallace, “Ball don’t lie!” and Hinrich missed the first free throw. The Wizards secured his intentional miss on the next one, threw the ball the length of the court and a stunned United Center saw their Bulls fall behind 0-2 in the series.

You have to credit the Wizards for being the better all-around team through two games against a team that is known for being tough and gutting out ugly wins. But Nene has had his way with Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah and Bradley Beal grew up before our eyes in his second playoff game last night, dropping 26 points and seven rebounds in the victory. Nene had 17 points and seven boards, including six straight points to start overtime off and John Wall added 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. This Washington team deserves a ton of love from D.C. fans for not doing what the Wizards usually do in this type of situation and bowing out in disappointing fashion.

This was a brutal loss for the Bulls, and not just because of the obvious reason of being on the wrong end of a 2-0 series lead despite playing both games at home against a Wizards team whose two best players (Wall and Beal) had never played a playoff game before this year. The physical toll on Noah and Jimmy Butler has to be reaching typical ridiculous proportions after Noah played 46 minutes and Butler played the entire 53.

D.J. Augustin continued to surprise people and was the only Chicago Bull who could make a jump shot, putting up 25 points and seven assists in 41 minutes off the bench. Sixth Man of the Year candidate Taj Gibson was also phenomenal off the bench, scoring 22 points to go with 10 rebounds and three blocks. Noah put up a good stat line of 20 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, but he uncharacteristically struggled passing the ball on his way to five turnovers.

The Bulls were not only on the receiving end of gratuitous calls from the officials, but they were also lucky Washington went 16-for-28 from the free throw line. No team can afford to score only ONE field goal over the course of nearly 12 minutes spanning the fourth quarter and overtime, but an offensively weak team like the Bulls CERTAINLY can’t afford to do it. Following a Noah layup put Chicago up 85-77 with 7:16 left in the fourth, a Kirk Hinrich jumper was the Bulls’ only field goal until Taj Gibson got a dunk with 46 seconds left to play…in overtime. The Chicago Bulls have their backs against the wall and have become underdogs once more…but then again, maybe that’s how they like it.

Wizards Lead Series 2-0