The Brooklyn Nets sent their fans home happy after Game 1, the first in Barclays Center history, and tonight they will aim to repeat the process in the first Game 7 in the arena's history.
The Bulls enter this series deciding matchup injured and depleted. Derrick Rose has missed the entire season, Kirk Hinrich is hobbled by a bruised calf and may miss the game, while Luol Deng was hospitalized on Friday with severe flu-like symptoms.
Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau acknowledged that his team will be light on bodies against the Nets, telling reporters, "We've dealt with that all season. We've been short-handed from the start. We lost more guys along the way. These guys have responded all year. I felt we were in position in Game 5. I felt like we were in position in Game 6. So we have to play our best game tomorrow."
Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo is not underestimating Chicago despite their injuries. "If you start thinking about the next series, you're not going to be in the next series, so I think that what's served us well so far is taking it a day at a time. If we don't manufacture the same kind of desperation, the same kind of energy to match or exceed Chicago's energy, than we're not going to have to worry about who's next."
Earlier in the series, Nets forward Gerald Wallace said he believed the Nets were the best team in the series, however, Bulls forward Jimmy Butler doesn't necessarily believe that's what will determine victory. "It's going to be a fight," Butler said. "The tougher team is going to get the win."
This will be the first Game 7 of the 2013 NBA playoffs. On Friday night, there were four Game 6's, won by the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers and Memphis Grizzlies. The winner of this Game 7 between Chicago and Brooklyn will move on to the second round where the defending champion Miami Heat awaits.
The game will be broadcast on TNT can be live streamed for free here and listened to on 101.9 WFAN FM radio.
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