The Bulls now the favorite in the East?
The Chicago Bulls watched the Cleveland Cavaliers finish off a sweep of the Boston Celtics in the NBA’s Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon. With one more win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday evening, Chicago will be pitted against Cleveland in the semifinals, which will suddenly be without forward Kevin Love for a minimum of two weeks.
Love, who was fighting for a lose ball with Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk, got his left arm caught awkwardly against Olynyk and dislocated his shoulder. The All-Star left the court in obvious pain, sadly to the cheers of many patrons clad in green at TD Garden.
The series between the Bulls and Cavaliers has been much-anticipated since October, and now seems even more enticing in some ways. With Love, Cleveland was the clear favorite. Without him, do the Cavaliers have enough ot beat the now-healthy Bulls?
Chicago has the more talented, deeper roster. Cleveland has the best player in the world and a damn good sidekick in point guard Kyrie Irving. The Bulls can roll with a lineup that includes Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol. Cleveland can counter with LeBron James and Irving, who have some complimentary pieces in J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov.
When a typical basketball fan thinks of Chicago, he or she goes immediately to Michael Jordan and the six NBA championships he won during the 1990’s in the Windy City. The Bulls were once the best franchise in sports, but have yet to get back to the NBA Finals since Jordan retired. Only once has Chicago gotten to the Eastern Conference finals in that time.
Cleveland has a tortured sports history as a city, both in basketball and otherwise. When James was there during his first tour of duty with the Cavaliers, Cleveland reached the NBA Finals once, only to be swept aside by Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs. The NFL’s Cleveland Browns and MLB’s Cleveland Indians are without titles since 1964 and 1948, respectively. In other words, desperation to win this series is riding high from both fan bases.
Of course, the series will ultimately be decided between the lines. Chicago appears to have the edge, especially on the interior. Even with James, it could be difficult for the Cavaliers to bang on the boards against the Bulls, dealing with Taj Gibson, Gasol and Noah in the paint.
The East has been a snooze-fest all year compared to the loaded Western Conference. Finally, folks on the right side of the Mississippi will finally have a series to be compelled by. Regardless of who wins, it should be a long, physical grind with fireworks in the interim. It finally feels like postseason basketball, just the way it should be for two blue-collar towns.
