Game 32

Chicago Bulls vs. Brooklyn Nets (4/27/2013) - Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs - United Center

Best game yet....by far!  More about the game in a second.

Deb was in Connecticut this weekend for her grandmother's memorial.  She passed away last month; this weekend would have been her 100th birthday.

As a single father for the weekend, I decided to take the kids to Chicago for a Bulls game.  You've got to love StubHub.  I was able to get 3 tickets and a parking pass next to the arena for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Nets for a reasonable price.  It was a simple 2-hour trip door to door and the early afternoon start was perfect for taking the kids. 

This was the first playoff game I've attended on my tour and only the third (I think) playoff game of any kind (1998 Steelers 7-6 victory vs Patriots & 2000 Redskins win over the Lions).  As you can imagine, the crowd was very excited; hoping their Bulls could take a 3-1 lead in the series (even without Derrick Rose). 

I warned the kids that it was going to be extremely loud, but they quickly adapted and joined in the excitement (see my Facebook pages for a lot more pictures).  We spent a good portion of the second quarter walking around the arena checking out all the sites and areas for the kids to compare their hand-size, shoe-size, wingspan and height to professional players.  They thought that was awesome.  I've heard a lot of great things about this arena and it sure lived up to the hype.  I now rank it as my #1 basketball venue - beating out Dallas.  It is very state of the art with plenty of large flat screens to watch the game from the concourse; concession stands positioned to reduce crowding; cool bars, plenty of things for the kids and a great overall design.  Although it is down-town, entrance and exit was extremely easy.

Everyone was supposed to wear red to support the Bulls.....the only read in our wardrobe consists of Louisville gear only, but it worked just fine.

Now back to the game, because as I said, it was the best I've witnessed in person yet.

The first half of the game was rather uneventful; although it was fast paced and high-scoring with the Bulls holding a 58-55 lead at half-time.

Brooklyn outscored the Bulls by 11 in the 3rd quarter and continued to hold a sizable lead well into the 4th quarter.  Down 14 with about 3 minutes to go, the Bulls went on an incredible run.  It was funny to see people come back to their seats who had given up on the Bulls just a few minutes earlier.

The comeback was led by the smallest man on the floor - Nate Robinson at only 5'9".  ESPN is calling it one of the top 10 individual playoff performances ever.  He scored a career and game high 34 points - 29 of them coming in the 4th quarter and overtime.  He was absolutely unstoppable and amazing to watch has he just took over the game.  The crowd was going crazy.  It looked like he had won the game in the 1st overtime when he hit a shot with 2 seconds left to take a 2 point lead.  However, the Nets hit a shot at the buzzer to tie it again (photo at the right is a bit blurry, but it shows Joe Johnson driving for the tying shot). 

 

The Bulls had a chance to win it at the end of the second overtime, but came up just short.  By this time Ryan was getting a little upset that for an hour I kept telling him the game would be over in 2 minutes.  We started our exit during the 3rd overtime when the Bulls started to put the game out of reach.  3 Overtimes; multiple time-outs and a few video reviews caused the game to last just shy of 4 hours.  When it was all said and done, the Bulls won 142-134 to take a 3-1 lead in the series.  There were 5 players that recorded double-doubles:

• Joakim Noah - 15 points; 13 rebounds
• Kirk Hinrich - 18 points; 14 assists
• Deron Willimas - 32 points; 10 assists
• Brook Lopez - 26 points; 11 rebounds
• Reggie Evans - 15 points; 13 rebounds

Great game; great time with the kids and $276 raised for cancer research.  32 games now completed out of 122.   My record for the home teams is now 21-11 - including 6 in a row. 

Please visit my fundraising page. I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel

Game 31

Minnesota Timberwolves (4/13/2013) vs Phoenix Suns - at Target Center

In an effort to get one final NBA game in before the regular season ended, I made a last-minute trip (decided less than 24 hours before the game) to Minneapolis to see the Timberwolves play at Target Center.  A quick search for tickets on StubHub showed that there were plenty available.  I bought a ticket in the lower level; however, there were 2nd level tickets available for less than $1.  Deb thought it would be pretty cool and make for a unique part of my story to buy one of these cheap tickets.  So, 5 minutes before I left, I picked up a ticket for $0.60.  Yes that is correct - 60 cents!

It is no surprise the tickets were so cheap given the fact it was the next to the last home game for the Timberwolves and both teams are terrible....each of them finishing the season with 50+ losses. 

The photo on the left is the view of the opening tip from my lower level seat.  The view was great when the action was at this end, but a bit obstructed by the back-board when trying to see the other end.

Although the place was pretty full for a meaningless game, the atmosphere was strange.  I looked around while watching the game and it was like a dinner party.....lots of small conversations going on everywhere and there just happened to be a game playing in the background. 

There was a nice tribute to Timberwolves' coach Rick Adelman prior to the game for winning his 1,000 game a few nights before.

I spent the first half of the game in the lower level, but wanted to go check out my $0.60 seat (see view to the right - not bad).

It was an entertaining game considering both teams are pretty bad and well out of playoff contention.  Ricky Rubio had a career and game high 24 points.  He added 10 assists as well.  The game was a bit sloppy with the teams combining for 45 total turnovers.

Phoenix started off with a big lead, but the Wolves were able to close the game to just 3 at halftime.  In the end, it was the Wolves coming from behind to win 105-93.

I did not really like the arena.  For starters, it is located right down-town next to Target Field.  Traffic and parking was a bit of a challenge.  I ended up parking in a garage, which means that getting out takes forever.  The concourse areas are way too narrow with people stacked on top of each other.  When I went to the upper deck level, it was like a ghost town with virtually nothing there....very strange.

31 games now completed out of 122.   My record for the home teams is now 20-11 - including 5 in a row.  More importantly, another $198 raised for cancer research. 

Please visit my fundraising page. I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel