Phoenix Suns vs. Chicago Bulls: Bulls Hold off Phoenix Rally, Eclipse Suns 97-94

For a while in the third quarter, it looked like the Bulls were going to run away with this, building a 23-point lead. The Phoenix Suns weren't going away easily though, and rallied back to make the fourth quarter far more interesting than the Bulls wanted it to be. 

Derrick Rose score 19 points in the game, and added four assists in a bit of an off-game for him as he was guarded by Grant Hill for most of the game. However, the rest of the Bulls were able to take on the offensive burden as five other players hit double figures in scoring. 

Luol Deng added 18 points, Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer 12 apiece, and Taj Gibson and Ronnie Brewer each scored 10. Additionally, the team shared the ball well, tallying up 28 assists for the game.

Through the first three quarters the offense was running efficiently, but then seemed to start struggling a bit when the Suns started playing a zone defense that stifled the Bulls offense.

At the 3:44 mark of the third quarter the Bulls were up 76-54. Then the Suns started to slow down the Bulls offense, as Chicago only scored from there until the 2:12 mark of the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile Phoenix gradually closed in on the Bulls, mainly behind the heroics of Vince Carter, who scored 23 on the game, closed the gap to two points.  

Then Derrick Rose hit a lay in for an and one.  Channing Frye answered with a three-point shot. Derrick Rose came back and hit on a step-back jumper to put the Bulls up 96-92. Carter overcame some blanket defense from Deng to hit one layup and pull the Suns back to two with 26 second left. 

Phoenix was forced to foul Kyle Korver with 13 seconds left. Korver split the free throws to put the Bulls up 97-94 and that was the final score. In a weird ending to the game, Nash drove into the lane and missed a layup. Gorat rebounded and missed a lay in. 

It was strange because Phoenix was going for two-point shots with a three-point deficit and no timeouts. 

The first good thing to take from this game is that the Bulls won. Their magic number is now down to three over Boston and two over Miami. 

Secondly, it was good to see the offense able to click when Rose wasn't playing at his best. Having six players reach double figures was a good thing. 

Also, Boozer and Noah combined for 11 assists and seemed to be sharing the ball in the paint with one another better than they have been in the past. 

On the down side, this was the third game in the way where a game ended up being more interesting than it needed to be. The Bulls have been letting up a bit when they have big leads lately and that's not a good habit to pick up going into the playoffs. 

All in all though, a win is a win, even if it's not a pretty one. The Bulls are 19-5 now with Boozer and Noah both in the lineup, and three of those losses were Boozer's first two games and Noah's first game back. 

According to ESPN's John Hollinger, with the Spurs and Bulls both winning tonight, the tie-breaker for the teams is now a tie as well, so it would come down to a coin toss if the teams end up with the same record as to who would have home court advantage. 

The Bulls will play Boston on TNT next in a game where they could all but clinch the Eastern Conference first seed. A win in there would mean that the Bulls would only need to win one more game, or have the winner of the Celtics vs. Heat game lose one game.