Moore’s Late 3 Lifts Bulls by Thunder, Westbrook

March 6, 2015 @ admin → No Comments

Well, the Chicago Bulls kept Russell Westbrook off the boards. Meaning the Oklahoma City Thunder guard did not have double-digit rebounds. Also meaning he did not record his fifth consecutive triple-triple. And his teammates missed enough shots off his passes that he didn’t even post a double-double. And that pretty much meant trouble for the Thunder.

Video below of Playboy’s Sarah Louis Harris.

Thanks to the biggest basket E’Twaun Moore ever made (OK, maybe the biggest basket he ever made this season). His three-pointer with 2.1 second left overcame a 105-104 lead and led to a 108-105 Bulls victory. There may be no “I” in “team,” but there definitely is in “implausible.”

Moore had a career-high 19 points. Westbrook had 43 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Westbrook was 14-of-32 from the field; Moore was 9-of-10 and had the best plus/minus rating in the game: plus-17.

In case anyone was wondering (and even if no one was) an anagram for “E’Twaun Moore” is “a new me or out.” Yeah, thought that would impress you. OK, maybe not that much. Or at all. But we’re trying around here. Yes, very trying.

Craig Sager was back working on TNT, much to E’Twaun Moore’s delight.

Not only did Moore show he can play big-time basketball, he showed he could handle the postgame adeptly as well. Even after all the media were gone. He tweeted: It was a great feeling to get the win but a better feeling to see Craig Sager back — more impressive than his three-point shot.

And, yes, it was comforting to hear Moore say the Bulls’ final play was designed for Pau Gasol to take the shot. Instead Gasol passed to Moore. Something said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau wouldn’t design a play for Moore. Well, maybe now he might, but certainly not Thursday night.

Did we mention there’s video below of Sarah Louise Harris?

“A lot of guys probably would have shot that,” Thibodeau said of Gasol. “And he had the presence of mind to hit the open man and trust the pass. You can’t say enough about E’Twaun.”

Moore had 13 of his points in the Bulls’ 36-point fourth quarter and was 6-of-6 from the field in the period.

Accounting for the Bulls’ final point was a free throw by Nikola Mirotic, who led the Bulls with 26 points off the bench. What has been impressive about Mirotic is his ability to get to the basket as well as shoot three-pointers. Mirotic was 14-of-16 from the foul line. Less impressive: 2-of-9 on three-pointers. One of them did come in the final minute as the Bulls rallied.

Gasol and Mike Dunleavy had 21 points apiece with Gasol also having 12 rebounds.

What all this means is the Bulls have a deeper bench than they have shown. Which becomes fairly meaningless in the postseason when Thibodeau likely will go with an eight-player rotation. During the regular season, such depth should mean more minutes for bench players so that the starters are reasonably fresh come playoff time.

For one night, if nothing else, the Bulls bench meant the difference between winning and losing. Bulls fans will take the victory and wait for Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson to return from injuries.

You will know it’s the Bulls season when rookie Doug McDermott has a Moore-like game. Guessing that game won’t come this season. But with the Bulls, you never know.

Expect the unexpected.

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* Want to know what seven consecutive triple-triples look like? The fine folks at nba.com (with some help from a fellow named Michael Jordan) provided some video, so here you go. Click here.

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Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com):