Painful End to Bulls’ Postseason Hopes

Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson had to be carried off the court when he suffered an apparent ankle injury in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s Game 5 of the team’s first-round Eastern Conference series at the United Center. Bulls center Joakim Noah is going to have an ailing knee checked out.

Maybe Playboy Playmates Alana Campos (left) and Heather Rae Young can have Bulls fans focus on something other than basketball. Credit: Josh Ryan

So the good news for the Bulls? They and guard Derrick Rose, who missed most of the 2013-14 because of surgery for a knee injury in November, should be ready for their next game. And the bad news for the Bulls? It won’t be till next season.

The Washington Wizards took the game 75-69 and the best-of-seven series 4-1.

End of a painful season for the Bulls, who had the higher seed (No. 4 vs. 5) but the seemingly lesser talent against Washington.

Guard John Wall led the Wizards with 24 points. Backcourt mate Rodney Beal had 17. Forward Nene had 20. Kirk Hinrich and Jimmy Butler had 16 apiece for the Bulls.

“They have very good size with their perimeter players,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Beal and Wall are terrific, and they are getting better and better.”

The Bulls, who were tied at the half 41-41, had 28 points in the second half (11 in the third quarter when Washington was scoring 20). The Bulls finished with 33.3 percent shooting from the field to 40.5 for Washington.

“We just missed too many shots and turned the ball over,” Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy said of the third quarter after a first half when the Bulls had only one turnover. “They played good defense, but we just missed a lot of layups and some bunnies at the rim. Disappointment is the word to describe how I feel. I think we could have given a better performance. They deserved to win the series, but I think we could have done a better job making it tougher for them.”

“We were right there grinding it out the whole game,” Hinrich said. “At the end we missed opportunities, and they took advantage of that.”

“When we started the series, we knew no matter what the team did on offense, it was defense that was going to win,” Wall said. “We played great defense, and that is why we came out with the win.”

“We played great basketball in this series, and we can only continue to get better no matter who we play in the next round,” Beal said. “For now we can be proud of what we accomplished.”

And the Bulls can start thinking about the future (which the front office no doubt already has). Bigger would be a start. So would better. The return of Rose makes them better. The departure of some players on the roster and the addition of newcomers could make them better.

It’s something to ponder. The Bulls and their fans have plenty of time to do that.

Also worth pondering is the NBA’s action against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for racist remarks that caused an uproar throughout the league. Commissioner Adam Silver announced Tuesday Sterling would be banned for life (considering he’s 81, you can make an assessment of that), fined (the guy’s a billionaire, so he won’t even miss $2.5 million) and be forced to sell the team (which he has owned since 1981 without coming close to an NBA title).

The Bulls issued a statement from Bulls and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Bulls president and COO Michael Reinsdorf:

We completely support Commissioner Silver’s decision today regarding Clippers owner Donald Sterling, and praise him for his prompt investigation and action. The Commissioner was correct to ban Mr. Sterling from all official NBA business, to levy the stiffest allowable fine, and we will support his recommendation to press for Mr. Sterling to relinquish his ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers franchise. We believe Commissioner Silver’s decision reflects the best interests of the NBA and public civility.

Discrimination and prejudice of any kind have no place in sports or in our society.

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