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Bulls look to rebound from consecutive road blowouts

May 10, 2007 - 1:14 PM Detroit at Chicago 9:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference Semifinals Detroit leads, 2-0

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- If the Chicago Bulls hope to make this a long series, it appears they have a lot more than just history to overcome.

The Bulls look to establish their own home-court dominance on Thursday when they face the Detroit Pistons in Game Three of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Only 12 NBA teams have won a best-of-seven series after dropping the first two games and only three major pro teams have overcome a 3-0 deficit - the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders and 2004 Boston Red Sox. The Bulls are in this position after losing the series opener by 26 points and Game Two by 21 points.

Overcoming history is one thing, figuring out the Detroit defense is a whole other ordeal. Chicago had to figure it would have a tougher time against the Pistons than it did in the first round against Miami, but could not have envisioned shooting under 34 percent.

Ben Gordon, who shot at a 45.5 percent clip during the regular season, is shooting just 31.3 percent through the first two games of this series.

Part of the credit for the airtight Pistons defense goes to their zone defense and their approach on getting the ball out of the hands of Gordon and Luol Deng. They are trapping Gordon and attacking Deng, taking away the pick-and-roll and Deng's mid-range game with their quickness and size.

As simple as it sounds, the Bulls will need to find a way to free up Gordon and Deng if they have any hope to turn this series around. Also vital to Chicago's success is finding the Pistons' sharpshooters on defense lined up around the arc, as the Pistons are hitting over 48 percent (18-of-37) of their shots from 3-point range.

As one might expect with a pair of blowouts, the Pistons hold a 97-68 rebounding edge through two games. And as good as Chicago was at home during the regular season - an Eastern Conference-best 31-10, Detroit was the conference's best road team at 27-14.

The duo of Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton has outscored the starting combination of Gordon and Kirk Hinrich by a combined total of 78-37. The ability of the Bulls to close that gap as well as narrow the deficit on the boards will go a long way in determining whether the Bulls can win Game Three.