The Orlando Magic (29-18) suffered one of their worst losses of the season on Monday night, as the league’s best team record-wise, the Chicago Bulls (38-10), handed them a disappointing 85-59 home loss despite the absence of reigning MVP Derrick Rose. Rose sat out his fourth straight contest with a groin injury that he suffered last week.

“Tonight, they sent a team out there that played without their star player and did what they needed to do to win the ballgame,” said Magic reserve Glen Davis. “And they beat us. They beat us with no problem. I wish they would have had Derrick Rose, in a sense.”

Oddly enough, the Magic defeated the Bulls in Chicago with Rose on the floor on March 8, 99-94. But playing their third game in four nights and a back-to-back after falling short in Miami last night may have had the Magic players overly fatigued coming into this matchup with Chicago 11 days later.

Carlos Boozer led the way for the Bulls with a 24 point, 13 rebound effort. Backup guard John Lucas 20 point game, which consisted of nine points in both the first and fourth quarters, was a solid compliment. Dwight Howard was the high scorer on the night for the Magic with 18 points. He also pulled down 12 rebounds.

Ryan Anderson’s 10 points made him the only other Magic player in double figures. Howard shot 8/12 from the field, but the Bulls – who are second in the league in points, allowed with just 89.3 per game – did an excellent job of ball denial on him with Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Omer Asik.

Orlando was also unable to score 20 points in any quarter last night, and has actually failed to do so over their last six quarters of action. The Bulls converted 19 Orlando turnovers into 25 points, and held the Magic to just 35.3% shooting.

“Our offense was pathetic,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “And that’s something that I’ve got to take a look at because we’ve got better players than that. I’ve got to take a look at what we’re doing because it’s really two games in a row now where we’ve been very, very bad offensively.”

With the score 22-14 in favor of Chicago at the completion of the opening quarter, it was still a single digit ball game. However, after the Bulls outscored the Magic 26-19 in the second, they had extended their halftime lead to a comfortable 15, 48-33. Both teams struggled mightily in the third quarter, as they combined for just 27 points. The Magic were able to outscore their opponent by three and cut the deficit to 60-48 entering the fourth quarter.

The Bulls were not by any means extraordinary scoring the ball in the final period. They put up 25, but the fact that they only gave up 11 is what allowed them to cruise toward their fifth win in six games.

The win was Chicago’s third during the current four game stretch without Rose. He’s missed 14 overall due to back issues that he fought earlier in the season, but that hasn’t prevented the Bulls and their smothering defense from going 10-4 during those games.

For the Magic, it was their third loss in their last four games. Van Gundy did not shy away from taking the blame for his team’s recent struggles.

“When you play the way we played tonight, this is a team-wide thing,” said Van Gundy. “I’ve got to take responsibility.”

The Bulls will make their way up to Toronto on Wednesday for a game against the Raptors, while the Magic will play host to the Phoenix Suns that same night.

Image Courtesy of   Chicago Bulls

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Derrick Rose at 22 years of age became the NBA’s youngest to win the Most Valuable Player Award with his dominant 2011 season. Though he showed off his skills in a way that we had never seen out of him before, much of the talk around the league is that he was undeserving of the award this year, and in fact is a bit overrated as a player.

I believe that overrated is quite a strong word. It should merely be reserved for a class of players that has one or two strong seasons but then never quite seems to live up to that potential again throughout the rest of their career. I have no doubt that Derrick Rose does not belong in this class.

Although I hate to begin an argument with statistics (because they surely do not tell the entire story of a players overall game) I will use them as a launching point.

Rose is obviously first and foremost, a scorer. Whether or not each individual fan wants their point guard to be “score-first” they will have to deal with it from the young Bulls superstar, because his reputation has become one of the toughest guards to defend across the entire league. In 2011 alone he upped his scoring from 20.8 to 25 points-per-game.

Not only is he getting to the rim more but he also increased his free throw percentage from an average 76.6% to 85.8%, making it even tougher to defend him in the paint since no coach wants to give away free points.

The biggest transition in his game came with his touch from the outside. Much of this “overrated” talk came from Rose’s struggles shooting the ball in the playoffs. Whereas that may be true, anyone who has watched basketball for a significant amount of time knows that young players are bound to struggle come playoff time when the experience just isn’t there. All of the great players went through lulls where the ball just wouldn’t go through the hoop, and rose is no different. It should be said however that this is no reason to discredit his dominant regular season (especially since the MVP award is NOT based on the postseason).

Despite his struggles, throughout the regular season, Rose increased his 3-point shooting from a terrible 26.7% to a respectable 33.2%, and can be expected to increase again next season. The percentages do not tell the whole story however, since last season he was only able to net 16 shots from behind the arc, and in 2011 hit 128.

Rose’s blocks, steals, assists, and rebounds all increased by a fairly significant margin as well over his MVP year, and yet still he is doubted.

Let’s get to what I believe is the real root of the problem here: the Chicago Bulls as a team.

Do not get me wrong, personally I enjoyed watching the Bulls play this season and do believe they are on pace to compete for years to come in the eastern conference (if only they can get a shooting guard who isn’t named Keith Bogans into the starting lineup). The fact is, nobody expected them to be the top seed in the east this year whatsoever.

This is where my word change comes into play. Overachieved is the best word for both Rose and the Bulls. Rose was forced to take over many games in the regular season and in the playoffs due to the teams struggles without him. It seemed like they just haven’t gelled all the way yet, and are a good off-season away from being a serious title contender.

I also hate to use injuries as an excuse, because we have all seen what the Dallas Mavericks have done without one of their premier players Caron Butler, however the Bulls were bitten hard by the injury bug all year long, causing them only to be able to play with their real starting lineup for a handful of games coming into the postseason.

