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CHICAGO -- In the midst of delivering high praise for Nate Robinson's epic performance Saturday afternoon, Carlos Boozer made a point to remember one of his Chicago Bulls teammates who usually gets lost in the shuffle of more important performances.

"Don't underestimate the game that Kirk Hinrich played tonight, man," Boozer said. "Kirk Hinrich did a hell of a job. Obviously he was guarding their best player in D-Will, playing 60 minutes or whatever he played tonight, he played the whole game it seemed like. Scored the ball for us when he had to, he got everybody involved when he had to, played amazing defense. Don't underestimate what Kirk Hinrich did tonight."

Boozer’s right. While Robinson's performance will get the headlines for the Bulls' 142-134 overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets in Game 4, and deservedly so, Hinrich's performance was almost as important. The veteran guard played almost 60 minutes, scoring 18 points and dishing out 14 assists in the memorable win. More importantly, Hinrich continued to frustrate Nets guard Deron Williams and set an early tone for his teammates. Williams would end up scoring 32 points, but Hinrich stayed in his face all day and stuck to his guns late as Williams managed just two points in the three overtimes.

"It was grueling," Hinrich admitted. "Just a total team effort tonight. It was just one of those things, we were having trouble stopping them, they were having trouble stopping us, and it ends up three overtimes later we finally get a winner."

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CHICAGO -- Joakim Noah's foot still hurts.

The emotion that comes from a thrilling triple overtime win isn't enough to make the aching in Noah’s right foot go away, but in the midst of an all-time playoff classic he managed to push away the discomfort he’s been dealing with for the last few months. The big man was only supposed to play about 30 minutes in Game 4, a 142-134 Chicago Bulls' win over the Brooklyn Nets, but as the epic contest played out it was clear that Noah would exceed the minutes limit that Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau had hoped to keep him within.

Noah ground his way to 15 points and 13 rebounds in 40 minutes in a performance that earned him a standing ovation after it was over.

"I don't think I have any minute limit right now," he said softly after the game.

Noah admitted that he did speak to the Bulls' medical staff as the game kept going and played coy when asked if he talked about his minutes limit with Thibodeau as things played out. Yet again, Noah found a way to impact the affair with an energy that continues to inspire his teammates and coaches.

"He’s doing it on will," Thibodeau said of Noah. "He hasn’t practiced, he’s feeling a little better. He was actually in the practice facility last night shooting. that’s usually a good sign. Haven’t seen that in a while."

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CHICAGO -- Late in this hard-fought playoff game, with the Chicago Bulls on his back and Tom Thibodeau’s breath on his neck, Nate Robinson couldn’t cool down.

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on between Robinson’s ears when he plays his special brand of basketball, just think of the announcer’s voice on NBA Jam.

“I always think I’m on fire,” he said after scoring 34 points in the Bulls’ wild 142-134, triple-overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets. “Like the old school game, NBA Jam, you make a couple and the rim’s on fire and when you shoot the ball, the ball’s on fire. I feel like that at times. Well, all the time. When I’m in the game, I play with a lot of confidence and you kind of got to lie to yourself that you can’t miss.”

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Flip Saunders breaks down a critical mistake by the Nets in the fourth quarter that changed the momentum in the Bulls' 3OT win.

The Brooklyn Nets looked to be on their way to evening this series, with a 14-point lead late in the fourth quarter. But an epic comeback powered by Nate Robinson, thwarted the Nets efforts and made for a remarkable victory for the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls now hold a commanding 3-games-to-1 series lead in the series. Let’s delve into the statistical recap.

A long game’s journey into night
This was the seventh playoff game in NBA history that went at least triple-overtime. Only one playoff game went quadruple overtime, a game between the Boston Celtics and Syracuse Nationals in 1953.

The game went long enough that all 10 starting players scored at least 15 points. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that since starts were tracked in 197y0-71, this was only the second playoff game in which that happened. The other instance was in 1987 in a double-overtime game between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks,


The Bulls scored a team record 142 points, the most by any team in a playoff game since 1992, when the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Phoenix Suns, 153-151 in the highest combined scoring playoff game in NBA history.

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CHICAGO -- Let's take a quick look at how the Chicago Bulls pulled out an unbelievable 142-134 victory in triple overtime over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday afternoon at the United Center in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Bulls lead the series 3-1.

How it happened: The Bulls trailed by 14 points with less than three minutes left in regulation. That's when Nate Robinson decided to take over. Robinson put the Bulls on his back and lifted them into the first overtime by going on a personal 12-0 run and then making a crucial pass to Carlos Boozer to tie the game. The Bulls gutted it out the rest of the way, getting huge contributions from Joakim Noah, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng, among others. Robinson finished with 34 points in just 29 minutes before fouling out. Noah, who was supposed to play only about 30 minutes because of his plantar fasciitis, played 39 minutes, scoring 15 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Deron Williams finished with 32 points for the Nets, but it wasn't enough.

What it means: This win not only gives the Bulls a commanding lead, but it also gives them an enormous amount of confidence because of the way they performed. They grinded this game out and never gave up despite being down by double digits down the stretch. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has always talked about how he loves the mental toughness his team shows, and that was never more evident than on Saturday. The Bulls played with the type of never-give-up attitude that has been their hallmark over the past few years. Robinson's performance was memorable, Hinrich played great over 60 minutes, Boozer and Deng were solid, and Noah played better than even Thibodeau could have hoped. This is a game that will live in the annals of Bulls' playoff history.

Hits: The Bulls shot 53.2 percent from the field. The Nets shot 49.5 percent from the field.

Misses: The Nets turned the ball over 20 times and missed 16 free throws.

Stat of the night: Robinson had 23 points in the fourth quarter. The franchise record for a points in a quarter is 24 -- set by Michael Jordan.

What's next: The series heads back to Brooklyn for Game 5 on Monday night. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. CT.

CHICAGO -- Brooklyn Nets guard C.J. Watson and Chicago Bulls guard Nate Robinson each received a technical foul in the second quarter of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals after getting tangled up and tackling each other into the scorer's table.

Officials reviewed the play and determined that no punches had been thrown and both players remained in the game.

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A Chicago-area sports psychologist, psychiatrist and hypnotist experienced in treating elite athletes are largely in agreement about the curious case of Derrick Rose, but their methods for helping the Bulls guard, if they were to work with him, are as fascinating as they are diverse.

For all of them, it begins with acknowledging fear as possibly a major component in Rose continuing to hold himself out a year after reconstructive knee surgery. Rose has maintained that while the knee feels strong, it's his confidence in testing the knee that remains an obstacle.

Vincent Chung, a hypnotist who has worked with professional athletes from Chicago teams as well as Olympic athletes, said the key for any athlete in that position is to get rid of "paralyzing fear."

"There are several factors when dealing with injuries and one is the fear of being re-injured," Chung said. "Fear is actually a useful emotion. It teaches people to be careful. You don't want to be fearless because then you are going to do things that are unsafe. But paralyzing fear also doesn't protect us, it actually makes it more dangerous so when Derrick is doing the acrobatic moves he does, he's in more danger of getting hurt."

To eliminate that, Chung, who received his MBA from the University of Chicago but said he became interested in hypnosis to help fellow Wall Street traders balance fear and greed, might ask Rose to associate a color with different emotions, then change the color and thus the emotion.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah didn't suffer any setbacks to his aching right foot after Thursday night's Game 3 win over the Brooklyn Nets and coach Tom Thibodeau is optimistic about his center's status.

"He said he feels fine," Thibodeau said after Friday's light workout. "I think he's encouraged by how he feels. He's not great but he's not having that soreness like he did previously when he played, so that's a good sign."

Noah played 27 minutes in the win and went 0-for-7 from the field, but his teammates spoke about how they fed off his presence on the floor. Thibodeau expects Noah to play about the same minutes during Game 4.

"I think it's a good amount," Thibodeau said. "I say that as long as there's not any problems. If there's a problem then obviously we're going to have to cut back."

Thibodeau chafed at the notion that Saturday's game was a must-win for just the Nets, who come into the contest trailing the Bulls 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

"It's the playoffs," Thibodeau said. "It's a must-win for everybody. We know how good they are. They're hard-fought games; usually a playoff game can go either way so the urgency will be important for us and them and it will be decided on the court. That's the way we look at it."

Yes, it's "early" for an MVP race. But it's also very late already for a lot of playoff teams.

