Bulls Shock Nets on the Road in Game 7, Marco Belinelli Does the Big Balls Dance
By Jason McIntyre
Joakim Noah scored 24 points and collected 14 rebounds, and end-of-the-bench reserve Marco Belinelli scored 24 points – starting for the injured Kirk Hinrich – and the Bulls stunned the Nets, 99-93, in Brooklyn to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
How does Brooklyn blow this? Well, offseason acquisition Joe Johnson shot 2-of-14, and missed eight of nine three-pointers. Remember how his contract was so bad the Hawks were thought to be stuck with him? Now, he’s Brooklyn’s problem. The Nets, who had five players making $10 million+, will spend the rest of the summer wondering how to deal with salary cap hell.
The Bulls started Belinelli and Nate Robinson in the backcourt, and 2nd year pro Jimmy Butler started at forward for sick Luol Deng, and played 48 minutes.
[GIF via @cjzero]