That whole exceeding expectations bit was fun while it lasted, Bulls.Chicago, needing a victory for the No. 6 seed (which may or may not be more valuable than the No. 7 seed), blew it against Toronto. (To that point) 32-win Toronto. John Salmons shot 1-7, Kirk Hinrich went 0-6 and the Bulls front line gave up 16 offensive rebounds in 45 opportunities. Bad stuff all around.
But! Chicago could hold on to the No. 6 with a Philadelphia loss to ... Cleveland, a team which sat four starters (including LeBron) and had only a share of the all-time home win record at stake. Cleveland's remaining crew actually led much of the game, and Daniel Gibson sent the game to overtime with a deep deep three. Philly took a lead in overtime, though, and despite Andre Miller missing two free throws in the final seconds pulled out a one-point victory for the 76ers.
As such, Philadelphia gets Orlando instead of Boston, and the Bulls find themselves facing the defending champs. Awesome work, Bulls. It's almost as if they worked hard so that they could control their own destiny ... so they could blow it.
