Crazy Game 3 a relief, boost for Bulls
— -- CHICAGO -- By any and whatever means necessary, the Chicago Bulls needed to beat LeBron James on Friday night ... by a little or a lot, planned or totally random ... to prove to themselves they could, and to him. A Cleveland Cavaliers victory in Game 3 would have amounted to a Bulls playoff death certificate, probably in five games. And maybe Game 3 means little to James because he's trailed better teams in the playoffs than the Bulls, such the Spurs in the Finals two years ago, and the Pacers before that, and the Celtics before that.
But Friday's 99-96 win has to mean a tremendous amount to the Bulls, symbolically because of how they won it and practically because for the first time they have a real chance to beat James in a playoff series. If Derrick Rose needed a playoff picture to replace the one in his head from April 2012, when he crashed to the floor with that wrecked knee, then what better snapshot than a jump shot over the outstretched hand of Tristan Thompson, all 6-foot-9 of him, off glass and in, the buzzer having already sounded -- game over, Bulls win.
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