Bulls Starting to Get Healthy, Open Playoffs Against Milwaukee
The Chicago Bulls are seeded No. 3 in the NBA Eastern Conference and meet No. 6 seed the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. Chicago won the season series versus Milwaukee 3-1.
The Bulls have loads of playoff experience while the Bucks have little, as the average age of their roster is a mere 24.1 years.
The Bulls this season are as strong on offense as defense with the additions of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic and the emergence of Jimmy Butler. If Derrick Rose can remain healthy then Chicago’s offense can easily out score the Bucks.
However, one cause for alarm for the Bulls is their center and the heart of their defense Joakim Noah.
Noah did not play on Wednesday in the last game of the regular season against Atlanta due to hamstring tendinitis. However, he said he was confident he would be ready to play in Game 1 this weekend.
Noah called it a simple hamstring issue, but he was going through treatments and getting ready to play.
The Wednesday game was the second consecutive Noah missed as he was scratched from the Bulls win on Monday over Brooklyn. The extra days of rest will give Noah some additional time to rest his bothersome left knee as well as. He has had problems with the knee all season.
Kirk Hinrich the veteran guard for the Bulls also missed Wednesday’s final game of the season as he is continuing to recover from his hyper-extended knee. Taj Gibson was also suffering from some stiffness in his shoulder, but played. Derrick Rose left Wednesday’s game with a sore knee but said he was hopeful he could play this weekend against the Bucks.
Although this season has been another tough one for the Bulls, with struggles on defense and lineups full of replacements, Chicago still managed to reach the playoffs with a bit of momentum, winning four straight down the stretch to clinch this No. 3 seed.
Though the minutes Rose has played have been quite limited since he returned, just his presence as a playmaker has given Chicago a morale boost if nothing else.
Although there are nagging injuries to Hinrich, Noah, Gibson and Rose, Chicago is the closest it has been to a full roster since the beginning of October.
The Bulls at times struggle against teams that are up-tempo, which makes them defend the entire 48 minutes that can also expose the defensive pairing of Noah and Gasol with floor spacers and athletic big men.
This series could be more difficult for the Bulls than what some people might expect, but look for them to win it in six games.
