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Now we are even. Let's take a minute to appreciate the beauty that got us here. The Chicago Bulls snatched home-court advantage, the Cleveland Cavaliers came back in Game 2 and stole the momentum, Derrick Rose dropped a game-winning 3 at the buzzer to shock the world and LeBron James trumped that in Game 4 to send an entire city into heartbreak. And we're anticipating more. If only the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight had half of this. One round of this. After there were no lead changes in Games 1 and 2, Games 3 and 4 had 25 total. There were 19 in Game 3 and six in Game 4. The last two games have had a total of 26 ties (17 in Game 3, nine in Game 4). And on top of that, there were two out-of-desperation, refuse-to-lose, epic-hero-balling, no-OT-sending shots by dueling former MVPs who are acting like the validation of their careers will be determined by whose team wins this series. Yeah. This series has become more than a series. Momentum means nothing. Home court means less. Confidence and strategy fall second and third to will. This is where the Cavs and Bulls are right now. The will to win is the only thing that will separate one from the other over the next two or three games. But how do you coach will? How do you manage, control, strategize and reinforce will? How do the Bulls look at the missed shots at the rim that cost them Game 4 and say, “We have to will those shots in”? How do the Cavs look at the 41.2 percent they shot from 3 that should have won them Game 3 and say, “We need to will one or two more 3s in”? No disrespect to Michael Wilbon or any other luminary, VIP, citizen or claimer of the Chi who feels the last game was “the one that got away,” but while it might be cool for them to allow themselves to feel that way, the Bulls can’t. They can’t allow it in any practice or film session. They can’t allow themselves to feel that way on the court. Ever. Not as long as they remain in this series. Feeling that one got away is almost being dishonest in recognizing what the Bulls are up against. Not only are they in a Spurs/Clippers-type East battle with a team that is just as good as they are, but they also are going against a team to which they can ill afford to believe they handed something. Every victory in this series has been earned by the team that won that game. No last shot was luck, no home-court loss took away an advantage. For the Bulls, the rest of this series has to be about purgatory between the will to win and the will all great teams have that refuse be beaten. Before Game 4, someone on Twitter asked: Scoop, do these Bulls know tomorrow is the biggest game they've played in four years? My answer: I hope they do. But then for them so is the next one after that, then the next one, then the next ... Welcome to the first next one after.
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