FIRST TO 90 WINS
Because of the similarly slow-paced, physical, grind-it-out styles that both the Nets and Bulls employ, it’s hard to envision this series becoming anything more than a series of low-scoring nail-biters full of fouls, physical play on the boards and little scoring.
That’s because while the Bulls lack a wealth of scoring options, they make up for it with their outstanding team defense, a hallmark of Chicago’s coach, Tom Thibodeau, and when the Bulls throw their best defensive lineup on the floor — Kirk Hinrich, Jimmy Butler, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah — they’re all long, active and incredibly tough to score against.
“You’re going to have to score to be able to beat this team,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “In order to play good defense, you have to have defensive-minded players, and the Bulls have them.
“Kirk is a defensive-minded player. So are Deng, Butler, Gibson, and Noah. They’re all long and active.”
CONTAINING BOOZER
Because Chicago doesn’t have many reliable scoring options, the focus will clearly be on the Nets needing to try to slow down Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer.
“He’s their only reliable low-post scoring option,” the scout said of Boozer. “They don’t have a lot of guys who can consistently score for them, but you can give the ball to him on the block and he can get the job done for you.”
Boozer, who averaged 16.2 points and 9.8 rebounds this season, finished with 29 points and 18 rebounds in 45 minutes when the Bulls came back to beat the Nets, 92-90, in Brooklyn earlier this month in the final meeting of the season between the two teams.
NATE THE GREAT?
Former Knick Nate Robinson — who has played for five teams over the past four seasons — has become a key player coming off the bench for the Bulls this season. With Derrick Rose sitting out all season as he continues to recover from a torn ACL in his left knee that he suffered in last year’s playoffs, Robinson has emerged as a player who has, when he’s gotten hot, given the Bulls some desperately needed scoring punch off the bench.
“He really could be the X-factor in the series,” the scout said. “One out of six or seven games in a series, he could get hot and win a game for you.
“There’s not many guys you can say that about.”
Robinson, who is averaging 13.1 points per game this season, has scored more than 20 points in a single game 13 times this season, including pouring in 35 points in Chicago’s 118-111 overtime win that ended the Knicks’ 13-game winning streak earlier this month.
BATTLE OF THE BENCHES
In past years, Thibodeau has tended to ride his top players into the ground, playing them all heavy minutes and using little of his bench. But, because of all of the injuries the Bulls have endured this season, including to Rose, Noah and Gibson, he has had to go deeper into his bench than ever before.
That, combined with the development that Butler has made in his second year in the league, makes the scout think the Bulls have an advantage when both coaches go to their second units.