Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 at 8:25 am  |  131 responses

Post Up: Advantage, Bulls

DRose and friends earn a 3-2 series lead.

Chicago 95, Atlanta 83

In a seven-game NBA Playoff series, the winner of Game 5 takes the series 83 percent of the time. That stat tells you exactly how much was on the line for both the Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls last night in the United Center. Win this game and the Eastern Conference Finals await. Lose and you might as well start planning your summer vacation.

Luckily for the fans of both franchises and for basketball fans in general, each team gave a brilliant effort and it was the kind of game that had just the right amount of quality basketball mixed with energy and passion that makes for an exciting contest. It was also the kind of game that the Playoffs are all about.

Chicago came out and looked as if they were trying to put the game out of reach early as they lead by as many as 15 points at one point and finished the first quarter up 11 on Atlanta. But the Hawks battled back in the 2nd quarter and showed that they weren’t going anywhere as they outscored Chicago 21-16 and found themselves down just 6 points by halftime.

In the third quarter, the Hawks outscored Chicago once again and briefly took the lead for the first time in the game on the continued brilliance of Jeff Teague (21 points, 7 assists, 0 turnovers, 8-11 shooting) who seemed to put the team on his back. The quarter was also highlighted by some chippiness between Carlos Boozer (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Josh Smith (16 points, 7 rebounds) in which both players were assessed double technical fouls on a Boozer elbow to the face (possible fine and/or suspension?) after a JSmoove dunk. Tom Thibodeau also used a more defensive oriented lineup that hasn’t been seen in this series (Rose, Gibson, Deng, Asik, Gibson). It seemed to throw the rhythm of Atlanta off and give Chicago momentum heading into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it was the Derrick Rose (33 points, 9 assists, 2 turnovers) and Taj Gibson show. Both players accounted for 11 points apiece, with all of Gibson’s points coming in the final quarter. Chicago outscored the Hawks 26-15 in the final period to take a 3-2 lead going back to Atlanta on Thursday where they’ll look to close the Hawks out and advance to the ECF for the first time in 13 years. —Bryan Crawford (@_BryanCrawford)

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  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Yes you are correct RiNig he obviously produces with the mins provided anyway. Maybe that exact trade isn’t going down but everyone is going to make a play for D12. I would think Noah would be required in that deal wich has been spoken about on here and as i recall the Bulls faithful would prefer to have Noah which i don’t blame you on. But honsetly Boozer and Noah for Howard would be a decent trade for both teams if Taj is as good as advertised. Who’s better Taj or Paul Milasp?

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Pretty good because of his defensive flexibility, but he really needs to get that jumper right, and develop at least a solid jump hook. Then he will be better than Boozer.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Millsap.
    Taj is a better defender though.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Lets note that Orlando will definitely, without question, want whoever they trade with to take back either turkoglu or arenas. Chicago is not a realistic destination for Howard under any circumstance. Also how often do you see one contender trade their best player to another contender in the same conference? Dwight is going to LAL or LAC from what I’ve heard so far, but if Orlando looks like they can at all compete for a title with Dwight I would bet they keep him. The new CBA might make it almost stupid for a player with bird rights to leave their team, unless they are championship chasing. (and dwight is 24, i would bet he is more about the money then the titles at this stage of his career)

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    I wonder how much Gibson’s age should be a concern though.
    Dude will be 26 when next season start.
    Has he hit his ceiling?

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    At first i was think Taj should try tha old “Put on 20 lbs” over the summer but maybe that whats wrong with concrete feet Booz is the extra muscle slows his ass up. I can’t believe the Celts are on the verge of elimination and the Lakes are gone. Clearly new things are happenin in the NBA these days. I don’t think its Perkins with the Celts either. If anything they were more prepared for Heat but still the athleticism is just to much for them. I think the Celts are twice the team the Heat are but obviously that means nothing.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    It’s all popcorn muscles…

  • http://slamonline.com The Fresh Prince of Nsam

    The Bulls won, DRose played well and efficiently = Boring TPU.
    I garanty u 2morrow will b much more exciting, no matter what the results of the games are.
    GO CELTICS!

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Lol. Well lets say his ceiling is in 4 years at age 30 thats still a good amount of time to get something outta him. RiNig did you watch Asik play for Turkey this last summer? Dude has SKILLLLLZ

  • http://bulls.com airs

    the only knock i have on taj is that he needs to get bigger.
    his J is actually pretty consistent (maybe more than booz, honestly) and he’s got some decent post up moves. like ACTUAL post up moves, not putting his head down and diving towards the rim.
    i predict bulls fans to groan through boozer’s injuries and inconsistencies for the next few years unless we can trade him for something more valuable, like a new gatorade vending machine or something.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    LakeShow – I made it a point to watch for Asik in the summer, cause I knew he’d be joining the Bulls.
    He didn’t really play all that much, if I remember correctly, though.
    I ever tell y’all Boozer holds like a three-day basketball camp for kids in Jueanu, Alaska every summer?
    I’m seriously considering signing up one of my kids just so I can go and see if he instructs them on the proper way to yell nonsense after every shot/rebound/assist/potential and-one.
    “Now, remember kids, it comes from the gut – GIMME DAT SH*T!!!!”

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/officerbarbrady what

    I’m a Hawks fan who vehemently disagrees with Myung’s regular take on Josh Smith, but his 10:38 post was absolutely on point.

