2014 NBA quarterfinals preview: Chicago Bulls versus Washington Wizards

Chicago Bulls (48-34)
Washington Wizards (44-38)

Season series: Wizards win 2-1

January 13 Wizards 102-88 @ Bulls
January 17 Bulls 93-96 @ Wizards
April 5 Bulls 96-78 @ Wizards

 

The Chicago Bulls have gotten used to playing without their superstar point guard Derrick Rose. They missed him for the entire 2012-2013 season while he recovered from a torn ACL in his left knee. After finally returning to the Bulls’ roster to start the 2013-2014 season, the youngest MVP in NBA history suffered a torn medial meniscus in his right knee after playing just 10 games. It was a crushing blow to Chicago’s title hopes, especially after so many had picked them to be one of the Eastern Conference’s elite before the season started. To Coach Tom Thibodeau and his squad however, this was just another challenge they had to overcome.

Entering this first round series against the Washington Wizards, the Bulls still managed to win 48 games despite losing Rose early in the season, losing Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli to free agency before the season even began, and trading team cornerstone Luol Deng midway through the year. It was no small feat for Joakim Noah to turn into a triple-double threat, while still anchoring Chicago’s famous defense, thus putting him into MVP conversations in early 2014.

DJ Augustin also found a home in the Windy City after his previous stops with the Charlotte Bobcats, Indiana Pacers, and Toronto Raptors. Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson have helped Noah in the paint despite Boozer once again being the subject of trade/buyout rumors due to his oversized contract. Aside from Augustin, the biggest surprise in Chi-Town has been the emergence of Jimmy Butler who stepped up his game after Deng was traded.

For the Wizards, the series marks a playoff return for the franchise for the first time since the 2007-2008 season. Former overall number one draft pick John Wall and backcourt mate Bradley Beal are finally seeing postseason action with front court bruisers Nene and Marcin Gortat, as well as wingmen Trevor Ariza and Martell Webster. After unimpressive stints in charge of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves, Coach Randy Wittman has finally gotten his team of underachievers on the same page for the postseason run. Fact though: Wittman still holds the worst winning percentage of all time for a coach who has coached a minimum of 400 games at 36 percent.
 

The Wizards supposedly wanted this match-up with Chicago, believing they can pull off an upset over the Bulls thanks to their explosive offense, particularly from the backcourt. However, Noah has shown himself to be a more than capable and very vocal leader not just on defense, but on offense as well. As in any match-up between the fourth and fifth seeds, games may be too close to call and homecourt advantage may end up being huge. If that is the case, then Chicago’s cozy confines in the United Center give them the slightest of edges as only three games maximum can be played at the Verizon Center.

With no Rose and only Augustin, Butler, and Kirk Hinrich to face them, the athletic duo of Wall and Beal are expected to run and gun on the fastbreak. Yet as Thibodeau has proven in seasons past, the stingy defense he taught Kevin Garnett and the Celtics of the late 2000s has been mastered by his Bulls and Noah in particular. “Coach Thibs” is manic when coaching D, barking orders constantly and having his squad search for defensive perfection at all times. It’s a combination of the loss of Rose and Deng, and the devotion to Thibodeau’s defensive philosophy that have vaulted Noah to a possible Defensive Player of the Year plume.

In the NBA, despite all the glitz of a high-powered offense, it has been proven that defense wins games, series, and championships. The overachievers from Chicago still have the better defense, the more extensive playoff experience, and the better coach. Wittman’s Wizards will put up a fight as Wall, Beal, and company slowly get acclimated to the bright lights of the playoffs, but I have serious doubts that they’ll perform a magic act to stop the Bulls from choking the Washington offense and advancing to the next round.

Prediction: Bulls in six


- AMD, GMA News