The Chicago Bulls got tired of people talking about how they suddenly didn’t look like an elite team in Game 1 of the second round.  Though the Hawks hung with the Bulls for a little while, Chicago eventually crumbled then with their defensive intensity and ultimately put them away pretty early in the second half.  Ultimately, the Bulls scored just 86 points but one handedly, with the Hawks finishing with just 71.  Derrick Rose still didn’t shoot the ball well, though still poured in 25 points and dished out 10 assists on the night.  Joakim Noah was a big factor as well, as Noah scored 19 points despite shooting just eight times from the floor.  Noah also grabbed 14 boards to lead the team, while Luol Deng and Carloz Boozer also got into double-digits in rebounding.

Heading into the postseason, the Bulls’ strength was definitely defense, not Derrick Rose.  While the Bulls can play with anybody in the league when Rose and the rest of the team are going offensively, the Bulls also have a top-tier defense that is capable of simply dominating offenses on occasion.  When the Bulls desperately needed a win to avoid going down 0-2 in front of their home crowd, it was the defensive intensity of Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and Derrick Rose that led the way to one of the best defensive performances of the season.  In a strange scheduling situation, the Bulls will immediately head to Atlanta to take on the Hawks for Game 3 on Friday night.  Meanwhile, the Heat-Celtics and Grizzlies-Thunder series will not resume until Saturday.

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