With their second straight playoff berth in hand, the Chicago Bulls will try to move up in the standings when they visit the Orlando Magic on Monday (6:00 p.m. CT | CSN/ESPN Radio 1000). The Bulls (39-41) extended their winning streak to four with a 117-93 victory at Miami on Sunday, securing a postseason berth. They may be the hottest team in the Eastern Conference heading into the playoffs with 10 wins in 12 games. However, there still is work to be done for the Bulls, who enter Monday tied with Indiana and Milwaukee for the sixth spot in the East. Whoever finishes last among those three teams will face the Detroit Pistons in the first round. In his second game back from a concussion, Luol Deng scored 26 points on his 21st birthday for Chicago in Sunday's win. The Magic (36-44) have won eight straight and 12 of their last 13, a surge that had them alive in the playoff race until the Bulls' win Sunday. Dwight Howard has been one of the driving forces in Orlando's recent run and was dominant in Saturday's 102-97 victory over Philadelphia. Howard scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed a career-high 26 rebounds as the Magic essentially eliminated the 76ers from playoff contention. Tune in to watch tonight's game on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and listen to it on ESPN Radio 1000 (pregame show at 5:30 p.m.). Probable Bulls Starters Guard 12 Kirk Hinrich 6-3 | 190 Guard 7 Ben Gordon 6-3 | 200 Forward 5 Andres Nocioni 6-7 | 225 Forward 35 Malik Allen 6-10 | 255 Center 50 Michael Sweetney 6-8 | 270 Probable Magic Starters Guard 14 Jameer Nelson 6-0 | 190 Guard 9 DeShawn Stevenson 6-5 | 210 Forward 15 Hedo Turkoglu 6-10 | 220 Forward 12 Dwight Howard 6-11 | 265 Center 4 Tony Battie 6-11 | 240 Injury Report Bulls Darius Songaila (right foot fracture) is out. For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report at Bulls.com. Magic Carlos Arroyo (strained left hamstring) is questionable, while Grant Hill (lower abdominal strain/rehab, sports hernia surgery) is out. Series Notes The Bulls have won five of the last six games in this series ... last year the Bulls swept the season series, 3-0, for the first time since the 1996.97 campaign ... Chicago is just 9-18 against Orlando since the 1998.99 season ... Tyson Chandler tied his career high with 22 rebounds at Orlando last season (04/06/05) ... the Bulls' 117-77 win at the United Center on April 15, 2005 was the team's biggest win in the series' history; the previous largest margin of victory was 32 points ... the Bulls are 1-3 in overtime against the Magic; Chicago earned its first overtime win against the Magic, a 102-101 victory at Orlando on April 6, 2005.
Well on March 11th the Bulls announced Songaila would be out the remainder of the regular season with his injury, and that it would take 6-8 weeks to heal. So if all has been going well with his rehabilitation he should be on schedule to maybe return for the playoffs, but I don’t know how wise that would be. He is not in game shape, and has been out of the fold for a while how could he gel back in with his teammates. I saw let him rest bring him back next year.
Down by one start of the fourth Ben Gordon has struggled only nine points thus far, but we all know fourth quarter is when he shines so lets see what he does tonight. Deng, Hinrich, and Nocioni have all played well.
Hedo Turkoglu (sp), hit one free throw. Bulls ball, 13 seconds, 96 all. Will it be 'Ben' time? Overtime. Gordon missed a jumper, Chandler missed a tip in.
Overtime very good game so far the teams are virtually matching one another in every facet of the game. Chicago has 15 turnovers, but have forced the Magic into 17 turnovers. The Bulls have scored 30 points in the paint, while the Magic have held steady scoring 32. These two teams are playing each other basket for basket. The team that can get a stop late in overtime will be victorious, because right now they are just throwing punches at each other and neither of them are missing.
except those 1 of 2 free throws are killing me...yeah i'm looking at you KIRK!! *edit* at least he redeemed himself hitting 2 of 2 next time. Bulls up 105 - 100 - 1.47 to go. *edit* sigh, back to his old ways. 1 of 2 for Capt'n Kirk. Bulls up 106 - 100. 50 seconds to go. *edit* redeemed himself again. 2 of 2. Bulls up 108 - 102
I would just like to say, regardless of the win (or lose) tonight Luol Deng has arrived ladies and gentlemen 22 points his second straight 20+ point contest finishing off the season strong. He is establishing himself as arguably the best player on this team, and showing he is ready for the playoffs. Anyway, with less than 30 seconds left, and a seven point lead it looks like the Bulls are about to pull off another win, four straight. The Bulls are heading into the playoffs with a dead full of steam, and in my opinion setting themselves up to upset the Cavaliers or Nets if we play them. Now all we have to do to lock up our second straight winning season is win against the Toronto Raptors.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post"> and in my opinion setting themselves up to upset the Cavaliers or Nets if we play them. </div> Not when Milwaukee and Indiana win today (damn the pistons to hell)
Dam, Hinrich with 21 FT's... Nice win for the Bulls. Didn't get a chance to watch the 2nd half though. Had to do homework which took a while.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SP23:</div><div class="quote_post">Had to do homework which took a while.</div> what kind of Bulls fan are you.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting I-Miss-MJ:</div><div class="quote_post">what kind of Bulls fan are you. </div> A well educated one.
