Bull vs Nets Preview

On Saturday Afternoon, 2 p.m. ET to be exact, the Brooklyn Nets will be fighting to keep from falling into a treacherous 3-1 deficite in their best of seven playoff series with the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls have now won back to back games against the Nets and will have home court advantage for Game 4 of this series.  The Nets will be heading into this game undoubtedly motivated, but that may not be enough.  Joe Jonson is trying to play through an injury and the Bulls defense has stifled Deron Williams over the last two games.  Not only have the Bulls put a stop to one of the nets top scorers but they have also held Brooklyn to just 35 percent shooting on the last two games of the series.

Then there is Gerald Wallace who scored 14 points in Game 1 of this series, but has simply looked lost and confused on the court in the last two games.  Wallace has pulled no qualms about his frustrations.

I couldn’t tell you my role now.  I don’t have a clue what my role is on this team.

Williams has also shown his frustration.  After opening the series with 22 points and seven assists the Bulls have shut him down.  Over the last two games he has combined for 6 of 23 on shooting.

After Game 1, they’re definitely keying on me.  It’s tough for me as a point guard. I don’t want to go out there and just shoot 20 bad shots. But pretty much every shot I’m going to take is going to be contested, two people around me, three people around me. I just have to find ways to be more aggressive and get to the basket, but it’s tough right now.

The Bulls are not going to let those last two wins go to their heads, however.  They know that they are playing a team who won a whopping 49 games in the season held them to only 79 points in their last encounter.

The Bulls workhorse Joakim Noah is expected to play 25 minuets.  He is also working through an injury, but despite his limited play he still has come into the last two games and set the tone for the Bulls.  His stats may not show it, but Noah has made key plays in both games that lit a fire under the Bulls.

With all the question marks on both teams head coming into this game the biggest one is, Will the Bulls take one step closer to round 2, or will the Nets mount their comeback and tie up the series?

The Bulls are the favorites to win this one with a points spread around -3 according to most sports books.