  • http://bulls.com airs

    haha! i’d love to see that camp
    “lesson one – Defense? Optional”

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Lesson Two – “The Bobblehead Dance”. Much more imortant than defense!

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    LMFAO RiNig, All the kids shouting back “GIMME DAT SH*T!” back at Booz lol. Asik did play somewhat limted mins for some reason. He played great everytime i saw him though. lmao at AIRS also. Booz: “Who wants to play defense?! Me either!”

  • http://bulls.com airs

    lesson 3
    “alright now kids there are times when your man is gonna blow right by you and go in for a lay up. now what do we do, do we push him and let him get an and one? or do we look around confused and blame your teammates?
    the answer: both. come on, lets go practice our confused faces”

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    stop dude your killin me^^!!

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    i’m takin my kid to he manu ginobili camp when I have one…. He will master the flop so well he’ll do it to get out of homework at school

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    What about “bat grabbing?” Is that included in the basic package?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    no you have to pay an extra ten thousand dollars, send your kid out to argentina, and he’ll be gone for 1 month to 3 years. its a gamble worth taking i think

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    1 month to 3 years huh? haha i love it. Learn the ways of the Ginobli!

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Boozer: “No, young man! What are you doing?!”
    Kid: “Umm…I’m running back on offense?”
    Boozer: “Did you grab the defensive rebound?”
    Kid: “No.”
    Boozer: “Why not?”
    Kid: “Because my teammate did?”
    Boozer: “Why did you let your teammate get the board?”
    Kid: “Ummm…cause he’s my teammate?”
    Boozer: “NO! You gotta grab ahold of dat ball, yell ‘GIMMME DAT’ and GRAB DAT SH*T!!!”
    Kid (under breath): “Wow. My dad spent $300 for this?”
    Boozer” WHAT YOU SAY?!”
    Kid (normal voice): “Ummm… wow. My dad spent $300 for this?”
    Boozer: “I didn’t hear you! You better YELL DAT SH*T!”
    Kid: “WOW!! MY DAD SPENT $300 FOR DIS?!?!”
    Boozer: “That’s better! Now go practice your defensive stance! With one of the camp counselors!”

  • Myung

    What, it’s always good to hear your “voice” on here. Other than Lang and Coco, you’re the only other regular Hawks fan of the past decade on SLAMonline. I guess we have different views on Smoove. I’ve always been on my side of the line when it comes to him. Seems like most of our city was on his side for much of his career. Lately, a lot of folks have turned on him. I can at least say I’ve been consistent on my stance for the past 5 years; I’ve been down on Josh since season 3 (I cut him some slack his first two seasons). It’s not blind hate. I just hate how he plays the game. There are moments when he is an absolute beast. I can admit to that. But there are also so many instances of low basketball IQ and just general apathy (he takes off a lot of plays throughout games, on both sides of the court). He is such an amazing physical specimen, but I can’t get over how he only realizes 60% of his potential at best. It’s sad, really. Either way, it’s always good to see you reppin’ our team on here. Coco seems to have vanished from this site, and my wife and I just had our 2nd baby so I’m going to be MIA from here for the long run. You and Lang are going to have to hold it down for us. Take care.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Myung – congrats on the second child. Personally, I love fatherhood, I think it’s “the bees knees”, as Scoop Callahan might phrase it.
    I’ve only been around on SLAM Online since Derrick Rose’s rookie year, so I wasn’t around back in your heyday (though I’ve been down with the magazine since like issue 12, but was busy doing the military thing when the website was starting up) but it’s been dope reading your comments on here so if you’re gonna be gone for a while, peace and take care.

  • Myung

    Thanks, Rigo. I used to comment a ton (just like you guys do now). Then work got in the way. And marriage. And a baby. And most recently a 2nd baby. I have so little time. I squeeze in a little SLAMonline when I can, but I rarely have any free time. These late night Hawks games are killing me (for a lot of people, games ending at 11 PM aren’t that late… but I wake up at 5:30 AM and with two kids that wake us up at all hours of the night, I need ALL the sleep I can get). I love fatherhood too. There’s nothing like it. I mentioned this last week, but I named my son “Jordan.” You and everyone else can figure out why I named him that. And you’ll be happy to know that other than rooting for my hometown Hawks, I am a lifelong Bulls fan as well so this series is a win-win for me. I obviously am rooting for my team, but I will be happy to see either team advance (although in all honesty, I don’t think either team will get past Miami). Be good, man. I’ll still be around for a few days, but in spite of my optimism, I’m not expecting us to move on… which means my time on this site will probably be ending for a while.

  • http://www.fiba.com Darksaber

    Congrats on the second baby, Myung. Huge blessing.
    In bball news, the Heat just did their part in setting up the ECF-matchup that might get Slamonline to hire moderators for the course of a few weeks.
    Heat vs. Bulls aka Comment Wars.

  • JTaylor21

    Rigo, that 7:05pm comment was some classic sh*t.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Myung – ha, my son is named Jordan too. And I wake up at 5, but I feel you.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Ha, thanks JTaylor. Didn’t see you on here today. But I’ll expect to see you on TPU bragging about your boy Bron’s dominance.
    And deservedly so. Dude was a beast to the nth degree tonight.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/officerbarbrady what

    Myung — No doubt. Understood on Josh. He’s easily the most polarizing player on the team and maybe one of the most polarizing ATL athletes in recent memory. I’ll do my best to hold it down for Hawks fans on here, haha.

  • http://www.twitter.com/TheDiesel Anton

    Rigomatic 7:05 for the lol

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