Great moral victory. Much thanks refs for pulling us out of another near-boneheaded win... talk about a close call.
I told my Bulls-fan-roommate before the game that Jalen Rose would have a career night (he had a laugh after the game because I was right; hey, I know these two teams). We were joking about which team really wanted this loss, who would find the way to screw it up; and we cracked up at the end when the WGN announcers (we're in the Midwest) said, Yep, the shot was late, but we're going home with a win. It was also a way to help the bad blood in the apartment, what with SOMEONE having to lose and the other having to win. I was saying to my roommate, "Ha ha, Golden State's gonna get Jason Williams." Things like that. So let's start the TANK-A-THON 2002, The Quest for More Balls.
I thought that was a great job of the Rockets of finding a way to lose this game. The three previous wins against presumed playoff contenders were good for the team, proving to themselves that they can compete with playoff caliber teams. Winning a game against the lowly Bulls would have proven nothing and would have only hurt our draft standing. Man, after Mooch hit that three (was it at the end of regulation or the 1st OT?), I thought, "NO!!! What are you doing Mooch?!" Then Best hits the game tying shot, and I was like "Yessss!!!" But then, Cuttino almost screwed it up and hit that clutch fadeaway with time running out in 2OT, and my heart sank again. But in the end, Jalen came thorugh, and I was ooooooo-right...
