There are times when you watch a basketball game and a play takes place where your jaw drops. No. I’m not talking about a Blake Griffin dunk, a Ron Artest punch, or a Dwayne Wade cry. What I’m talking about is a play that is so dumb that you can’t believe these players get paid millions. This particular play took place on Tuesday night with the Bulls taking on the Kings. Now I know what you are thinking, what did DeMarcus Cousins do?? But in fact it wasn’t the Kings that did it, but the NBA’s best record having Bulls that did.
The game was out of hand the whole night and with three minutes left the Bulls lead climbed to ten. Then all of a sudden, the Kings got hot, hitting trey after trey, climbing their way back into the game. With 41 seconds left, the Kings were down just five points. The Bulls were still in control, needing only one solid possession to put the game out of reach. That’s when John Lucas III took over.
As Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins switched out to guard Lucas as the clock was winding out, I was sure that Lucas was going to get the offense going with the mismatches that the came as a result of the high PnR (Pick and Roll). Just as Joakim Noah was sliding to the lane to take advantage of the mismatch, Lucas pounded the ball into the ground for 19 seconds, resorting to chuck up a 28 footer over Cousins. The ball bounced wildly off the back board. Tyreke Evans rebounded the ball near the top of the key and instantly took it the length of the court in 4 seconds; Luol Deng was then forced to foul him and send him to the line. The game was once again in jeopardy as the Kings pulled within three with 19 seconds left.
You know a shot is bad when even the most biased man in America, Neil Funk, says that that was a god awful shot. In a game where Joakim was having a monster game down low, Lu was at a career high in assists, and K-Korv was dripping hot sauce on everybody, why in the hell did Lucas chuck up this shot!? Cuz he’s John Lucas baby. He’s out to get his. Lucas really takes to heart the old adage, “you miss every shot you don’t take.” In fact, Lucas has this tattooed across his chest (I’ve seen it, don’t ask).
What I loved most about his play was the unapologetic swagger that Lucas did it with. The way he tried to dribble the Spalding off the ball was Rose-esq. The waving off of the screen was pure Kobe. And the fading 28 footer was so reminiscent of LBJ that Dan Gilbert spit blood and Chris Bosh called his agent asking to be traded to the Bulls. This is John Lucas though, the best third string point guard in the NBA according to Michael Wilbon (How many teams have a third string pg again??) The good comes with the bad. Or is it the bad comes with the bad?
February 20th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
[...] Derrick Rose made his triumphant return today. The Bulls have really missed Rose. And by "the Bulls" I really mean Bulls' fans. Because we'd rather watch this than see John Lucas III pound the rock and jack up a bad shot. [...]