If the Bulls and their playoff hopes are shot down by the Detroit Pistons at the United Center this afternoon, then top gun Ben Gordon only asks that his final wish be granted.
"If we have to go out, then I want us to go out with guns blazing and no bullets left in our holsters," Gordon said. "You know, sort of like Butch Cassidy and -- what's the name of the other guy?
"
That would be the Sundance Kid, course.
Clearly, if the Bulls are to chip away at their 3-0 deficit and make a series out of it, then the onus is on their own version of Butch and the Kid to make it happen.
That would be Gordon and Luol Deng, the two guys who have carried the offense virtually the entire season.
Trouble is, the Pistons have turned Butch Deng and Sundance Gordon into Paul Newman and Robert Redford, as the Bulls have been limited to an average of 76.7 points per game in the series.
"Why wouldn't they focus on us?
That's what we expected," Gordon said. "Yeah, it's a heavy load on me and Luol, but we've been successful that way all season."
Said Deng, "It's about pride and love of the game now.
We've had a helluva season, but you don't want it to end like this. You never want to go out like this. You want to play your best.
"A series loss is a series loss, but you don't want to get swept."
A victory would ensure a fifth game in Auburn Hills, Mich., where the Bulls dropped the first two games by a combined 47 points.
"Right now, we have to decide how much we want to go back to Detroit and see if we can beat them there," head coach Scott Skiles said after a two-hour film session, walk-through and shootaround Saturday morning. "That's pretty much what it's all about -- see if you want a piece of that challenge there.
"I feel that we responded well (in Game 3 on Thursday) night.
We played well early. We had trouble to sustain it, but if we get that kind of effort early in the game and try to carry it through, we'll be all right."
The funereal atmosphere at the Deerfield practice facility the last two days was a reflection of the enormous odds that the team faces in the series.
Undoubtedly, the somber mood also was a carry-over from the 19-point lead that was squandered in an 81-74 loss two days earlier.
"There's no question that the guys have been down a little bit," Skiles said. "But if they came here all happy-go-lucky, I'd be really concerned.
I'd be concerned that they want to be on vacation right now.
"There's frustration, there's embarrassment, there's some anger. All those things channeled properly can be very good.
It means the guys are ready."
Whereas everything went right for the Bulls against an older, less athletic Miami Heat team that did not have star guard Dwyane Wade at full strength in the first round, the deeper, healthier Pistons flipped the script.
For that reason, win or lose, the Bulls are sure to learn more about themselves today.
"We're on the other side of where we were at in the first round," Gordon said. "Our chances are real slim, but we have to continue the fight. We'll see who wants to gut it out and not give up.
We'll definitely see that in a game like this."
Lose it and they may as well head to Bolivia for the summer.
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