Each round of the playoffs is a "season" unto itself, with every team in a do-or-die series. Already we've seen virtual must-win games for the 56-win Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks, and we'll get two more tonight on ESPN, with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers trying to stay in their series with the Knicks and Spurs. In that context, every game is amplified tenfold, and every play has the potential to swing the season. Valuable, indeed.

So we're ranking the top 10 players of the postseason every week from now through the NBA Finals, not based on their overall performances solely, but from a perspective of value in obtaining the only thing that matters in the playoffs: Wins.

At the same time, we should mention that some players do enough to impact series even in losses, sometimes by elevating the level of play from their teammates, which puts the team in better position to win the next game. Other times players force the opponent to make wholesale changes in strategy, opening up a new plan of attack for their own team.

Ultimately, though, it's about winning four games in seven. So who is ahead of the pack as we complete the first week of the playoffs?

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The NBA postseason brings with it an escalated level of intensity and physicality that most players can't fathom, let alone match in their first go-around. For the players that can adapt and elevate their performance levels, a newfound notoriety follows them, as well as respect, and (quite often), added leverage in future contract negotiation.

This is the NBA's biggest stage audition, where legacies are made (or tarnished), where everyone is watching. However, one of the things that I look forward to the most is seeing guys playing in their first playoff experience and flourishing.

Here are four players who caught my attention with auspicious playoff debuts in 2013:

Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors | PG

Regular Season: 22.9 PPG, 6.9 APG, 45.1 FG% 45.3 3P%
Playoffs: 24.5 PPG, 11.0 ASG, 46.5 FG%, 40.0 3P%

It should come as a shock to no one that Curry leads this list, as he's been sensational thus far, and has catapulted himself legitimately into the stratosphere of stardom: he's not only incredibly productive, but he makes his teammates better and he helps his teams win. About a month ago, I wrote about Curry being one of the most indispensable guards in the NBA, and features an incredible stat: in his career, the Warriors are 20-8 in games in which Curry has 10+ assists. Since that article, Curry's posted 10-plus assists six more times, and the Warriors have gone 5-1, including Tuesday's Game 2 victory at Denver, who boasted a 38-3 home record this season.

Curry's quick release and ability to make a variety of difficult shots (off one leg, off wrong leg, etc) make him an extremely tough cover in one-on-one situations, which necessitates help defense, opening up a world of passing opportunities for him. That's what makes him special: his willingness to move the ball to open teammates despite the fact that he can confidently know that he's got a good chance of making a "bad" shot. In fact, when I was with the Phoenix Suns and I scouted Curry at Davidson, I posed the question: if you could shoot like that, would you ever pass the ball?

The Game 2 demolition all started with Curry getting loose with his shot, sending the Nuggets into scramble mode, which lit Golden State's supporting cast's fuse. I still have Denver winning in six games, but we'll remember 2013 as the year Curry finally "got it." Hopefully, his most recent ankle injury will not derail that.

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CHICAGO -- Luol Deng is a victim of his own success. The veteran forward is so consistent that when he has a bad game, as he did in Game 1, it's hard for the Bulls to recover. He has become so crucial to the Bulls' success that when he doesn't live up to the lofty standards, the performance is easy to spot.

When he does play well, as he did during Game 3 Thursday night, he just kind of mixes in with the rest of the players on the floor. Deng's game may not stand out, but his consistency does to his teammates. They always knew Deng would bounce back and deliver after Saturday's poor showing, and that's exactly what he did -- to the tune of 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in a 79-76 win over the Nets. Tom Thibodeau has repeatedly called Deng the 'glue' of his team, but his teammates just view Deng as a winner. His game isn't flashy but his teammates know that his steadiness sets him apart.

"I don't really view him as glue," Noah said. "I view him as a big piece of what we do. He played huge for us tonight, he carried us offensively, defensively, he just does everything. He's definitely a huge part of what we do."

So is Carlos Boozer -- but he doesn't have the same luxury of getting lost in the shuffle like his fellow Duke alum. Boozer is the Thibodeau-described lightning rod of the Bulls. He has the ability to take over games offensively, but he also has the ability to disappear at certain times. His enormous contract and inconsistent production during big games over the last two seasons has made him an easy target for angry fans who are always expecting more. Boozer has been mostly consistent for the Bulls this season, but there's always a fear among some in the fan base that the veteran power forward will float away in the midst of an important game. While Deng gets the benefit of the doubt because of his consistency, Boozer gets the brunt of the criticism because of his lack of it during the last two playoff runs.

