Flyer

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: sports.yahoo.com Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose dropped 36 points in his playoff debut.

It seems like only yesterday when the Chicago Bulls were among the worst teams in the league. On Feb. 18th all that changed.

On this date, the Bulls sent Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Michael Ruffin and Cedric Simmons to the Sacramento Kings for Brad Miller and John Salmons. At the time of the trade, the Bulls were 23-30 and losers of eight out of 13. This created a spark that catapulted the Bulls to a 41-41 record and the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.

It took the Bulls about a month to fully get going with their new additions to the team. An injury to Luol Deng also didn't help. With Deng out, Salmons stepped in and played big-averaging 18.3 points per game.

Along with Miller, the Bulls became a deeper team with better offensive possessions. With the Bulls looking like a complete team, they showed the entire league how dangerous they could be.

Especially at home. The Bulls finished 28-13 at the United Center winning 14 -of-16 at home after the trade.

They now have a first round playoff match up with the World Champion Boston Celtics.

At the end of the season, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said that there was no way Kevin Garnett would be ready for the playoffs.

As the season was coming to an end, after missing weeks, Garnett came back and played. It seemed everything would be alright for the Celtics. Coach Rivers saw him run in practice, and it looked as if the injury got worse. Now, there is talk of surgery which would end his season.

With the reigning Defensive MVP out, it is the time for the Bulls to make a run. The Celtics are not a good defensive team without Garnett.

The Bulls took full advantage of that in the playoffs in game one. Derrick Rose led his team to a 105-103 victory with a 36 point, 11 assist effort. The Bulls also held Ray Allen to four points on 1-of-12 shooting including 0-of-6 from three. Game two was just as close, as it took a three from Ray Allen with two seconds left to decide the outcome as the Celtics won 118-115.

The Bulls were led by a playoff career-high 42 points from Ben Gordon, but the Celtics answered with a triple-double from Rajon Rondo with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists. Allen also added 30 and Glen Davis had a career high 26 points.

The Bulls have proved that they can hang with the Celtics. With three of the five remaining games at the United Center, the Bulls have a great chance of winning the series. The Bulls have been playing with confidence for the last month and have a good chance at making some noise in the playoffs.

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