Nate Robinson Comes Up Big For Chicago Bulls In Playoff Series

Nate Robinson has been a bit of a journeyman in the last couple of years of his career. Now he might be helping the Chicago Bulls make a journey to the second round of the NBA playoffs.

The 5’9? point guard exploded for 23 points in the fourth quarter of his team’s triple overtime win against the Brooklyn Nets that put the Bulls up 3-1 in their playoff series.

It wasn’t so much that the small of stature player scored just one point shy of Michael Jordan’s franchise record for points in a quarter. It was the fact that he started the scoring barrage when his team needed it the most.

Nate Robinson began his run when the Bulls were trailing 109-95 with three minutes to go in regulation. Almost willing the team into overtime himself, the guard scored 12 straight points and led the bulls on a 16-2 run that got them into the first extra period.

There the shoot-first, pass second guard again receded into the background, but he had managed to do all he could to give his team the momentum. The Chicago Bulls eventually surged to a 142-134 triple overtime victory.

As the team celebrated, while battling off the desire to just collapse on the floor and go to sleep it was clear that that night, they owed it all to Robinson.

The former New York Knick, Boston Celtic, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Golden State Warrior only came to Chicago as an insurance policy for Derrick Rose. When he went down, the Washington University grad had to step up.

At times this season, he has stepped up. At other times, he has been maddeningly inconsistent. Media and fans in the Windy City had taken to calling him Good Nate when his shots are falling and Bad Nate when they aren’t. On Saturday night, in the fourth quarter Good Nate was most decidedly in attendance.

What do you think of Nate Robinson’s performance?