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What a heartbreaker. The Suns were able to keep it close in first half, came out and played awful basketball in the third quarter, but still managed to make a miraculous comeback in the fourth quarter only to lose in overtime. Sebastian Telfair came in and knocked down some huge three-pointers and finished the night with 17 points and 4 assists. P. J. Tucker came off the bench and hauled in crucial 7 offensive rebounds. These impressive performances from the bench were in vain, however, as Carlos Boozer with 28 points and Joakim Noah with 21 points led the Bulls in overtime to get the win.
Jared Dudley and Michael Beasley were almost nonexistent tonight. When Scola fouled out in overtime, he was the only starter to finish with a positive +/- in the game by the way, Beasley came in and Suns fans were quick to call for him to go back to the bench. Dudley finished the night with only 5 points, Goran Dragic looked good at the beginning but cooled off in the second half, Gortat played adequately, but Scola really was the starter that had a game necessary to beat Chicago.
The Bulls shot well tonight, shooting 50% from the field. The Suns managed only to shoot 40% in field goal attempts. That is the formula for a loss, plain and simple. It also didn't help that Beasley, Dudley, and Brown shot a combined 10 for 35 from the floor.
Alright, enough venting. Let's talk about some positive. Here are some things that I was impressed with tonight:
P. J. Tucker: Consider me a believer. In honor of college basketball beginning and Dick Vitale, Tucker is a PTPer baby! He seems to always be in the right place at the right time. Players like Tucker, the ones who go for those 50/50 balls, are the ones that make basketball fun to watch. Tip of the hat to you Mr. Tucker.
Heart of the Second Unit: The third quarter was tough to watch. The Bulls only outscored Phoenix by 8, but that doesn't show how poorly the Suns really played in that quarter. They looked lost when Dragic and some of the other starters were taking breathers. Then the comeback happened...Bassy hit some big threes, Tucker was hustling all over the court to get offensive rebounds, and the second unit started to show tremendous heart. They never gave up and although they ultimately gassed in overtime, they impressed me in that fourth quarter.
The schedule for the near future does not get any easier as the Suns play the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday and the Miami Heat on Saturday. Hopefully the starters are able to match the heart of the bench for these games.