Do the Finals Represent the Continuity the Bulls Want? A Rowdy Crowd, Adam Silver, and Other Bulls Bullets

The Boston Celtics are two wins away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. And, boy, that is a painful sentence to type.

Thanks to a combined 77-point effort from Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart on Wednesday, the Celtics snatched the first game on their home floor in a 116-110 fashion. If you turned on the matchup for even a second, you should have been able to notice the downright bonkers energy that filled the TD Garden. I mean, seriously, it was the most impressive display of drunken noise we’ve heard this postseason, so much so that it should have immediately flipped any belief that home-court advantage doesn’t hold any weight.

Indeed, the Bostonians were so amped up (presumably on loads of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee #BostonCheapShot) that I refuse to believe it didn’t dig its way under the Warriors’ skin at least a bit. After all, Klay Thompson didn’t shy away from calling out the fans for using some choice words during his postgame interview:

Salty much?

Look, I’m not the type who goes to a game and screams bleep-worthy words at players. I also think plenty of fans tend to go too far and definitely deserve to be called out for their actions. With that said, do I think chanting “f– [insert player here] crosses the line? Not particularly, especially in the middle of a heated NBA Finals.

I’ll leave it at that, though. The last thing I want to do is defend Boston fans (many of whom likely have crossed a line or two in the past). I just think complaining about curse words after the game isn’t the best move.

•   As I look at both Boston and Golden State, I see where Arturas Karnisovas is coming from. The Chicago Bulls front office leader has preached continuity since before this season’s trade deadline. He turned his words into action with zero big in-season moves, and he hinted that would be the same plan at his end-of-season press conference. More specifically, Karnisovas said the idea is to make moves around the margins and keep the existing core (presumably LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic, Ball, Caruso) together. All things considered, I still believe that’s the most likely outcome as we look toward next season, and teams like the Celtics and Warriors represent why.

•   Smart, Brown, and Tatum have fought with one another for years. Boston even went out of its way to re-acquire Al Horford, who had plenty of prior experience playing with this group. As for Golden State, we all know how long the Steph, Klay, and Draymond trio has been near the top of the league. There is something to having that level of familiarity among teammates and hunger to achieve a greater level of success together. Both aspects helped Boston and Golden State fly past less-experienced squads, even if those squads were considered to fall under the “super teams” category.

•   Now, will Karnisovas stick to his words? Not only do all the Rudy Gobert rumors suggest otherwise, but a LaVine departure could force him to re-invent the entire roster yet again. So only time will tell whether or not we actually get to build a bigger relationship with this existing roster.

•   Is anyone else bored of in-season tournament talk? Adam Silver has been riding this train for years and most recently talked more about it with Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. While I do think the idea is undeniably fun, I don’t see a world where it ever meets expectations. How the heck are you going to incentive players to perform with playoff intensity when the playoffs remain half a season away? Sure, I guess you could say money talks, but most star players have plenty of it. What most don’t have is a ring and Finals MVP.

“And lastly, I’ll say I recognize that [if] we do that, it’s not going to be an overnight success,” Silver told Goodwhill. “Because the obvious question, whether it’s from the players or for the fans will be, ‘What? Why should we think this is meaningful? Playing in-season tournaments?’ My response is going to be, ‘I get that.’ But I think we can create new traditions, obviously, things change over time. And so that’s something I’m very focused on right now.”

•   To be honest, I’m here for the Draymond Green post-game podcasts. I find it a pretty great way to get some extra and unfiltered thoughts on the game. Does that mean everything he says is a home run? Not at all. But you don’t have to listen if you don’t want to.

•   The Blackhawks are in the thick of their coaching search:

•   Give me all the Justin Field content.

written by

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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