The intriguing aspect of this pair is that without Derrick Rose and with Joakim Noah playing on one foot, they need Boozer and Deng to produce -- together -- more than ever. Boozer has done his part throughout the series, and was dominant at times again Thursday night scoring 22 points and pulling down 16 rebounds. He has proven that against Brooklyn he can be counted on and Thibodeau even acknowledged after the victory that the Bulls need to search him out even more and get him the ball.

"One thing about Carlos that people don't understand (is) that he does his job every day," Gibson said. "He's there early, a great teammate, he's always going to give you 110 percent in practice and he understands what it takes. He did a phenomenal job late. Like Thibs said, when we watch film, Thibs was really calling guys out and one thing about Carlos -- he responded. Thibs told him to (play more) help-side defense, step up on defense, and give support towards the point guard and he's been doing that. I think that's one of things people don't understand (about him). It's a small thing but on our team that's big for us."

With the Bulls fighting for their playoff lives, they have to count on Boozer and Deng to provide that leadership on both ends every night. Both men have risen to the occasion and they know they must continue to play at the same high level to close out this series.

"I thought Carlos hit some big shots," Deng said. "They made some runs and he just kept coming up huge. He was big for us. Carlos has been playing great and we just got to keep going to him and giving him looks. He's playing so well right now and the baskets he hit tonight were really huge. (The Nets) kind of felt like they got momentum and Carlos would come back and answer."

The same could be said of Deng's performance in the third quarter. He went on a one-man 12-0 run during the first four minutes of the second half and set the type of tone that the rest of his teammates followed.

"We just ran the same stuff," he said. "I was more aggressive coming off the pick and roll. I just hit shots. It was pretty much the same play we kept running and I just kept coming off and taking a look."

Now the Bulls head into Game 4 on Saturday with a legitimate chance to take control of the series. If they do so, everyone in the Bulls locker room knows that it will be Boozer and Deng leading the way. The two men aren't viewed the same way by the fans who cheer for them -- but they are viewed as equals at this point in the Bulls season. That's because in order for Thibodeau's team to have a chance to win, both men have to play at a high level every night. They also have to play with the type of passion that has become a staple of this Bulls' playoff run.

"Emotion, that's a big part of leadership as a whole," Bulls guard Jimmy Butler said. "So when your leaders show the most emotion, it's easy to go after and follow those guys because they give it their all, every day, every night, every possession. So I feel like when they're showing a lot of emotion it's just showing how much of a leader they are."

Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson has made somewhat of a habit of throwing down monster dunks in the biggest of games, and Thursday night proved to be no different in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Brooklyn Nets.

With the Bulls in the midst of a 19-3 run, Gibson took a pass from Nate Robinson and roared toward the basket. As he jumped, Nets forward Kris Humphries jumped with him and Gibson ended up depositing the ball into the basket on top of Humphries' head and outstretched arm at the rim. The United Center crowd went wild -- but Gibson wasn't that impressed.

"I didn't really know he was going to jump," Gibson admitted. "I just took off so far (away from the basket). I just went to try and make a play, but he jumped late. It happens. I'll take it."

Gibson didn't think it was one of his best dunks.

"There's a lot of dunks that a lot of guys didn't see this year because we're on Comcast," Gibson said. "But it's OK, I guess."

Gibson was asked about his interest in a possible dunk contest invite down the line.

"The dunk contest ... it's so tough now," he said. "There's so many gimmicks and so many different things. But I'll give it a shot. I'll be willing to give it a shot if I could. But Nate always tells me how hard it is so I don't know."

If you're waiting for the Bulls to hit all their free throws down the stretch or turn a 14-point fourth-quarter lead into a rout, even at home, stop. If you're thinking the Bulls are going to win these playoff games with a flourish, don't. They're not going to overwhelm anybody, they're not going to win going away or do anything that suggests they have control of a series. They're not that team. Too many injured knees and feet, too much rust, too offensively challenged even if healthy.

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CHICAGO -- The postgame routine doesn't change for Joakim Noah these days.

It's been the same way for about three months. After finishing up his postgame media session, Noah hobbles on his aching right foot to the shower and tries to find some other place in his mind to put the pain.

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