Christmas Hangover

The Bulls had to travel north from L.A. after their Christmas victory over the Lakers for a next-night game. Their hosts, the Golden State Warriors, also played the day before, but no travel was required on their part. They got to stay right where they were. Taking advantage of home cooking, the Warriors smoothly sailed almost the entire way en route to a 99-91 victory. Their backcourt tandem of Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry combined for 47 points. Down low, David Lee chipped in 22 points. Since this is a Bulls blog however, we have to look at it from their perspective.

It never really seemed like the Bulls were in this one. It reminds me of the first full year I started watching the team (1996-97) in which they had to travel the day after a Christmas Day game and lost. That's a different story, but it was clear almost from the start that the Bulls were exhausted. Perhaps nothing demonstrates that more than the 20 turnovers committed, most of which occurred in the first half. Although C.J. Watson got hot in his old digs down the stretch and finished with 13 points, it wasn't quite enough to mount a strong comeback. Luol Deng was the big man for the Bulls, leading them with 22 points. He did look consistent out there, hitting 10 of 15 from the field. Kyle Korver must have read my last post because he hit three of five three-pointers and two free throws for 11 points. Let's hope that persists. Derrick Rose was all but quiet, scoring just 13 and Rip Hamilton had only 10. Simply put, the Warriors' backcourt outlasted that of the Bulls convincingly.

It's a long year and games like this are going to happen. No one in the NBA is going to go 66-0 this season. Still, one has to have some concern about how the Bulls uncharacteristically did a poor job of taking care of the ball. If the Warriors were able to take advantage of them, that leaves the Bulls vulnerable against stronger defenses in the league, so Tom Thibodeau will surely emphasize that hard in the next practice. Those turnovers dug a hole that was too big to get out of, so let's hope that changes on Thursday in Sacramento.

I won't be able to watch some of that game against the Kings because I'll be announcing games for the Glenbard West Holiday Classic over the next three days. Lucas Mitzel mentioned this on his blog and since he was kind enough to plug and link this one, I have to return the favor. See you all again in a few days.