The Chicago Bulls made short work, although the games were far from easy against the pesky Pacers in the first round. The Hawks took out the favored Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs. The matchups are most closer in this series than most people think they are, so this is likely to be a very exciting series. Here’s how I see the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: Derrick Rose is the likely MVP of the NBA this year. He was outstanding in the first two games against the Pacers but he had issues shooting the ball in the last three games. Rose is only shooting 37.1% from the floor during the playoffs and he was 8 for 37 (21.6%) shooting from behind the three point line. The Bulls would be better off if Rose didn’t try many 3-pointers in this series. Rose has played in 5 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far this year and he is averaging 38.8 minutes, 27.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game.
Kirk Hinrich started his career with the Chicago Bulls, so he’ll likely want to stick it to them. Hinrich has played in 6 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far for the Hawks and he is averaging 28.8 minutes, 10.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He’s a little banged up as his ankle is giving him some issues. The Hawks need Hinrich to have a good offensive series to make Derrick Rose have to play hard on defense.
EDGE: HUGE FOR THE BULLS
SHOOTING GUARD: Keith Bogans had one good game against the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. He played in 5 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far and he is averaging 19.4 minutes, 5.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Bogans just plays defense and gets out of the other players’ way on offense. He will have to play solid D against Joe Johnson or the Hawks are going to have a huge edge here.
Joe Johnson runs a little hot and cold as he only shot 39.6% from the floor against the Magic. He played in 6 games (all starts) against the Magic and he averaged 41.2 minutes, 18.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. I have a feeling that Johnson is going to have a really solid series against the Bulls.
EDGE: HUGE FOR HAWKS
SMALL FORWARD: Luol Deng is one of the best kept secrets in the NBA. He plays hard at both ends of the court as he’s one of the best all-around players the Bulls have. He’s got a challenge on his hands because Josh Smith also plays hard on both ends of the court. Deng played in 5 games (all starts) against the Pacers and he averaged 42.4 minutes, 18.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Josh Smith is one of the most underrated players in the NBA and he will have the big stage to show off his skills against the Bulls. Smith played in 6 games (all starts) against the Magic and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 14.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Hawks need Smith to have a good series if they are going to pull an upset here and knock out the Bulls.
EDGE: VERY SLIGHT FOR THE HAWKS
POWER FORWARD: Carlos Boozer had a pretty disappointing series against the Pacers as he only shot 35.8% from the floor and he was in foul trouble a lot. He’s going to have to pick up the pace in this series as Al Horford is going to be looking him right in the eyes quite a bit. Boozer played in 5 games (all starts) against the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 30.4 minutes, 10.0 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
Al Horford is going to have his hands full inside against the Bulls. But, he rose to the challenge against the Magic as he stood toe to toe with Dwight Howard a few times. Horford played in 6 games (all starts) against the Magic in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 39.8 minutes, 12.0 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.
EDGE: EVEN
CENTER: Joakim Noah is going to be big for the Bulls in this series as they need to control the boards and the paint to beat the Hawks. Noah played in 5 games (all starts) for the Bulls against the Pacers in which he averaged 32.0 minutes, 12.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.6 blocked shots per game. Noah is going to give the Hawks fits at both ends of the court.
Jason Collins will be on the court for the Hawks to use his six fouls and little more as he doesn’t add much to the team. Collins played in 6 games (all starts) against the Magic and he averaged 17.2 minutes, 1.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Not much to see here.
EDGE: GIGANTIC FOR THE BULLS
BENCH: Kyle Korver is the main man off the bench for the Bulls. He shot 10 of 17 (58.8%) from three-point range as he was an assassin off the bench for the Bulls against the Pacers. Korver played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Bulls in the first round of playoffs and he averaged 21.4 minutes, 10.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Taj Gibson will likely be the top backup big for the Bulls in this series. Gibson played in 5 games (0 starts) against the Pacers and he averaged 18.2 minutes, 4.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. Veteran center Kurt Thomas will give Joakim Noah a break whenever he needs one. Thomas played in 4 games (0 starts) against the Pacers and he averaged 11.8 minutes, 3.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. C.J. Watson will give Derrick Rose a breather when he needs one. Watson has played in 5 games (0 starts) against the Pacers and he averaged 9.6 minutes, 3.4 points, 0.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. SG Ronnie Brewer (2.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 assist) and rookie center Omer Asik (0.4 points and 1.6 rebounds) each played in all five games in the first round for the Bulls, but quite sparingly.
Jamal Crawford is likely going to see more P.T. than he did in the first round of the playoffs with Kirk Hinrich being a little gimpy. Crawford is also an ex-Bull, so he’s going to be more motivated than usual. Crawford played in 6 games (0 starts) against the Magic in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 29.8 minutes, 20.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Crawford hit 17 of 37 (45.9%) shots from three-point range against the Magic. Backup forward Marvin Williams could also see more P.T. than he got in the first round of the playoffs against the Magic. Williams played in 6 games (0 starts) against the Magic and he averaged 18.0 minutes, 6.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Williams shot 54.2% from the floor against the Magic. Center Zaza Pachulia will likely get his fair share of P.T. to throw some muscle around in the paint against the Bulls. He played in 5 games (0 starts) against the Magic and he averaged 19.6 minutes, 2.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. With Kirk Hinrich a bit gimpy right now, the Hawks may take young guard Jeff Teague out of mothballs for this series. Teague played in 2 games (0 starts) against the Magic in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 4.5 minutes, 2.5 points and 1.5 assists per game. PF Josh Powell (1.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists) and C Hilton Armstrong (0.3 points and 0.8 rebounds) could also get some P.T. in this series.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR HAWKS
COACHING: Tom Thibodeau is a defensive minded coach and he did pretty well in the Bulls’ first series as he led them to a 4-1 win. It was Thibodeau’s first playoff series as a head coach and the Bulls looked solid.
Larry Drew led the Hawks to a nice upset over the Magic, as he proved himself in that series. Like Thibodeau, this was Drew’s first playoff series as a head coach, so he’s 4-2.
EDGE: EVEN
PREDICTION: I think the Hawks are going to put up a good fight in this series, but I think they are going to fall a tad short. I like the Bulls in six games.