My real gripe with many fans though can be seen in comparing Rose to one of the other young budding superstars in the league, Kevin Durant. Like Rose and the Bulls, Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder made it to the conference finals and were dominated by an older, more experienced team. My problem is that everyone seems to give Durant a pass just because he’s young and hasn’t been there before.

Every respected voice across the basketball community believes that the Thunder will soon be the kings of the Western Conference, and just need some time to get there. So why the free pass for Durant and not Rose? In fact, Durant is not only a year older than Rose, but has mostly the same team as he did last year, while Rose was forced to create chemistry between he and the Bulls new high-powered forward Carlos Boozer this season, along with a slew of other new names and a new coach, or should I say NBA Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau.

Some may say that they want to see more out of their league MVP, and I get that some people will always be unhappy no matter who is chosen. All I want to say to fans out there is, give the kid time, and watch out, because both Rose and the Bulls will be back and hungry in the 2012 season, and don’t be surprised if you see some more hardware on Rose’s mantle before it’s all said and done.

Oleksiy Naumov / Shutterstock.com

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As NBA teams finish their final jockeying for seeding position, the ongoing race for league MVP has reached its crescendo. Several players have put forth worthy efforts this season, but only a handful will be legitimate contenders come voting time. Here is a breakdown of the likely candidates:

1. Derrick Rose: This point guard for the Bulls is averaging 25.1 points in just his third year as a pro. He has the Bulls in the East’s top spot, and the team has already clinched their conference. Rose has done it all this year, scoring, passing, and putting the Bulls on his back. He averages just under eight assists per game, and he has kept the Bulls on top even though big men Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah have missed a combined 57 games. The Bulls have really caught fire as of late. Rose won Player of the Month, after leading the Bulls to a 13-3 record. Some statisticians have been critical of Rose, citing his low shooting percentage, and measuring his stats against past MVP winners. According to their numbers, he would be the worst MVP winner of all time. But that hasn’t stopped big names like Michael Jordan to give Rose his endorsement.

2. Dwight Howard: Averaging 23.2 points, Howard has taken his game to another level this season. Howard has been the league’s Defensive Player of the Year twice, and leads the league in double-doubles. He is clearly the league’s best player down low, and with his improved scoring he has become even more dangerous. He is second in the league in rebounding, third in field goal percentage, and fifth in blocks. Howard has the Magic poised for the playoffs sitting as the four seed in the East. Howard has been the only constant on this suddenly revamped team, giving them a shot to go deeper into the playoffs. At the age of 25, Howard is soaring past all-time greats in all sorts of categories. This season he became the youngest player to reach 7,000 career rebounds, the fifth youngest player to reach 10,000 career points, and he had a season high eight blocks in a game against the Timberwolves. To add to these numbers he has recorded 64 double-doubles earning himself the endorsement and a legitimate shot at the MVP.

3. Dirk Nowitzki: After Rose and Howard there is some controversy as to who comes next. It seems a lock that one of the top two will win the MVP but there is not a huge disparity in numbers or significance between some of the other candidates. Nowitzki is seeking his second MVP and has had another solid year leading the Mavericks to the three seed in the West. He averages around 23 points, and seven boards, while shooting over 52 percent from the field. Nowitzki has also shot over 41 percent from behind the three-point line. Nowitzki is invaluable to his team, and without him the Mavericks would find it difficult to even make the playoffs in the competitive West.

4. Amare Stoudemire: Stoudemire has the Knicks back in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. For most of the season, Stoudemire did it himself, only surrounded by good role players to stay competitive in the East. The Knicks added Carmelo Anthony late in the year, cementing the team’s spot in the playoffs. Stoudemire is averaging more than 25 points, over eight boards, and is shooting just over 50 percent from the field. His numbers have vaulted him into the MVP race, but putting the Knicks, one of the most storied NBA franchises, back on the map makes him that much more of a candidate.

5. LeBron James: The reigning NBA MVP winner has continued to put up numbers even after being surrounded by two other stars. Averaging more than 26 points, 7.5 rebounds, and almost seven assists, he is still the favorite of many experts even if he has thrown his own support behind leading candidate Rose. James has also shot well, shooting just over 50 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point land. With All-stars, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on his team, his numbers have not dipped significantly, but having this many stars on one team has taken a hit on his MVP candidacy.

6. Kobe Bryant: Kobe will always be in the discussion for MVP, and as the No. 2 seed in the West, the Lakers are poised to win another championship. This is one area where Bryant trails LeBron James, and he would love to even the score at two each, but it will be difficult for him to win this year. He averages just more than 25 points, more than 5 boards and just under 5 assists, but is shooting only 45 percent from the field for the season. The Lakers have a legitimate shot at a three-peat, but Kobe’s chances as the MVP winner leading them there are slim.

7. Kevin Durant: Leading the Thunder to the four seed in the West, Durant is averaging more than 27 points, and nearly seven boards. His teammate, Russell Westbrook is also having a fantastic year, detracting somewhat from Durant’s candidacy. Other knocks on Durant have been his struggles on defense, and against the top teams in the West. The Thunder are 0-2 vs. the Lakers, 0-3 vs. San Antonio, 1-2 vs. Dallas, 1-1 vs. Bulls, 1-1 vs. Boston, and 1-1 vs. Miami. To be the best in the NBA you have to beat the best, and Durant simply hasn’t proven he can do that yet.

League MVP voters are instructed to make their decision before the start of the postseason. The likelihood of this plan is doubtful, so the bottom line is that the team’s performance in the playoffs may ultimately determine the outcome. At this point, though, the MVP trophy looks headed to Chicago.

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