Dunleavy, Bulls ratchet up intrigue

— -- WASHINGTON -- The man who saved the Chicago Bulls' season, Mike Dunleavy, is an unlikely hero, not even trusted to be on the floor in the fourth quarter, when his coach values defense over shooting. He'd never had a night like this in his natural-born life. You go to Las Vegas on Dunleavy getting 35 in a road playoff game. His playoff career high was 17. In two games to start this series, both played on his home court, Dunleavy had scored 20 points, total.

Basketball people, particularly coaches and former players, love to talk about defense being the almighty. No amount of great defense, short of a shutout, is ever enough to satisfy them. And it's entirely true that the Bulls' defensive efficiency in those first two games in Chicago was so bad it would have ranked them 29th in the regular season, behind every team in the league except pitiful Milwaukee. And it's entirely true that holding the Wizards to 43 percent shooting in a 100-97 Game 3 victory on Friday was a dramatic improvement over Games 1 and 2 in Chicago.

But.