Banged Up Bulls Blown Out

By Benjy Lipsman in News on May 3, 2005 4:17PM

The 106-99 score of last night's Bulls-Wizards game masks how Washington dominated the game. While the Bulls closed to within single digits at the end, they spent most of the game trailing by 20 or more. Washington first went up by 20 at 42-22 and pretty much held that margin until the Bulls started closing in during the 4th quarter.

The injuries keep piling on for the Bulls, who played the entire second half without starting point guard Chris Duhon due to back spasms. And while Tyson Chandler played, he had to play with a dislocated index finger. Did that limit his effectiveness? He hit 11 of 15 freethrows and grabbed 13 boards, but shot just 1 of 6 from the field. Ben Gordon also had an off night (1 of 13) due to a severe cold. Already missing Eddy Curry and Loul Deng, these three need to improve for the Bulls to have a chance to win this series.

Game 5 is at 6 p.m. Wednesday night at the United Center. This is the critical game of the series. Should the Bulls lose, it's likely their playoff run will end in Game 6. Should they win, they should remain the favorite in close out Washington -- even if it means a return to the UC for game 7.

Photo via Yahoo!News