The Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets finished the regular season ranked as two of the slowest paced teams in the league, preferring to operate in halfcourt sets. As much as anything the series appears to be shaping up to be defined by health and interior scoring.

Brooklyn had the third slowest pace in the league (88.76) followed by Chicago ranking the fourth slowest (89.35).

However, Brooklyn appears to have an advantage on the interior due to the ailing health of Joakim Noah.

Noah is battling plantar fasciitis in his right foot, which gave Tom Thibodeau cause for concern on the eve of the series.

“There will be some restrictions on him,” said Thibodeau before Game 1.

While Noah has dealt with the injury previously during his career, there’s no timetable for his recovery and his current status is day-to-day.

“It’s the type of injury where you don’t know how he’s going to feel the next day,” said Thibodeau.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn headed into the postseason relatively unscathed.

“I think we’re as healthy as we’ve been in a long time,” said P.J. Carlesimo. “Maybe it’s wrong to say Joe (Johnson), Gerald (Wallace), or (Keith) Bogans are 100 percent healthy, but they’re better than they’ve been. Collectively we’re in better shape than we’ve been in a long time so that’s a positive.”

With Noah’s effectiveness limited, Carlesimo wants use his center tandem of Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche to wear down a depleted Bulls' frontcourt.

“We want to go inside regardless,” said Carlesimo. “We want to go to Brook (Lopez), we want to go to Blatche whether Joakim (Noah) is there or Nazr (Mohammed).”

The tandem worked well in Game 1 as Brooklyn received a combined 33 points on 13-for-26 shooting from Lopez and Blatche. The tandem took a noticeable toll on Noah.

“(Noah) was tired,” said Reggie Evans. “He did good for the little time that he played. It seemed like he hurt himself again, that’s what it looked like to me.”

While Noah’s health has declined towards the latter stages of the season, Deron Williams has dramatically improved since the All-Star break. Williams received a third set of cortisone shots in both ankles, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, and cleansed his body with a juice diet.

According to Evans, Williams has rediscovered his “lift” and has played like an elite point guard ever since.

“He’s looking good,” said Evans of Williams. “He’s looking like he’s supposed to be, one of the top point guards in the league.”

While Brooklyn made a dramatic statement in Game 1, the series is far from over.

“It’s going to be a tough physical series,” said C.J. Watson. “We’ve got to go out there and match their intensity, match their toughness, and play hard every possession.”