The Bernstein Brief: Bulls Shine, Even As They Confound
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) If they keep shooting like that, the Bulls can plan a parade.
Ten 3-pointers and nearly 56 percent from that range tends to correlate with success in the NBA playoffs, with 62 wins in the 76 times it has happened in non-overtime games. That's an .815 win percentage after Chicago earned a 99-92 win at Cleveland in Game 1 of their second-round series Monday night.
One of those 14 losses happens to belong to the Bulls, however, who shot an identical 10-for-18 on 3-pointers in their Game 4 loss in Milwaukee in the first round, reminding us just how odd and unpredictable this particular Chicago team continues to be.
Derrick Rose on Monday made history in his own right, with his 26 field goal attempts and zero trips to the foul line. He had a similar game against Atlanta four years ago, so he's now become only the fourth player ever in the NBA with two playoff games of 25 or more shots without a free-throw attempt, joining Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Patrick Ewing in that accomplishment.
Between that and seeing Nikola Mirotic removed from Tom Thibodeau's rotation, these Bulls remain difficult to figure out, even as they continue to succeed and entertain.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.