Bulls finish out weekend on a two game win streak

 Bulls bounced back: finishing out the weekend on a two game win streak

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After a dissapointing loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday, the Bulls bounced back in a big way by blowing out the New Jersey Nets (106-83) and edging out the Detroit Piston (110-103) to finish out the weekend on a two game win streak. The Bulls couldnt have picked a better time to start winning and playing better than right now as they enter the week only 1 game behind the Toronto Raptors for the final 8th playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

After being embarassed at home on Thursday by Dwayne Wade and Co., the Bulls were looking to put the past behind them in a big way. The Bulls used a hot Janero Pargo to run the lowly Nets out of town on Saturday, who started for injured rookie James Johnson (foot), posting a season high in minutes played (40) as well as points (27). Derrick Rose had a rare off night shooting, finishing 3-12 from the field, 1-2 from the charity stripe ending up with 7 points but excelled in getting others involved by dishing out 9 assists. It was nice to see the reserves picking up the slack, although Pargo did start, also seeing Joakim getting more minutes (13) than previous game (10) was also a good sign that the energetic big man is returning back to form.

Looking to build off a strong outing against the New Jersey Nets, the Bulls visited the Detroit Pistons in hopes of sweeping the Pistons for the first time since Michael Jordan and the 95-96 team did the same. The Bulls started off on fire, posting an 18 point lead at halftime. However, the Bulls had to hold off a come back as the Pistons outscored the Bulls by 10 in the 3rd quarter. The Bulls again used their bench to help assure another victory with former Piston Ronald Murray, shooting a red hot 9-14 from the field (3-5 from long distance), 2-4 from the foul line while grabbing 3 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists coming off the bench. This time the Bulls got a lot of help from Derrick Rose, who rebounded quite nicely from a previous dissapointing perfomance, posting 21 points; shooting 7-13 from the floor, 7-8 from the foul line while grabbing 3 rebounds and dishing out another 9 assist. Taj Gibson continues to be a beast on the boards as he sees more actions with Joakim playing limited minutes still.

Joakim's minutes continue to increase with each game, this time racking up 17 minutes as opposed to 13 minutes the night before. Seeing Joakim completely dominate Jason Maxiell is always good to see from an injured player. Playing more minutes in back-to-back games is a great sign for the Bulls as they look to make their final playoff push before the season comes to a close.

On Monday, the Raptors narrowly held off the Charlotte Bobcats, increasing their lead on the 9th place Bulls by 1 game. As the Bulls enter the final stretch of their season, with only 9 games left, they must be focused on playing their best basketball if they want to make it into the playoffs. Looking ahead at the schedule, this weeks games are very managable for the Bulls. Starting off the week on Tuesday facing a strong Phoenix Suns team, ending the week at the New Jersey Nets then starting the final week against the Toronto Raptors which could be a pivotal matchup as the Raptors have an easy week after defeating the Bobcats tonight, against the Clippers and the 76ers.

If the Bulls want any hopes of playing in a post season, they have to focus on winning their games and not about what the Raptors are doing. The first road block to the post-season is a red hot Phoenix Suns team on a 7 game win streak with a determined Amare Stoudemire heading the domination. The Bulls defeated the Suns the only time they have met previously this season, pulling out a shocking road win 115-104. Although the Bulls had a healthy Joakim Noah (19 pts 8rebs) and Loul Deng (23pts 6rebs) then, the Bulls can defeat the Suns on Tuesday if they play disciplined and strong defense through all 4 quarters.

The playoff push is on for the Bulls, hopefully the pieces fall into place for the post season- setting them up for an action filled summer of 2010 with a market of impending free agents keeping an eye on how this young team finishes the season.