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Bulls’ Cristiano Felicio emphatically blocks Eric Gordon (Video)

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 9, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade (3) and forward Cristiano Felicio (6) celebrate during the first half of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 9, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade (3) and forward Cristiano Felicio (6) celebrate during the first half of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chicago Bulls backup power forward Cristiano Felicio absolutely erased Eric Gordon’s layup attempt on a fast break Friday night.

Cristiano Felicio is hardly a household NBA name, even among Chicago Bulls fans, but perhaps with time that will change.

Or, at the very least, perhaps a few more signature plays like his emphatic block on Eric Gordon will do the trick.

Trailing the Houston Rockets 38-33 early in the second quarter Friday night, forward Corey Brewer had the ball on the break with only Dwyane Wade left to stop him.

Brewer found teammate Eric Gordon open on the left side of the floor, sending him a bounce pass for the layup. Wade did his part to challenge Gordon and make him alter the shot…giving Felicio just enough time to catch up to the play and absolutely flatten the ball into the stands.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/827699780201627648

Eric Gordon has been a legitimate Sixth Man of the Year candidate for the Rockets, averaging 17.2 points per game on 38.2 percent shooting from three-point range. He’s pulled off some impressive finishes over bigger defenders many times this season, and he might have done the same to Wade as he switched the ball to his left hand in midair.

But Felicio, a promising second-year big for the Bulls, didn’t give him the chance, absolutely erasing the shot and sending Gordon tumbling to the floor.

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Though he’s only averaging 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game, the 24-year-old Felicio is starting to win over the Bulls faithful off the bench. He’s still a work in progress, but with Chicago struggling to string together any sort of consistency, flashes of potential like these could make all the difference down the road.

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