ATLANTA --Ang Chicago Bulls laban sa Miami Heat para sa NBA Eastern Conference finals.
Umiskor si Carlos Boozer ng 23 points, habang may 19 points at 12 assists naman si Derrick Rose upang ihatid ang Bulls sa 93-73 paggupo sa Atlanta Hawks 93-73 at tapusin ang kanilang Eastern semifinal series sa 4-2.
“It’s huge for us to get this far,” sabi ni Rose. “We’re happy to get the conference finals, but we’re not planning to stop right there.”
Ito na ang pinakamalayong narating ng Chicago sapul noong 1998 nang targetin nina Michael Jordan at Scottie Pippen ang kanilang ikalawang three-peat.
“When we showed up for training camp, we knew we could be special,” ani Rose. “We were ready to put in the work and not be concerned with statistics. We just were concerned with winning each night.”
Nagtala lamang ang Hawks ng 37 percent (27 of 74) at bihirang magkaroon ng open look.
Tumipa naman si Boozer ng 10-of-16 fieldgoals at humatak ng 10 rebounds at 5 assists para sa Bulls.
“D-Rose gets so much attention,” wika ni Boozer, who had been bothered by a toe injury and come under criticism at home for inconsistent play. “The 15-footer was open for me. I shot it.”
Tumapos si Luol Deng na may 13 points at 5 steals para sa Chicago, habang may 11 points si Joakim Noah bukod pa ang kanyang 3 blocks.