Joakim Noah is a true leader and fought hard for the Chicago Bulls. He led the team with 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 assists. Marco Belinelli also had a great game scoring 24 points 6 rebounds. Boozer finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Throughout the game, Chicago shot 48.8% from the field. Chicago had two quarters where they scored 30 points. By halftime, the Bulls led the Nets 61-44. The Bulls came out with the urgency and passion to win and treated this game like a true game 7. But, oddly, the Nets treated this game like a mere game 1. They didn’t start to play with some urgency until the middle of the 3rd quarter. The Bulls were simply hungrier for the win. The Brooklyn Nets are talented and a deep team. Therefore, they should have beaten up the banged up Bulls. But, the Bulls fought with their heart.

The Chicago Bulls will battle the Miami Heat. The game airs on Monday at 7.

Now, if you didn’t watch the game, an 88-80 final score would seem fine but going into the fourth quarter of this game, the score was 75-49 Knicks. That’s right, the Celtics outscored the Knicks 31-20 in the final quarter and nearly stole this game from them.

Coming into the game, people kept bringing up the 2004 American League Championship Series, when the New York Yankees had a 3-0 series lead and ended up losing the series to the Boston Red Sox. It was the city’s rallying cry. If the Red Sox could do it, so could the aging Boston Celtics, right?

The Knicks had a 3-0 series lead heading into Game 4 in Boston. They lost that game which they weren’t too upset about because it was thought that they could clinch the series at home but when that didn’t happen, the 2004 talk started. Then tonight, after leading by 26, they were in the midst of a fourth quarter collapse of epic proportions on the TD Garden court in Boston of all places.

While Knicks fans were reaching for drinks, cigarettes and anything else that would help to calm their nerves, Celtics fans had some hope that their team was going to make something historic happen but it didn’t.

Luckily for the Knicks and their fans, Anthony hit a clutch jumper to give the Knicks an 81-75 lead and then hit a 3-pointer. That was followed by a three-point play from J.R. Smith and the Knicks were on their way to the second round.

Anthony finished with 21 points, Smith with 13 and Iman Shumpert scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half to help the Knicks capture their first playoff series victory since reaching the 2000 Eastern Conference finals. Just to give you an idea of how long ago that was, Patrick Ewing and Latrell Sprewell were on the team.

As for the Celtics, Paul Pierce finished with 14 points on 4-18 shooting, including 1-9 from the three. Jeff Green led the Celtics with 21 points and Kevin Garnett finished with 15.

The big question this offseason for the Celtics is whether to keep the core of the team together, namely Pierce and Garnett, or to break them up. That group helped Boston win their last title in 2008 and earned a trip to the finals in 2010 where they ultimately lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Next up for the Knicks, the Indiana Pacers. That series starts on Sunday.

In a cover story for Sports Illustrated’s May 6, 2013 issue, NBA free agent and veteran Jason Collins, has revealed to the world that he is a gay man. Collins begins his personal essay by saying, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

The essay is thoughtful, poignant and well-written. Collins, a graduate of Stanford University, writes about growing up in a Christian home, struggling with his identity and talks about how he was living a lie, going as far as getting engaged to a woman, because he thought that’s what he should do.

So far, he has gotten messages of support from fellow players, fans and athletes in other sports. And though there have been messages of ignorance left in the comments section of the SI article and on Twitter, Collins says he’s ready for them.

As far as the reaction of fans, I don’t mind if they heckle me. I’ve been booed before. There have been times when I’ve wanted to boo myself. But a lot of ill feelings can be cured by winning.

This is an important day in sports history. Even though Collins, at the moment, is a free agent and not signed, he is an active player in a major sport and he has come out. Hopefully, others will follow his lead and one day, gay professional athletes won’t be a rarity, they will be commonplace.

Joakim Noah was the big story of game 2 on Monday night. He struggled heavily in game 1, struggling with the severe pain in his foot from the tear and plantar fasciitis. For game 2, his minutes were supposed to be limited to 20 minutes, but he played an extra 5 minutes that were much needed. Noah wasn’t the highest scorer on the Bulls last night, but what he did on the court definitely attributed to their win. He made great plays when the Bulls needed it the most. He was diving for loose balls, saving the ball from going out of bounds, and making big rebounds to give his teammates a second chance to score. Despite the pain he was in, Noah still fought through it like a warrior to help the Bulls get an important win on the road. Noah finished the game with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Luol Deng also bounced back to lead the Bulls to victory. In game 1, his game was off and he simply could not score efficiently.  For game 2, Deng was more aggressive on the floor and attacking to score. He finished the game with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks in 42 minutes of playing time. Boozer also had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

A big key factor for the Bulls was points in the paint that they allowed. In game 1, they allowed the Nets to score 56 points in the paint. In game 2, they only allowed 30 points, while the Bulls scored 42 points in the paint. Chicago must keep the paint heavily guarded to avoid easy, high percentage shots near the basket throughout this series. It’s obvious that defense is very important in their form of execution on the floor and it kept Deron Williams shooting on 1-9 from the field, also thanks to Kirk Hinrich.

The Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls will get a chance to regroup before game 3, which will be on Thursday at 8:30pm ET at the United Center. Game 3 will air on NBA TV.

Joakim Noah started the game and literally gave all he could. Noah is still struggling with the plantar fasciitis in his foot. He also stated in an interview that he also has a tear in his foot and let it linger without taking the best advice to sit out more games. As of right now, it looks like Noah won’t be much of a factor in this series. Chicago only scored 14 points in the first quarter and by halftime, the Nets led the Bulls 60-35. They simply could not score at all. Luol Deng has been in a slump and shot on 3/11 from the field, finishing with 6 points and 2 rebounds. Only Jimmy Butler and Carlos Boozer, as starters, scored in double figures. Carlos Boozer seemed to be the only one who wasn’t struggling to find a rhythm. He finished with 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Nate Robinson had 17 points off the bench in 20 minutes of playing time. Marco Belinelli finished with 13 points.

Brook Lopez was allowed to do whatever he wanted in the paint without the Bulls stopping him. The Bulls knew that one of their assignments was to not allow Lopez or Reggie Evans to be effective in the painted area. The Brooklyn Nets scored 56 of their 106 points down low, near the basket.

With injuries piling up from left to right, everything that could go wrong definitely did. On Monday night, the Bulls will attempt to even the series out. The game will air at 8pm ET on TNT.

Carlos Boozer averages 21.3 ppg and 10.7 rpg against the Brooklyn Nets.Luol Deng averages 15.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg when playing the Nets. This has been a breakout season for Jimmy Butler. His minutes are up and so are his numbers. Besides the usual starters such as Boozer and Noah, Jimmy is becoming a big key player on the floor for the Bulls.

Deron Williams struggled throughout the season with his shooting, but lately he has bounced back greatly. Kirk Hinrich and Nate Robinson both will have their work cut out for them while guarding such a big, strong, and skilled guard like Deron Williams. With the memory of how last season’s playoffs ended, surely, the Bulls want to redeem themselves. The Bulls still haven’t given up hope that Derrick Rose will return soon. Rose is definitely needed in this playoff series. Prior to his injury, not to many players, not named LeBron James, could guard him.

Game 1 against the Brooklyn Nets will start on Saturday at 8pm ET in Barclays Center.

Bulls in 6.

The Bulls couldn’t stop Lebron James from scoring 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists or Wade’s 22 points and 2 blocks. Chicago also allowed the Heat to score 44 points in the paint, while they only scored 24 points in the paint. Chicago struggled from the field shooting just 35.4% from the field. Miami shot just over 51% from the field. Chris Andersen had a big game from off Miami’s bench with 15 points and 7 rebounds. With Joakim Noah out, Andersen was able to score at will in the paint.

The Chicago Bulls will likely remain at the sixth spot in the East and face the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. They will face the Orlando Magic tonight at 7pm ET and the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at 8pm ET.

Carlos Boozer and Jimmy Butler, as starters, both finished with double-doubles. Boozer scored 13 points and 15 rebounds in 47 minutes of playing time. Butler finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds in 50 minutes of playing time. All the Bulls starters contributed well with 4 of them scoring in the double figures. The starters also rebounded well even though they allowed Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith to rebound easily in the double figures. Anthony had 19 rebounds, 6 were offensive. Nate Robinson was the (little) big guy that put the Bulls on his back even though he was coming off the bench. Robinson had 35 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. He shot 10/18 (55%) from the field and 5/11 (45%) from the 3-point line. Richard Hamilton had a better shooting night with 14 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes.

Carmelo did score 36 points, along with his 19 rebounds. But, he did struggle from the field, shooting 13/34 (38%). Lately, he has been on a hot shooting streak, but he struggled against the Luol Deng and the Bulls defense. Even though, the Bulls are still missing key players in their roster, they can still put up a fight when they want to.

The Chicago Bulls cannot celebrate for long since they have a game today at 7pm ET against the Toronto Raptors.

Nate Robinson talks about Bulls win over Knicks (below)

Terrible referee calling mixed with awful shooting was the result for the 98-101 loss. Joakim Noah’s plantar fasciitis is getting worse and rumors are swirling that he will be shut down until the playoffs. Analysts and columnists are praising Derrick Rose’s progression, but still no word on his possible, yet uncertain return. Taj Gibson is expected to return soon from his MCL sprain. Also, Luol Deng should also make an appearance soon on the court after his bruised hip heals. Richard Hamilton returned last night and only played about 14 minutes, contributing just 4 points and an assist.

On Thursday, the Bulls will face the streaking New York Knicks at the United Center. The game will air at 8pm ET.

This loss clinched a division title for the Indiana Pacers. The Toronto Raptors will be in town to face the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Monday night at 8pm ET.