2011 nba playoffs

It’s Okay to Cheer for the Bulls Right Now

Photo: Jonathan Daniel/2011 Getty Images
Photo: Jonathan Daniel/2011 Getty Images

For many casual fans of the NBA — or even diehards with a rather inflated, comical Old Testament sense of justice — the primary goal of the rest of the NBA playoffs is “root for the field over the Heat.” We will take the positive route on this one, and note that the other three teams remaining — Chicago, Dallas and Oklahoma City — are all likable challengers, rather than dwell on Heatenfreude (or at least pretend to). Heat-haters had much to rejoice yesterday: The Bulls blasted the Heat 103-82 last night, and it wasn’t even as close as that final score. It wasn’t so much LeBron James and company falling apart as much as the Bulls absolutely dominating. The scary — or encouraging — thing about the win was, as legendary Bulls blog Blog-A-Bull put it, “how the Bulls played tonight and the way they used advantages they should always have going into these games, it’s up to Miami to figure it out. The Bulls will continue to be big, their bigs will be deep. They’ll also be pretty damned good.” The Bulls are perfectly designed to take out the Heat. Now let’s see if they do it. (Oh, by the way, sorry, Zach Randolph: Knicks fans will miss being entirely bewildered by your dominance.)

It’s Okay to Cheer for the Bulls Right Now