Around the horn and Bulls basketball

Most exciting match-up in the NBA

Is anyone else excited for the game tonight? My balls are twittering...

If not for the game 3 shitfest, this would be the most consistently awesome series of all time. Every game has come down to the last second, even in OT. Both teams have cold blooded killers (Allen, Gordon), and young emerging stars (Rose, Rondo) along with compelling storylines (Garnett, Rondo averaging a triple double, Thomas and Noah coming into their own). 

The series is tied 2-2 and we'll need to win a game in Boston to get to the second round. I don't love our chances in game 7 at the garden (their fans are ferocious) so our best bet is winning tonight and then closing it out at home - taking 3 in a row from the defending champs.

I'll be live twittering during the game (www.twitter.com/luolsdong) and should entertain you all with meaningful insight and important observations.

Around the Horn:

-Lance Briggs pulls a Derrick Rose (here)

-Joe Noah earning some much deserved respect around the league. Great article on his generalawesomeness and how everyone hates him (here) 

-Ben Gordon says fuck you JoBu (here)

-Iglesias likes the Bears, the Bears like Iglesias (here)

-Dan Haren owned the Cubs last night (here)

-If you like weird videos, this kid with no arms or legs just (shockingly)  lost his first MMA fight (here)

Ray Allen beats BoGo by 3

Amazing night but not quite enough

What a shootout! Unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong end of it but any real basketball fan would have appreciated that game. It had some of everything: tough inside defense, good designed plays, historic give and take from Allen/Gordon, drama (Powe, Rondo, Noah, Garnett), and a last minute buzzer beater.

Some observations:

1) Joe Noah is annoying, ala AJ Pierzynski. This is a good thing.  His teammates love him, he's a hustler and he will do whatever it takes to win. These are the guys you LOVE to play with and HATE to play against.

2) Tyrus Thomas may have developed a midrange game. I cannot say for sure but it sure looks like Ty has a acquired nice J to go along with his over confidence. Jury is still out (strong game 1, mediocre game 2, although he took as many shots).

3) Derrick Rose is still human/a rookie. Rose was awesome early and strong late. Totally disappeared in the late 3rd and early 4th though. He did a nice job on Rondo (despite Rondo's triple double) but didn't have the magic on offense last night. I assumed that once Rondo went out with the sprained ankle, that Rose with embarrass Marbury and/or abuse a slow and wounded Rondo. Didn't happen. He needs to do more if we're going to win.

Look out Derrick, Big Baby is trying to eat you!!

4) The Celtics are tired, beat up and emotionally exhausted. They are still dangerous. Paul Pierce looked really fucking tired in the 4th quarter. Leon Powe is out for the rest of the series. Garnett is NOT coming back. Rondo has a sprained ankle. Ray Allen's arms are falling off. (That, or he just likes really gay arm sleeves. Or he wishes he was a white guy. I don't know but it's weird.) All that being said, great teams and players rally around adversity like this especially in the playoffs (think Jordan's domination with the flu in game 5, Favre tossing 4TD's on MNF the day after his father died, etc). At some point, Pierce is going to rally the troops in the face of all the shit going on. Hopefully by the time he does, we're up 3-1.

-KEG